Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds 7th May 2025
In a change of plan (the usual ‘unforeseen circumstances’), this concert of trumpet and harp became a concert of trumpet and accordion. It was unusual and worked really well – provided you like accordions…..
Being used to hearing the accordion and its relatives on street corners or in folk, it hadn’t occurred to me how the sound can fill the same musical space as an organ but Ryan Corbett makes it happen and is even called upon to replace a whole orchestra in part of Handel’s Messiah! As a replacement for a harp, the accordion means the trumpet never has to hold back and has to fight for its place. Opening with an exciting piece by Honneger, Aaron Akugbo explains that it is a popular test piece for Conservatoire students and grins quietly. The rest of the programme illustrates a whole realm of possibilities if you ignore boundaries – some are more successful than others but all keep the interest and make me think about the changes it makes to phrasing and dynamics. While the speedy orchestral sections don’t work too well on an accordion, the fact that they work at all is amazing. A favourite song of mine, Purcell’s ‘Dido’s Lament’ is beautifully phrased on the trumpet and the accordion is almost subtle enough. Aaron is keen for Ryan to do most of the talking and Corbett outlines the tale for Sibelius’ ‘Waltze Triste’, a piece of programme music. It works effectively, with both instrumental voices conjuring up the atmosphere.
Ryan is brave and focussed, presenting a full-on solo organ piece, solely on accordion. Cesar Franck’s ‘Chorale II’ is powerfully expressed, considering he has one keyboard and a set of chords. It is resonant, deep and yet full of detail. He’s very keen on stretching the accordion and is known for the hundreds of pieces he’s adapted for the instrument. A modern choice; a ten minute trumpet and organ piece by Hovhaness, is much more effective than Aaron’s disparaging “you can fall asleep if you want – I would” comment suggests. Being attuned to modern jazz protagonists, the concept of a trumpet playing fragments of melody atop a chordal drone engages most ears and the shifts to angry drone and strident tones by Ryan are immersive at the same time as feeling like a drift. Equally flippant, Akubo says that Florence Price is mostly known for symphonic work now due to “the wanton need for diversity in classical music”. He prefers the songs and makes a strong case for that with the two he plays. As he says, “lovely melodies and lovely chords”.
What I enjoy about this set is the disregard for convention and the arranging and exchanging of instrumental voices. When the duo pick a tango by Piazzolla, it isn’t written for the bandoneon (another squeezebox) as you’d expect. No; they play a piece for flute and guitar on trumpet and accordion! Then they go on to play a Robert Burns setting with Aaron taking a violin’s part on the trumpet.
Happy to fill us in on the background to these unusual arrangements, the evening is an educational and enjoyable one. These are sounds we don’t normally hear in a serious context and it’s great to be moved and engaged by them. Even more so, to do this in the cellar of a disused filling station, converted to gig venue makes for another memorable evening from this promoter. ThroughTheNoise put on regular classical or semi-classical events and I’ve yet to attend one that I didn’t enjoy.