Interview, Reels, Drones and Jigs from Perpetuo

Chamber music ensemble Perpetuo describe themselves as "dynamic and versatile", and their recordings certainly bear this out. A bold and varied debut disc featuring founder and artistic director James Turnbull on the oboe ranged from Tippett and Bennett to Dove and Weir, and their recent release Reels, Drones and Jigs builds on the folk-music links explored in that album while at the same time looking particularly to the rugged landscapes and bracing weather of Scotland and its islands.

I spoke to James about the ensemble's ethos, and how they put together their engrossing and refreshing programmes.

Even in the few short years since being established, Perpetuo has certainly made its mark on the musical world. But for the benefit those who might not yet be up to speed: What would you say Perpetuo was really about, and what makes the ensemble tick?

For us Perpetuo is about discovering great music and performing it for new audiences. It’s not just commissioning new works that we enjoy but finding new and innovative ways to present existing chamber repertoire too. The flexibility of the ensemble is important too. Within each event, we like to play a wide variety of formations so someone coming to hear us will hear solos, duos, trios and more depending on the size of ensemble we are that evening.

While the dividing-line between “folk” and “classical” music might initially seem clear-cut, when one looks more closely it can often turn out to be almost invisible. Where do you think this album falls on that spectrum?

I think the joy of this disc is that the dividing line is constantly changing or at least elusive in some way. Each composer has drawn on folk elements differently and that is intriguing. The result is that across the selection of music we’ve included there is such a wide variety of influences and starting points on display. I’d like to think that the album is flexible like we are and exploring the boundaries the way we try to as performers.

Present in much of the music recorded here is the shade of the late Peter Maxwell Davies, who could perhaps be considered something approaching a “naturalised Orcadian”. How much of a gap has his death in 2016 left in the musical life of the islands?

This is a really intriguing question. The death of Peter Maxwell Davies has clearly left a significant gap on musical life in many places well beyond the islands. I think it’ll take time for us to really know the extent that his death has affected musical life, but that said, so much of his legacy goes on through the excellent work of St Magnus Festival. Perpetuo has been lucky enough to take the trio repertoire featured on this disc to St Magnus Festival in 2018. We are also extremely fond of Alasdair Nicolson (the artistic director) and his music which is also featured on this disc so there is a strong link there as well.

Your foreword to the album emphasises the connection between the repertoire you’ve recorded here and the content of your live concerts. Do you find that being a flexible chamber ensemble allows you more variety in programming than would be possible with, say, a symphony orchestra?

Our hope is always to surprise an audience. Variety in programming helps a lot but for us it is about finding new ways to present existing repertoire as well as the flexibility of forces involved. For Perpetuo, the venue is often really important. We enjoy taking music to unexpected places and allowing audiences to walk around these great spaces while hearing us play. For us it is about breaking down any barrier between performer and audience. Our tendency will always be towards more intimate sized chamber works but flexibility and adaptability are really important to us.

You have an intimidating number of thought-provoking performance projects to your name, from childhood-inspired museum collabs to meditations on oceanic or urban landscapes. Do you anticipate any of these evolving into album releases in the future?

In an ideal world, we would be looking to record versions of every live event we present. There are a number of really exciting projects that we have on the go at the moment. Now that concerts are back in full swing again, we just can’t wait to make up for lost time and bring as many of them to audiences as soon as possible!