United Kingdom Selaocoe and Beethoven: Abel Selaocoe (cello), Bernhard Schimpelsberger (percussion), Aurora Orchestra / Nicholas Collon (conductor). Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, 8.3.2025. (CSa)
Abel Selaocoe (arr. Benjamin Woodgates) – Cello Concerto (Four Spirits)
Beethoven – Symphony No.7 in A major, Op.92
It is said that the best thing about memories is making them. Conjuring up and recounting memories were the theme linking the two works in an innovative programme at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. In the first half, the Johannesburg born cellist, vocalist and composer Abel Selaocoe, joined by Austrian percussionist Bernhard Schimpelsberger and the Aurora Orchestra under Nicholas Collon performed Four Spirits. Selaocoe’s four movement Cello Concerto explored ‘those conversations we can have with our Ancestors through the oldest and youngest members of the family’. In a rich fusion of South African hymn and folk genres fused with jazz influences, Selaocoe, who deployed both the Southern Sotho and Zulu languages while vigorously playing the cello, improvised and narrated some of the community legends he learned as a child. Spirited songs like ‘MaSebego’ offered thanks to ‘traditional healers for bridging a gap between the modern [and ancestral] world’ while ‘Simunye’ celebrated the power of community. He was exuberantly accompanied by the dextrous Schimpelsberger on shakers and myriad drums including calabash, djembe and congas, and supported by smiling Aurora players who sometimes doubled as a chorus. However, it was Selaocoe’s extraordinary voice which dominated. Sometimes soaring as high as an eagle over the Veld or cavernously rumbling as if deep in the earth of his Sebokeng township, and periodically punctuated by tongue clicks or glottal stops, he blended myth and music-making with astonishing vocal skills. Selaocoe’s charismatic scene-setting enthralled and enchanted audience members for whom the 20-minute interval came too soon.
The second part of the concert was dedicated to one work: a sparklingly fresh account of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony played and conducted by heart. Last performed by the Aurora from memory in a 2020 BBC Prom to a remote audience, the work was presented by Collon and his band in a now familiar way. The players filed on to an almost empty stage, all music stands and most of the chairs having been removed from the platform. Save for the four-man cello section and timpani, the musicians stood and swayed rhythmically to deliver as taut and energising a performance as one could ever wish to hear. Wagner famously described Beethoven’s Seventh as ‘the apotheosis of the dance’, and under Collon’s baton, the urge to dance characterised the Poco sostenuto – Vivace first movement, with visceral playing from the strings and tight, bright teamwork from the other sections. A solemn, noble and immaculately phrased Allegretto in which consoling woodwind solos were movingly stretched out, was followed by a joyful, gossamer-light Presto, and a vital and powerful finale (Allegro con brio), highlighted by a trio of valveless trumpets who shot through the textures like rays of sun.
As the audience clapped and cheered, Collon turned to ask, ‘How many of you have played in an orchestra?’ A surprisingly large number of hands went up. ‘And how many of you would never want to play in an orchestra?’ I counted about ten hands and a few sheepish faces dotted around the packed auditorium. ‘Too bad’ he said with a smile, ‘because the orchestra is coming to you’. At this point the musicians filed off the platform, fanned out into the Queen Elizabeth Hall, positioned themselves at the ends of each row and reprised the symphony’s fourth movement – from memory of course! No longer mere onlookers, concertgoers were suddenly inside and connected to the music. Judging from the tumultuous response, it was an experience that few will ever forget.
Chris Sallon