Danzón

Exotic and colourful music, full of captivating rhythms and ear-catching melodies is the essence of Resonance Ensemble’s second concert for 2023.

Christchurch’s innovative orchestra Resonance Ensemble has put together one of its most enticing programmes ever, with some of the twentieth century’s most vivid and flamboyant orchestral pieces.

Danzón features works from Armenia, England, France, Argentina and Mexico in a programme that totally annihilates any idea that twentieth century music is unappealing, hard to listen to, or obscure.

Two contrasting works from 1941 and from opposite sides of the world begin and end the programme. Khachaturian’s Masquerade Suite contains some of the Armenian composer’s most popular and attractive music, from the well-known Waltz to its racy Galop; while Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera’s four dances from his ballet Estancia will come as a total and very pleasant surprise to anyone not familiar with their colourful Latin American rhythms and vibrant orchestral colours.

From Western Europe, the twenty-year-old Benjamin Britten’s brilliantly inventive Simple Symphony is matched by Frenchman, Darius Milhaud’s very quirky three-movement Scaramouche for saxophone and orchestra. Scaramouche features saxophone soloist Mark Walton, originally from Christchurch, who is coming over from Sydney specially to play this immensely entertaining piece. This music also continues our South American theme, full of the evocative Brazilian rhythms that influenced Milhaud during the two years he lived there.

To complete this picturesque programme Resonance Ensemble will play Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No. 2 which is fast becoming one of the most popular orchestral works of the last thirty years. Mark Walton - Saxophone soloist.

Mark was born and educated in Christchurch but is well-known much further afield. His mastery of the clarinet and saxophone has been noted around the world.

He moved to Sydney in 1985, after studying clarinet in New York and London. He was Chair of Woodwind at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music for several years before being appointed Chair of Performance, Outreach and Communications there, posts he held for nearly 20 years until 2006.

By 2006, Mark was doing double duty between being the Musical Director of the Christchurch School of Music in New Zealand, and continuing to run events and workshops for woodwind musicians across Australia and, in January 2012, he taught at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music Winter Academy in Kabul.

Thanks to our sponser for this concert — Thanks to our sponsors for this concert