Northern Sinfonia/Volkov – review

Sage, GatesheadThere's not a great deal of demand for a sackbut these days, aside from the odd medieval fanfare or renaissance consort gig. But that has not dissuaded Benedict Mason from writing a concerto for this arcane and antique precursor of the trombone.Mason's piece, given its world premiere by the American trombonist Mike Svoboda, was a concerto only in the loosest sense. The string accompaniment was reduced to an eerie susurration of ghost harmonics played at the lowest level of audibi...

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