LF 26: 100 Tubas at Amisfield

Amisfield Walled Garden 19/9/26

100 Tubas and Rednote Ensemble Trumpets

This was an event I was not going to miss, despite the possibility of bad weather and a lot of walking which I am no longer good at doing. Billed as 100 Tubas at Amisfield, no-one really had much of a clue as to what we were going to hear, but several coach loads set out from St Mary’s, Haddington to find out.

We arrived at Amisfield Walled Garden, one of the largest walled gardens in the country, built in 1783 as part of the now vanished Amisfield House estate, to discover an enormous area of herbaceous borders, lawns, vegetable and fruit beds, wildflower meadows and woodland plantings, with a central circle from which many paths radiate to the walls. In this huge space, we encountered groups of brass players with tubas of all sizes, euphoniums, sousaphones and four trumpets. The trumpeters, who started off in the centre, were members of Rednote Ensemble, one Scotland’s leading contemporary music ensembles.

The idea for the concert/experience came from a desire to play the UK premiere of Anthony Braxton’s Composition No.19 for 100 tubas, a work from the 1970s which was lost, rediscovered, and played for the first time in New York in 2006. The tuba is transformed into a vast collective instrument, as four groups of 25 players move through the garden at various times, finally uniting for a climactic finale of deep sonorous rumblings. Interspersed with the Braxton piece the four trumpeters played brass fanfares in the centre while low rumblings and grumblings from the tuba groups echoed round the garden.

For this performance, the Lammermuir Festival had brought together four groups of 19 tuba-like instruments, presumably deliberately rivalling the “76 trombones at the big parade” from the 1957 musical, ‘The Music Man.’ There were certainly a lot of them, and the audience was able to wander round the garden finding each group in turn or simply staying in the middle and letting the music waft over us. There were hints of rain in the air, but it kept away, and although the autumn wind blew strenuously throughout, we all managed to survive.

The concert was dedicated to the memory of John Wallace, the great Scottish trumpeter who sadly died this year at the age of 76 (that number again), and many of us were speculating that his spirit was probably floating around the walled garden with us.

Each group of tubas had a dedicated conductor who kept everyone secure within the context of the Braxton piece, although apparently each player was occasionally given the freedom to improvise. That no-one in the audience really knew what was going on was actually not so important, although it must be said that the experience was more an aural rather than a musical one, and there was a feeling that it might have been even better if the tubas were able to get out of low rumbling mode into melodic mode.

Braxton is primarily an alto saxophone player from Chicago, well-known for his avant garde jazz and experimental classical work, who is still with us at the age of 81, but whose music lies far away from the traditional jazz and classical norm. Harmony and melody seem not to feature in much of his work, free improvisation being more his thing.

Still, it was an extraordinary event, and high praise must go to the Lammermuir Festival for putting it on, as it must have caused logistical nightmares right up to 6pm on Saturday. Talking to people as we were walking around, it clearly had different effects on many, as I heard all sorts of comments about spirituality, oneness with nature and contemplative energy.

I missed that, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, even if the wind might have subsided a bit!