Music review: Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh

ACCORDION concertos are somewhat thin on the ground, but in the world premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Northern Lights, soloist Owen Murray made a convincing argument for the addition of this resonant instrument to the orchestral blend. The episodic nature of the opening, echoing minimalists Adams and Reich, gradually settled into a more coherent structure as Dove developed his own voice. Murray’s free-bass accordion has a mellow tone that’s husky at the bottom and piercingly bright at the top. Just like the shapeshifting northern lights, the accordion’s kaleidoscopic colours danced beguilingly with the shimmering percussion in the central section.