Kosmos

A review of the music society concert by Alison Prince

Arran’s music society goes from strength to strength in its provision of exciting and varied music. On Saturday, May 21st, Brodick Hall was packed for a performance by Kosmos, an extraordinary trio of breath-taking ability. Harriet MacKenzie on violin, Meg Hamilton on viola and Milos Milivojevic on accordion. The atmosphere in the hall became more excited as the players ranged freely through music from all over the world, from Scotland to Hungary, Greece to Brazil, flamenco to classical. Playing with no reference to written music despite the immense complexity of some pieces, their fluency and emotional charge never faltered, and the understanding between them allowed total freedom to improvise and extend. The skills were those of good jazz players, but with an underlying classicism that gave them extraordinary authority. As so often in these concerts, it was wonderful to see people becoming moved and excited by the music, and at the end, a spontaneous outbreak of drumming feet as well as applause and shouts brought them back for an encore. A truly wonderful night.