Harmonies aren’t quite tonal in the conventional sense but often give the impression

Harmonies aren’t quite tonal in the conventional sense, but often give the impression of being similarly “grounded”. Climaxes happen in the right places – expected, yet somehow surprising at the same time. The ending feels like a real end.So much for the intellectual substance Imaginatively, the concerto is just as remarkable. The scoring includes such exotica as roto-toms and sanctus bells, and specifies three sets of “multiphonics” (weirdly guttural harmonics) for the clarinet But Burrell’s use of them is not at all gimmicky. Mostly she relies on the colours of a classical Beethovenian orchestra to create her vivid colours and spacious landscapes. The multiphonics appear just three times, in what one could call the slow movement, at the height of three bizarre crescendos. The members of the orchestra play as if improvising to themselves.

The texture thickens and loudens, culminating in the clarinet’s sustained gurgling squawks. A vast congregation of birds singing, grunting, whistling together? According to Burrell, it was the sound of cars, people walking and talking, transistor radios heard from a motionless train on an embankment in Streatham, that set her imagination working. Whatever, it’s fascinatingly effective and it yields wonderfully to the next section: spiky clarinet, bright trumpets and shimmering sanctus bells. It all adds up to an intriguing and ultimately very likeable work.. Successfully selling a perfume is 99 per cent about image, and one per cent about smell. Which is why most perfume ads plump for images of style and glamour above suggestions of sensation or mood.

Look at this Christmas’ TV commercial for Lancome’s fragrance Tresor and it’s easy to see why. We see a close-up of the face of a delicate-featured young woman Her peaches-and-cream complexion is framed by chestnut hair. She is softly lit and dressed in white, or pink, or cream – it doesn’t matter, really, as the desired effect is the same: ageless, timeless beauty.
The camera cuts to a close-up of five pink roses standing in a row, all soft and fragrant Then back to the woman whose expression has changed Now she looks vaguely concerned In fact her right eye is welling. Whether this is with emotion or due to an untimely outbreak of hay fever, it’s hard to say.Luckily, relief is at hand Literally.