‘If you’re talking about “relevance to the wider culture” and “speaking to our times“, and all that Greg Sandowian stuff, I couldn’t possibly care less … People seem to forget that there’s always going an audience for whom Beethoven’s 5th or La Boheme is a brand new experience’ – writes Henry Holland today in Killing classical music in the US. Well worth the click, and my photo is of the audience queueing for core classical repertoire at the 2006 BBC Proms.
Read moreAll too often today, appealing menus of new music turn out to be measly meals relying heavily on technical gimmickry, self-serving cliques, bitchiness and cynicism. By contrast the Britten Sinfonia at Lunch project is a nourishing meal whose courses include imaginative commissioning, innovative and open-minded programming, a truly international perspective, and some damn hard work from the musicians.. But don’t take my word for it. Here are the words of clarinettist Joy Farrall (above) as she introduced the Huw Watkins first performance at today’s Britten Sinfonia at Lunch concert – ”It is great to see such a large audience for
Read moreThe moment you’ve all been waiting for has arrived. I refer, of course, to Robert Fripp’s 4-second start-up theme for the Windows Vista operating system. Soon to be the most played musical signature of all time. On the Window Vista blog, Jim Allchin writes that the new intro is “made of dual ascending ‘glassy’ (Edit note: as in Philip Glassy) melodies played on top of a gentle fading Fripp ‘AERO’ Soundscape.” Win-dows Vis-ta…(Click on play under the photo)
Read moreDon’t miss Alex Ross’ wonderful portrait of Steve Reich in the new New Yorker. Yes, the New Yorker. Robert Gable has a video link to the London Steve Reich Ensemble on YouTube playing Reich’s Eight Lines. Reich is the current featured composer in the Sequenza21 shop. Stock up for Christmas or whatever you do at your house. Anybody see the latest production of The Cave last week at John Jay? It’s one of the great ones.
Read moreTomorrow (Nov 6) soloist Nicholas Daniel (left) and the Britten Sinfonia give the world premiere of John Tavener’s oboe concert Kaleidoscopes at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. The new work is Tavener’s tribute to Mozart, but, as well as an oboe soloist and chamber orchestra, the score calls for the distinctly non-Mozartian forces of a very large gong and four Tibetan temple bowls. Any John Tavener premiere is big news, but this one is even bigger news because Nicholas Daniel is blogging as he prepares for the first performance. For the full story and links take An Overgrown Path.
Read moreLeach_Xantippe_sRebuke_pg12[1].pdf From Sequenza21 regular Mary Jane Leach: Xantippe’s Rebuke, for oboe soloist and eight taped oboes, is an intense study in sound that tickles your ears. It will be performed on the Sequenza 21 Concert by Matt Sullivan. I’ve written about my approach to writing it, which I hope you will find interesting. My work has primarily been concerned with exploring sound phenomena – combination, difference and interference tones. I work very carefully with the specific sound properties of each instrument that I write for, qualities that change from instrument to instrument. Initially this was done in rather direct, almost
Read moreThe clock is ticking and things are pretty tense here in the old control room. The fate of the Republic hangs in the balance. I refer, of course, not just to next week’s election which is only the most important one we’ve had in the past 250 years but to tonight’s showdown between number 3 West Virginia (yea) and number 5 Louisville (boo). May rightousness (my team) prevail in both encounters. With that in mind, it seems like a good day to talk about graphic scores. What are they? Who does them? And, most importantly, why? Start here with Roger Bourland’s post
Read moreMorton Feldman An 80th Birthday Celebration Merkin Concert Hall Saturday, October 28, 2006 I am perpetually late with birthday greetings. This past Saturday, as my wife and I entered the city for the Morton Feldman concert, I called my grandmother to wish her a happy birthday two days late. I felt a little better about myself when my wife pointed out that Morton Feldman’s 80th birthday celebration was being held a full nine and a half months after his 80th birthday. I am just glad that the concert came together, though. The number of people who attended is a testament
Read moreKeys to the Future is an annual festival of contemporary music for solo piano here in New York City. This year’s event will take place November 7-9 (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) at Greenwich House’s Renee Weiler Concert Hall. If you’re interested in checking out pertinent information, the website is http://www.keystothefuture.org/ or you can contact me directly at joe@keystothefuture.org. The six pianists participating this year are: Lisa Moore, Blair McMillen, Tatjana Rankovich, Lora Tchekoratova, Polly Ferman, and myself. I thought I’d talk briefly here about the Festival and then focus on one piece from each of the three programs. My goal as Artistic
Read moreHey Folks — Don’t know how we managed to scoop the Times on this one. But here’s an interview with violinist Jeffrey Phillips, who’s doing many honors on next month’s Sequenza21 concert. The interview has to do with a certain set of violin solos by a composer who will be familiar to those who wander these parts. Enjoy! Q. You’re going to be giving the U.S. premiere of two works for solo violin by Tom Myron on the first-ever Sequenza21 Concert. Are they hard? A. “They are as difficult as one would expect two pieces that were written for Peter
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