faber music news spring 2008 fortissimo! · pdf filefaber music news spring 2008 fortissimo!...

FA B E R M U S I C N E W S S P R I N G 2 0 0 8

fortissimo!

TUNING IN • SPOTLIGHT ON MALCOLM ARNOLD’S DOUBLE VIOLIN CONCERTO • REPERTOIRE GUIDE – THE OBOE • NEW WORKS FROM THE PERFORMANCEDEPARTMENT • NEW PUBLICATIONS • NEW RECORDINGS • MEDIA SPOTLIGHT • BOOKS ON MUSIC FROM FABER & FABER • SALES PUBLICATION NEWS

‘Rotter’ – Rasch opera premieres in Cologne

Three-hour documentary filmlaunches Vaughan Williamsanniversary

New York plaudits for Benjamin & Adès

Howard Goodall signs to Faber Music

Jonny Greenwood's 'PopcornSuperhet Receiver' triumphs in'There Will Be Blood'

Awards aplenty for Faber composers

Carl Davis – ‘Cranford’ in concert

David Matthews’s

Sixth Symphony triumphs

at BBC Proms

One of the major talking points of the 2007 BBC Promsseason was undoubtedly the first performance of theSixth Symphony by David Matthews. Indeed, thepremiere of any symphony often raises an eyebrow inthis day and age, but when its composer is of thehighest calibre then it’s something to look forward to.

The expectation surrounding the premiere on 2August in the Royal Albert Hall was all the greater giventhat Matthews had boldly based the entire 35-minutework on a tune by perhaps the UK’s greatestsymphonist, Ralph Vaughan Williams. Matthews’scomposition takes as its starting point one of the latter’smost celebrated hymn tunes, Down Ampney, alsoknown as “Come Down, O Love Divine”. Jac van Steenconducted the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, withwhom Matthews has enjoyed a fruitful relationship inrecent years (they also premiered his Concerto inAzzurro for cello and orchestra).

The critics were unanimous in their praise:

‘… a glorious sixth… If the symphony had a nickname it would haveto be “Down Ampney”. That’s Vaughan Williams’s Cotswold birthplace;the title, too, of his most famous hymn tune (Come Down, O Love Divine)which feeds this 35-minute creation with motifs from the second bar onwards.

But you can forget any depiction of a “cow looking over a gate” (the famous slur on Vaughan Williams’s pastoral streak). Matthews’s cow jumps way across the planet. It mingles with Mahler’s alpine climes.The music is always on an exploratory journey, uncovering terror andbeauty in a three-movement argument that keeps traditional symphonicprocedures in the near distance – supporting, but never stifling.

Helped by the BBC’s general rehearsal time, the BBC NationalOrchestra of Wales and their principal guest conductor Jac van Steendelivered a fine-tuned performance. Matthews has a lively ear for colour: I can still hear that ruminant contrabass clarinet and the marimba-vibraphone duel. But it’s his structural grip and the music’s inevitabilitythat makes this symphony so successful. And important.

… it was hard to waltz with Ravel after the Matthews revelation.’The Times (Geoff Brown), 6 August 2007

‘The British composer David Matthews is not cowed by tradition. Hisprogramme note for his Sixth Symphony mentions Bruckner and Mahler;while the work’s presiding deity is Vaughan Williams.

It is a brave, perhaps reckless, composer who invokes that kind oflineage but the new symphony can hold its head up in their presence. A Vaughan Williams hymn tune is the thread from which Matthews weavesthe work, but he does more than play “theme and variations” with it. He fashions it into a scintillating rhapsody. It is meticulously crafted butMatthews allows himself moments of playful fantasy: fruity writing forcontrabass clarinet and the tubbiest of tubas, slinky passages for marimbaand vibraphone, some exquisite music to invoke dawn in the finalmovement… a moving climax… the BBC National Orchestra of Walesunder Jac van Steen played as if the symphony held an honoured place inits repertoire.’

Evening Standard (Nick Kimberley), 3 August 2007

‘… it’s his structural grip and

the music’s inevitability that makesthis symphony so successful.

And important.’

‘… a 35-minute, three-movement work that grew out of its compact,hot-headed central scherzo, written first to a separate commission for avariation on Vaughan Williams’s hymn tune Down Ampney. Indeed thestripped-down ascending and descending essentials of the tune pervadethe whole work; anyone who knows the hymn can get an idea, even on a first listen, of how tautly constructed this symphony is.

The scherzo, barely five minutes long, and with a racing duet forvibraphone and marimba towards its close, is the works high point, butthe more coolly contemplative outer movements, coloured by solos forflugelhorn and bass flute, share a sense of elegant propulsion. Near theend Matthews finally introduces the actual hymn tune in full; at first youfear this will break the spell, but Matthews makes of a potentially banalmoment something beautiful…’

The Guardian (Erica Jeal), 4 August 2007

2

Matthews’s Sixth Symphony premieres at Proms

DAVID MATTHEWS

Symphony No 6 Op 100 (2007)Orchestra. Duration 35 minutes. 3(III=picc+bfl).2.ca.3(II=Ebcl, III=bcl).cbcl.2 – 4331 –timp – perc(3) – harp – cel – strings. Commissioned by The John S Cohen Foundation to celebrateits 40th anniversary in 2005. FP: 2.8.07, BBC Promenade Concerts, Royal Albert Hall, London: BBCNational Orchestra of Wales/Jac van Steen

‘But youcan forget

anydepiction of a “cowlookingover agate”…

Matthews’scow jumpsway acrossthe planet.It mingles

withMahler’salpineclimes.’

PHOTO: MAURICE FOXALL

HIGHLIGHTS

‘… felt atonce

compactand

gargantuan,gorgeous

and insane.’

Amidst a blaze of publicity, and a stunning openingconcert from the Berliner Philharmoniker and SirSimon Rattle, Thomas Adès commenced his residencyas holder of The Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’sChair at Carnegie Hall for the 2007-08 season. On 14November, Rattle and the Berlin players gave the USpremiere of his colossal Tevot, the launch concert of the“Berlin in Lights” festival of culture:

‘In this arresting performance Tevot announced itself as an instantlyessential new work. The Hebrew title refers both to the musical term for bar(or measure) as well as, in certain biblical readings, to Noah’s ark and thereed basket that carried the infant Moses down the Nile. And Mr. Adès haswritten a musical conveyance for feelings of struggle, mortality and loss.

It begins with eerily skittish high figurations in the strings that soundat once ominous and angelic. Moaning swells emerge from the lowerorchestra, and the music builds in intensity and complexity until, in anattempt to break free, a volley of 12-tone-like riffs wildly erupts, clearingaway the angst. The piece segues into its most rhythmically agitated andharmonically gnashing episode.

Then a passage of consoling music with sighing lyrical fragmentsbegins, and you are sure the calming coda to the piece has arrived. Not so.Mr. Adès prolongs this episode for roughly half of the work’s nearly 25-minute length. He keeps coming up with new variants of layered harmony,instrumental sonorities and supple rhythmic figures that keep you hooked.’

The New York Times (Anthony Tommasini), 16 November 2007

‘… announced itself as aninstantly essential new work.’

‘… felt at once compact and gargantuan, gorgeous and insane. It openswith violins caressing glassy harmonics, creating an effect of crystalsbobbing in midair. Bangs, big and small, gather into a hurtling ball ofsound that spins off piccolo riffs, trumpet tones, bass-drum collisions, andsparkles of glockenspiel before slamming into something huge andunyielding. The score eventually reaches a plateau of bliss, an endlessexhalation of melody, which the Berlin strings played with Mahlerianintensity. Adès is one of the few contemporary composers who cannot bediminished by post-intermission Mahler. Not even Das Lied von der Erde,poignantly sung by Ben Heppner and Thomas Quasthoff, could undercutthe schizoid power of Tevot.’

New York Magazine (Justin Davidson), 25 November 2007

‘In Adès’s Tevot… lyrical release is not a momentary digression but thefinal goal. Adès, the former enfant terrible of British music, has maturedwonderfully as a composer; having made his name with brilliant,fiendishly difficult, often insolently ironic pieces, he now uses complicatedmeans to express uncomplicated feelings. Tevot is scored for a hugeorchestra of quintuple winds, five trumpets, eight horns, and so on, butthere are no jokey pseudo-Wagnerisms. The landscape of the openingpages is almost nightmarish: the lower brass creep forward in pitch-blackchordal vanguards, while the strings slither down like slimy rain. The chords are rooted in tonal harmony but are smeared with extra tones.The tempo quickens, the texture grows furiously dense, the percussionassert savage rhythms, chaos looms. If, as Adès says, the ark of his titleconnotes “the ship of the world,” it is foundering in roiling waters.

Halfway through comes a gently shocking change, one that Rattle

and his players pulled off like a collective sleight of hand. The temposlows, the texture thins, dynamics fall to a whisper. With a characteristictrick – narrow chromatic intervals in a choralelike melody widen until thetune assumes a tonal shape – Adès allows his music to fill with tentativelyhopeful light. In one magical passage, the melody descends from the topreaches of the orchestra – piccolos and high violins – into the baritoneand bass ranges, before a nobly arching figure in the trumpets leads themusic into the stratosphere again. The work ends with lonely iterations ofthat trumpet statement against clangs of bells and gongs. This is majesticorchestral oratory, but it’s something other than a scene of triumph;instead, lamentation has changed into a desperate prayer. The harmonyof the ending can be parsed as a kind of “Amen.” The ship sails on.’

The New Yorker (Alex Ross), 3 December 2007

Adès was evident throughout the Carnegie Hallseason as composer, conductor and pianist in a numberof other concerts, recitals and events. As pianist heappeared on 15 November with the BerlinerPhilharmoniker’s chamber group, the ScharounEnsemble, in his own Piano Quintet:

‘Though Mr. Adès is an audaciously inventivecomposer, he evokes older musical idioms andforms with a deft mix of respect and mischief. Inthis quintet he comes across as an EnglishCharles Ives.

It opens with an abbreviated fanfare forviolin. Soon the other instruments join in,putting that motif through discombobulatingtransformations. During bouts of chargedcounterpoint in the strings, you hear the piano asif in the distance, recollecting what sounds like atender folk tune (Schubert, perhaps?), thoughdistorted in the memory.

Eventually, after some aggressively jazzydescending riffs on the piano, the instrumentsbreak into fitful arguments. For all its episodicfervor, the quintet is cogently structured, with, asin classical sonata form, a repeat of the entireopening exposition. The brilliant Berlin musicians gave an articulate andrhapsodic performance, inspired, it seemed, not just by Mr. Adès’sengrossing music but also by his vibrant piano playing.


His New York recital debut followed on 19November and included his Darknesse Visible andTraced Overhead.

‘… among the most accomplished all-around musicians of hisgeneration… incisive, brittle and commanding performances. How doesthis prolific composer find time to practice?


Other events in the season include the New Yorkpremiere of his Three Studies from Couperin(Orchestra of St Luke’s/Xian Zhang – 3 February):

Later, a portrait chamber concert on 29 March withthe Birmingham Contemporary Music Group includeshis Chamber Symphony; Living Toys; Five EliotLandscapes & Court Studies from ‘The Tempest’.

3

Adès’s ‘Tevot’ launches Carnegie Hall residency

AN EXTRACT FROM 'TEVOT'

Torsten Rasch’s first opera,Rotter, received its premierein Cologne on 23 February. A commission from OperKöln, the two-act work brings together three creativetalents from the former East Germany. Whilst Raschhimself hails from Dresden, Katharina Thalbach (long-time companion of the librettist Thomas Brasch) is oneof Germany’s most respected actresses, and hasdirected since the late 1980s.

Dissident writer Brasch (d.2001) was born inYorkshire, (UK) to German Jewish émigré parents in1945. They returned to the Soviet zone ofGermany in 1947 and father and son becamedeeply involved in the political ideologiesof the time. Brasch joined the exodusof writers and artists from the GDRin 1976 and wrote manysuccessful film scripts,novels andplays, some of which he directed.He became highly critical of GDRreality and wrote extensivelyabout the moral bankruptcy of theworld around him.

Torsten Rasch was born in1965, began piano lessons at six and entered the renownedDresdner Kreuzchor at nine.He emigrated to Japan in 1990and earned his living writingover 40 film scores. Onhis return to Germanyhe came to publicattention with thecommission in2003 from theheavy metal bandRammstein, forhis Mein Herz

brennt, which was subsequently recorded on DG andwhich won international acclaim. He has recentlycompleted an orchestral work for the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra.

Rotter displays Germany’s recent monstrous past asbackground landscape to a feverish vision of a manwho is both culprit and victim. He can only functionwhen protected by the community and crumbles whenrequired to be an individual.

There are ten performances running until 13 April.They are conducted by Hermann Bäumer.

‘Piano Trio’ in printFaber Music Ltd is delighted to announcepublication ofRasch’s 2005 PianoTrio, the first of his compositions tobe printed.

Following itspremiere at the 2006Cheltenham Festivalthe work wasreferred to in TheGuardian newspaperas being “out of itstime” and having “a clarity of visionentirely Rasch’s own”.

‘Mein Herz brennt’ to come to London

Mein Herz brennt, Rasch’s astonishing55-minute orchestral song-cycle on texts

by the German industrial metal band,Rammstein, is to receive its UK

premiere in 2009 on London’s SouthBank. Vladimir Jurowski will

conduct the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra in the

Royal Festival Hall withthe original soloists,

René Pape andKatharinaThalbach.

4

Torsten Rasch opera opens in Cologne

PHOTO: KLAUS LEFEBVRE

PHO

TO: O

PER KÖLN

Selected Forthcoming Performances

Rotter(world premiere)23.2.08, Cologne, Germany: Oper Köln/dir. Katharina Thalbach/cond. Hermann BäumerFurther perfs: February 29; March 2, 8, 14, 16, 18; April 5, 11, 13, 2008

HIGHLIGHTS

‘… ahaunting,musicallycomplex,

ingeniouslyscored and

oftendisturbing

piece.’

Praise for premieres of Benjamin’s operaIn recent months George Benjamin’s ‘lyric tale’, Into theLittle Hill has been acclaimed on both sides of theAtlantic, following performances by Anu Komsi, HilarySummers, and the Ensemble Modern under Franck Olluof the original Festival d’Automne production, at theLincoln Center Festival, and in Frankfurt.

In New York, critics were praised the work:

‘… anything but a safe and modest work… Into the Little Hill cameacross as a haunting, musically complex, ingeniously scored and oftendisturbing piece. In one stroke, Mr Benjamin is claiming a place amid therich experimental operatic works of British composers…

…the overall impact of the female voices against the colourfulchamber ensemble, rich with the unusual sonorities of a bass flute andeven a banjo, conveyed the emotional and psychological force that theopera was after.’

The New York Times (Anthony Tommasini), 28 July 2007

‘… the net effect was of lovelinesscoiled into dread.’

‘The English composer, now forty-seven, has developed a late-modernistlanguage that is scrupulous and sensuous in equal measure. The novelbeauties of the instrumental writing, such as the admixture of cymbals toan eerie duet of basset horns, or enigmatic conversations between a bassflute and a cimbalom, cast a spell, yet the net effect was of lovelinesscoiled into dread.’

The New Yorker (Alex Ross), 20 August 2007

‘During the Lincoln Center Festival in July the John Jay Theater was filledfor the American premiere of an opera of sorts by George Benjamin, a 47-year-old British composer not well known in the United States. Intothe Little Hill is Mr. Benjamin’s updated telling of the Pied Piper ofHamelin story, a 40-minute work for two singers (playing multiple roles)and chamber ensemble: astringently modern, disorienting and riveting. Iwas pleased just to be a member of an audience so ready to grapple witha daring new work.’

New York Times survey of the Best in Music in 2007(Anthony Tommasini) 23 December 2007

During the Frankfurt performances (9-11November) the work was recorded for future release onNimbus Records. The disc will also include DanceFigures and Sometime Voices:

‘Die stimmliche Präsenz und souverän versammelte Ausdruckskraft beiderSängerinnen ist eindrucksvoll und raumfüllend, man würde ihnen jedeandere Geschichte abnehmen. Franck Ollu und das Ensemble Modernrealisieren eine präzise ausgeführte Fülle an Klangfarben in dynamischerFeinstabstimmung mit den beiden Sängerinnen, so dass die Musik einfaszinierend kompaktes Geschehen bildet, eine anheimelnde undungewohnte Klangwelt, die leuchtende Inseln in den düsteren Raumbringt… eine arrondierte Umgebung von gleichmäßig hoher Intensität.Niemand will hier einen Mythos entzaubern, niemand gräbt im kleinenHügel nach den Tatsachen.’

Frankfurter Rundschau (Hans-Jürgen Linke ), 12 November 2007

Future performancesThe high-profile UK arts review by Sir Brian McMasternoted in January that Into the Little Hill is “by allaccounts a blazing masterpiece”, which has never beenperformed in the UK. “I think that’s an indictment ofthe funding system. I can see why it’s happened and alot of it’s linked to targetology and that’s something weshould remove.”

Thankfully Into the Little Hill receives its long-awaited UK premiere in Liverpool on 17 and 18 April,part of the year-long celebration of that city as EuropeanCapital City of Culture.

Thereafter, it travels to Austria (Wiener Festwochen– 4 & 5 June), Switzerland (Lucerne Festival – 23 & 24August) and Italy (Settembre Musica in Milan and Turin– 19 & 21 September).

The London premiere is set for February 2009,when a new production by The Opera Group andLondon Sinfonietta will be unveiled at the LinburyTheatre at The Royal Opera House.

In the Daily Telegraph’s “Review of the Year”, criticRupert Christiansen wrote in December 2007:

‘I was... enthralled by George Benjamin’s extraordinary miniature Into theLittle Hill, which I saw in Amsterdam. The latter is due to receive itsBritish première next year as part of Liverpool’s City of Culture jamboree:nobody seriously interested in the future of opera should miss it.’

5

New film launches Vaughan Williams anniversary

6

26 August 2008 sees the 50th anniversary of the

death of one of England’s finest composers,

Ralph Vaughan WilliamsThroughout the year countless performances of hismusic will pay tribute to a questing, searchingcomposer,whose musical style was,perhaps, the first tosucceed in portraying “Englishness”.

The year got off to the best possible start with thescreening of a new 3-hour documentary film on the lifeof Vaughan Williams by award-winning director, TonyPalmer. ‘O Thou Transcendent’ was broadcastnationwide on Channel 5 TV on New Year’s Day, andthen released on a commercial DVD. The film seeks toshed new light on this doyen of the English MusicalRenaissance and to portray him as one of the century’s

most unsettling composers.It includes interviewsfrom a broad spectrum offans, such as John Adams,Harrison Birtwistle, MarkAnthony Turnage, MichaelKennedy,Michael Tippett andImogen Holst:

‘Quite simply, superb… a compellingvision. I’m not even remotely English, yetthis filled me with a fierce pride on theirbehalf, for producing so towering yet soquintessential a composer.’

BBC Music Magazine (Michael ScottRohan), February 2008

Works available from Faber Music Ltd:OPERA

*Hugh the Drover – romantic ballad opera in 3 acts (1910-14)

ORCHESTRAL

Heroic Elegy & Triumphal March (in preparation) (1901)

*Hugh’s Song of the Road – tenor & orchestra (1910-14)

*March Past of the Kitchen Utensils from ‘The Wasps’ (1909)

Music to The Wasps of Aristophanes (1909)

Nocturne (‘Whispers of Heavenly Death’) (in preparation) (1908)

*Old King Cole – ballet suite (1923)

*Pastoral Symphony (No 3) (1916-21)

*Overture from ‘The Wasps’ (1909)

*Suite from ‘The Wasps’ (1909)

CHORAL

*Mass in G Minor – unaccompanied SATB choir (1920-21)

*Sancta Civitas – oratorio for tenor, baritone, semi-chorus, SATB chorus & orchestra (1923-25)

*Three Choral Hymns – baritone or tenor solo, SATB chorus & orchestra (or organ, or piano) (1929)

Two Partsongs (1895-6)

CHAMBER

*Merciless Beauty – high voice & string trio, or piano (1921)

Nocturne & Scherzo – string quintet (1906)

Piano Quintet in C Minor – violin, viola, cello, double bass & piano (1903)

Quintet in D Major – clarinet, horn, violin, cello & piano (1898)

Scherzo – string quintet (1904)

String Quartet in C Minor (1898)

*String Quartet in G Minor (1909/21)

INSTRUMENTAL

*Romance and Pastorale – violin & piano (1923)

BRASS BAND

Tuba Concerto (arr Phillip Littlemore) – tuba &brass band (1954)

The Wasps Overture (arr. Gary Westwood) (1909)

(*available from Faber Music Ltd in thefollowing territories: UK, Eire, Canada,Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Jamaica andSouth Africa)

7

HIGHLIGHTS

Stan Tracey’s ‘Genesis’ at the BarbicanNow in his 81st year, Stan Tracey brought his Big Band to London’s Barbican Hall for arousing concert on 30 January this year. The highpoint was the London premiere of his45-minute Genesis suite:

Faber composers were much in evidence in StPetersburg, in November last year, as a result of twoseparate festivals.

Adès focus at “New Horizons”In the inaugural “New Horizons” festival at the

Marinsky Theatre, the theme was British culture andthey chose to celebrate one featured composer –Thomas Adès – in addition to a number of other Britishcultural icons such as William Orbit, Jasper Conran,Stephen Frears, Hanif Kureishi,Alex James, Sir NormanRosenthal and Jon Snow, amongst many others.

The festival was the brainchild of enigmatic Indian-born cultural impresario Pablo Ganguli and was the firstever festival of British-Russian arts, cultural diplomacy,ideas, literature and music to be held in Russia. Theprogramme consisted of stimulating debates,discussions, talks, Q&A sessions, lectures andinterviews. Programme topics range from freedom ofspeech to global terrorism; literature to visual arts; andfashion to history.

British director AlexanderZeldin, persuaded ValeryGergiev that the theatreshould stage a newproduction of Adès’schamber opera PowderHer Face and this

formed one of thehighlights of thefestival, with thecast comprisingMaire O’Brien,Valdine Anderson,Daniel Normanand StephenRichardson.

Two other major Adès works received their Russianpremieres. Adès conducted his Asyla with the MarinskyOrchestra, whilst Valery Gergiev directed that orchestrain the Violin Concerto, with soloist Anthony Marwood.

David Matthews headlines British Music FestivalLater that month, David Matthews was featured at aBritish Music Festival in the city. The Artistic Directorwas British conductor Rudi Eastwood, and it wasproduced by British arts patron Edward Clark. The 12-concert festival encompassed music from Purcell toMatthews with many other great names inbetweensuch as Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Delius and Arnold,hitherto unknown to many of the Russian audiences.

Matthews was represented by the first Russianperformance of his symphonic poem A Vision and a

Journey, in performance by the State AcademicOrchestra and Matthew Taylor. Also performedwas The Sleeping Lord by a student ensemble

conducted by Maxim Valkov.Malcolm Arnold’s music featured

heavily too, with the String Quartet No 2and the Fifth Symphony.

There was also a welcome focus onthe music of one of Faber Music’s

Millennium Series composers, JamesFrancis Brown, whose orchestral

work Prospero’s Islewas heard. His

Millennium Seriescommission,

Sinfonietta, willbe released for

sale shortly.

Faber composers in St Petersburg

‘For those in the know, Stan Traceyhas been the doyen of British jazzpianists since the 1960s, but he hashad to wait until the onset of hiseighties for the kind of recognition hehas long deserved, with a CBE in the

recent New Year’s Honours list, swiftly followed by a celebratoryBarbican concert… all the Tracey characteristics abundantly on show:stark dissonant chords, spiky variations on the melody line, proddingleft-hand fragments of theme, and cascading clusters of notes.Tracey’s idiosyncratic style made him the strongest soloist of the night.

The evening rounded off with Tracey’s Genesis suite. Over ahard-swinging rhythm, the solos got better and better, with MarkNightingale’s roaring trombone, Henry Lowther’s flowing trumpet andAlan Barnes’s nimble baritone saxophone outstanding. Not fornothing were Tracey’s earlier large ensembles known as the Big Brass.His writing favours this section in particular, but when he finished witha reflective solo piano coda, it was immediately obvious that it wasfrom this small man at the keyboard that all the big band’s strengthand inspiration had flowed.’

The Times (Alyn Shipton), 1 February 2008

8

Adès wins South BankShow AwardIn a major scoop, all threenominations for the Classicalcategory of the prestigious 2008South Bank Show Awards were given to events featuringFaber composers.

The award was won by theBarbican Centre’s retrospective:

“Traced Overhead:The Musical World of Thomas Ades”.The focus ran throughout March and April 2007 andincluded the UK premiere of Adès’s most recentorchestral work, Tevot given by the BerlinerPhilharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle. Adès collectedthe award during the lavish ceremony held at London’sDorchester Hotel on 29 January.

Julian Anderson was nominated for his Alleluia forchorus and orchestra, which re-opened the RoyalFestival Hall on 11 June 2007, following it multi-millionpound refurbishment. The performance was given bythe London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus underVladimir Jurowski.

Finally, Birmingham Contemporary Music Groupwas nominated for their concert conducted by OliverKnussen at the 2007 BBC Proms (29 August), whichincluded performances of Knussen’s own Requiem(recent winner at the British Composer Awards) andOphelia Dances Book 1, together with JulianAnderson’s Book of Hours, together with Webern’s FivePieces for Orchestra.

The South Bank Show Awards ceremony is the onlyone in the world to honour artists and performers fromacross the arts, with the 33 nominees spanningfilm, TV, music, theatre,literature, opera, dance andthe visual arts.

“It’s an extraordinary rollcall in achievement across thespectrum in the arts,” said hostMelvyn Bragg of this year’snominations. “Whatever else ishappening, the arts in thiscountry are still at full throttle.”

The awards were broadcast onITV1 on 3 February.

Hat-trick at British Composer AwardsThree Faber composers were victorious at the 2007British Composer Awards, held at Glaziers’ Hall onLondon’s South Bank on 5 December.

From a total of eight Faber works on the finalshortlist, Oliver Knussen, Julian Anderson and ThomasAdès all came away with the award in the Vocal, Choraland Orchestral categories respectively.

Knussen and Anderson were there in person tocollect their awards: the former for his Requiem – Songsfor Sue, whilst Anderson received his for Heaven is Shyof Earth, the large-scale choral/orchestral workpremiered at the 2006 BBC Proms.

Adès scooped the Orchestral award for his Tevot,and the prize was collected on his behalf by SallyCavender, Director, Performance Music and Vice-Chairman at Faber Music Ltd.

Hindson’s AuroraFestival awardMatthew Hindson’sAurora Festival of newmusic has won theAward for OutstandingContribution by anOrganisation at the 2007

Australian Classical Music Awards.The composer founded and curates the biennial

festival,which started in April 2006,and is Sydney’s onlynew music festival. Hindson collected the award at theannual ceremony in Sydney in September 2007. Thenext Aurora Festival commences on 11 April. Seewww.aurorafestival.com.au

Greenwood scoops UK & US awardsJonny Greenwood has been awarded Best FilmScore in the Evening Standard British Film Awards,and Best Composer of 2007 by the Broadcast FilmCritics Association in the USA. The award cameas the result of his score for the multi-Oscarnominated film, There Will Be Blood, a grittydrama directed by Paul Thomas Anderson,starring Daniel Day-Lewis and set amidst theturn-of-the-century Texan oil boom.

The score was also nominated for aBAFTA (British Academy of Film and

Television Award – see also p.30).

Awards aplenty for Faber composers

SIGNIFICANT ANNIVERSARIES Coming up in the next few years are

the following:

Peter Sculthorpe – 80th birthday (29 April 2009)

Jonathan Harvey – 70th birthday (3 May 2009)

George Benjamin – 50th birthday (31 January 2010)


Howard GoodallExclusive publishing agreement with

Faber Music LtdFaber Music is honoured and delighted to announce thesigning of an exclusive publishing agreement withHoward Goodall. A household name for his popularfilm and television scores – ranging from The Vicar ofDibley to Blackadder and Mr Bean – Howard Goodallis also very much in the public eye as the UKGovernment’s “Singing Ambassador”, mastermindingthe National Singing Programme (for which FaberMusic is providing publishing services).

Faber Music already publishes a number of Howard’smost important choral works. As such,the new agreementmarks the culmination of a burgeoning relationship, andalongside an ongoing commitment to his choral andconcert works the company will now handle the rights inGoodall’s large catalogue of film and television works aswell as his very popular stage musicals, which includeDays of Hope and The Dreaming.

Immediately forthcoming projects include a large-scale choral/orchestral Requiem for London Musici,TheChoir of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford and theRambert Dance Company (choreographed by MarkBaldwin). This will begin preview touring in September2008, having its world premiere on Armistice Day (11November) at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. It will also bereleased as a commercial recording.

Commissioned to mark London Musici’s 20th anniversary, Goodall’s Requiem integrates Latinand English texts and explores the grief, loss and solaceof those that mourn, rather than the traditionalChristian concept of a mass of intercession on behalf ofthe departed. Receiving its London performancesduring the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I,three of its movements, including the ‘Dies Irae/InFlanders Fields’, combine Biblical images of apocalypsewith the loss and hell unleashed on those that grieve for the young.

In May, a 10-minute work for cello and stringorchestra, And the Bridge is Love, is to bepremiered at the Chipping CamdenFestival, with soloist Julian LloydWebber, with a series ofsubsequent performances inthe summer and autumnincluding Birmingham TownHall and the EdinburghInternational Festival.

Howard’s new musical LoveStory, based on Erich Segal’sblockbuster novella, isexpected to be producedin early 2009.

One of the highlights of recent UK TV schedules wasthe BBC period drama Cranford, after the novels byElizabeth Gaskell. With an all-star cast including DameJudi Dench, Francesca Annis, Michael Gambon and JimCarter, the lavish five-part series was enhanced furtherby a memorable score composed by Carl Davis. In thetradition of his success with Pride & Prejudice, Davisprovided a beautifully lyrical opening theme that hasnow been turned into a concert work.

The three-minute Cranford – Theme (for smallorchestra) was premiered by Davis with the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall on 22 February.

Davis is now preparing a 10-minute Cranford – Suite,for premiere with the City of Birmingham SO in July.

For further details of both works, please contact thePromotion Department, [email protected].

(See also Media Spotlight, p.30)

‘Marie Curie – A Portrait’A new work by Davis, for solo violin & viola withstrings, will be premiered by the EnglishChamber Orchestra on 30 April in a charityconcert in the Wren Chapel of The RoyalHospital, Chelsea. Marie Curie – A Portrait

lasts 13 minutes and derives from Davis’sscore from a 1977 TV series.

9

‘Cranford’ in concert!

HIGHLIGHTS

PHOTO: RICHARD CANNON

PHOTO: JACKIE DI STEFANO

Lucerne Festival residency includespremiere of new work for piano and orchestraBenjamin’s first work for solo instrument and orchestrawill be premiered as part of a composer portrait at theLucerne Festival in August this year.

Scored for piano and orchestra, the work is the fourth of the Roche commissions, emanating from the Swiss pharmaceutical company, Roche – the earlier commissions were given to Sir HarrisonBirtwistle, Chen Yi and Hanspeter Kyburz. Benjamin’snew work has been written for the composer’s longtime friend and advocate Pierre-Laurent Aimard toperform with The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst on 30 August. The same forces later give the USpremiere in Cleveland from 25-27 September. The NewYork premiere takes place at Carnegie Hall on 6February 2009.

Benjamin’s residency at the Lucerne Festivalincludes a number of other major highlights, not leastthe Swiss premiere of the original production of Intothe Little Hill on 23 and 24 August, reprised by AnuKomsi, Hilary Summers, Ensemble Modern andBenjamin himself will conduct it for the first time.

He also conducts Ensemble Intercontemporain on 17 August in At First Light and Three Inventions for Chamber Orchestra. He will give a concert with students from the Lucerne Musikhochschule that features a number of his works including tworecent piano works, together with At First Light andUpon Silence.

During the festival Pierre Boulez will conduct theEnsemble of the Lucerne Festival Academy in twoperformances of the work which Benjamin dedicatedto him, Palimpsests.

Orchestre de Paris premieres Bach arrangementChristoph Eschenbach and the Orchestre de Parispremiered a newly-commissioned arrangement byBenjamin of a Canon and Fugue from Bach’s “The Art ofFugue” at the Cité de la Musique in Paris on 16December. Lasting 7-8 minutes, the transcription isscored for flute, two horns and six solo strings.

‘Dance Figures’ on- and off-stageBenjamin’s most recent orchestral work, DanceFigures, continues to gain admirers worldwide.

On 2 February Oliver Knussen presented the workin Miami with the New World SO, before he conducts itin London’s Barbican Hall with the BBC SO on 29March. David Robertson revisits the work with twoperformances with the Concertgebouw Orchestra onAmsterdam on 28 and 29 February.

The original ballet production (which also includesRinged by the Flat Horizon) returns to the stage whendance company Rosas and the Orchestre de la Monnaie(under Naohiro Totsuka) give performances of AnnaTeresa de Keersmaeker’s sumptuous choreography inthe Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels (20-22 March).

BBC SO portrait for “Discovering Music”Benjamin himself conducted Dance Figures, togetherwith Sudden Time, as part of a fascinating BBC SOevent on 20 November 2007. The concert featuredBenjamin talking about both works, illustrated byextracts performed on the piano (the composer) and bythe orchestra. The whole was broadcast as part of BBCRadio 3’s “Discovering Music” series on 21 January.

Lyon Conservatoire portraitBenjamin was in Lyon on 16 November last year, whena portrait of his music was given at the Conservatoireby the Lyon Atelier XXe siècle under Fabrice Pierre. Theconcert included Three Inventions for ChamberOrchestra, both versions of Upon Silence and Viola, Viola.

Messiaen FestivalBenjamin features prominently in the SouthbankCentre’s “From the Canyons to the Stars”, a year-longMessiaen festival curated by Pierre-Laurent Aimard tomark the composer’s centenary in 2008.

Highlights include the Philharmonia Orchestraperforming Sudden Time on 21 October andShadowlines for piano on 23 October.

10

George BenjaminSelectedForthcomingPerformances

Dance Figures28 & 29.2.08, Amsterdam, TheNetherlands: ConcertgebouwOrchestra/David Robertson29.3.08, Barbican, London, UK:BBC SO/Oliver Knussen

Meditation onHaydn’s Name5.3.08, Festival Nous Sons,Barcelona, Spain: LaiaMasramon

At First Light8.3.08, aspekteSalzburg,Salzburg, Austria: AustrianEnsemble of New Music/Franck Ollu19 & 20.3.08, Dijon & Chalonsur Saone, France: EnsembleOrchestral des Professeurs desCnr de Dijon et Chalon/Philippe Cambreling10.4.08, Toronto, Canada, GGSNew Music Ensemble/BrianCurrent/Canadian Opera

Piano Figures18.3.08, Philadelphia, PA,USA: Pierre-Laurent Aimard

Dance Figures &Ringed by theFlat Horizon20-22.3.08 (ballet), Brussels,Belgium: Rosas/Orchestre de laMonnaie/chor. de Keersmaeker/Naohiro Totsuka

Three Inventionsfor ChamberOrchestra30.3 & 2.4.08, Valenciennes & Paris, France: EnsembleIntercontemporain/Susanna Mälkki

Octet13.4.08, Milan, Italy: OrchestraAccademia d’Arte e Mestieri/Olivier Cuendet

Into the Little Hill(with Three Miniatures for SoloViolin & Viola, Viola)(UK premiere)(performances by Anu Komsi,Hilary Summers, EnsembleModern & Franck Ollu17 & 18.4.08, Pacific Road ArtsCentre, Liverpool, UK:(Austrian premiere)4 & 5.6.08, WienerFestwochen, Jugenstiltheater,Vienna(Swiss premiere)(see under Lucerne Festival)(Italian premiere)19 & 21.9.08, Milan & Turin

Viola, Viola27.4.08, Geneva, Switzerland:Ensemble Contrechamps (GarthKnox/Genevieve Strosser)

Antara(Swedish premiere)2-4.5.08, Gothenburg:Gageego/Franck Ollu

Ringed by theFlat Horizon6.8.08, London: BBC SO/George Benjamin

New work(world premiere)(perfs by Pierre-Laurent Aimard/The Cleveland Orchestra/Franz Welser-Möst)30.8.08, Lucerne Festival,Switzerland(US premiere)25-27.9.08, Severance Hall,Cleveland, OH, USA

Palimpsests(European tour by JungeDeutsche Philharmonie &George Benjamin)21.9.08, Cologne (Germany),22.9 Turin/Milan (Italy), 23.9Perugia (Italy), 25.9 Ghent(Belgium), 27.9 Essen(Germany)

FROM THE ROSAS BALLET OF 'DANCE FIGURES' & 'RINGED BY THE FLAT HORIZON'. PHOTO: HERMAN SORGELOOS

SECTION HEAD

Jonathan HarveyChoral/orchestral commission premiered

in Berlin’s PhilharmonieHarvey travels to Berlin in

March this year for his secondmajor premiere in the

Philharmonie in less thana year. Following thesuccess of the Berliner

Philharmoniker’s Germanpremiere of Madonna ofWinter and Spring last year,

the Berlin Radio Choir haveco-commissioned a new work,

together with the FundaciónPatronata Semana de

Musica Religiosa de Cuencain Spain. Messages, for chorus

and orchestra, lasts 25 minutesand sets a text consists entirely of

names of angels. The premiere takes placeon 29 and 30 March, with Reinbert de Leeuwconducting the Radio Choir and the BerlinerPhilharmoniker. The Spanish premiere takes place inCuenca in 2009.

Portuguese premiere for ‘Madonna’Porto’s stunning Casa de Musica staged the Portuguesepremiere of Madonna of Winter and Spring fororchestra and live electronics, on 23 September lastyear. The Orquestra Nacional do Porto and BaldurBrönnimann were the performers with the composer atthe mixing desk.

‘Speakings’ – orchestral commissionThe final fruit of Harvey’s period as Composer-in-Association to the BBC Scottish SO is Speakings, a new25-minute work for orchestra and live electronics. It isa co-commission from the BBC and IRCAM and willutilise new developments from IRCAM research inwhich speaking voice characteristics are superimposedon orchestral sound. It forms the middle work in theBuddhist trilogy which also includes Body Mandalaand ...towards a pure land.

NMC to release orchestral discThe UK’s leading new music label, NMC, is to release anall-Harvey orchestral disc to mark his period as Composer-in-Association to the BBC SSO. Due for release in April2008 the disc will comprise two of the works written forthe BBC SSO (… towards a pure land and BodyMandala), in addition to three earlier works (Timepieces,Tranquil Abiding and White as Jasmine). All arepremiere recordings and are conducted by Ilan Volkov.

‘Sprechgesang’ – new oboe concertinoHarvey’s most recent ensemble work is the 9-minuteSprechgesang for oboe/cor anglais and ensemble, a co-commission from Asko Ensemble, Klangforum Wien,musikFabrik and Kunststiftung NRW. It received its UK

premiere at the Huddersfield Festival of ContemporaryMusic in November last year. Peter Veale was the soloistwith Etienne Siebens conducting MusikFabrik:

‘… a perfectly constructed little oboe concertante that implies so muchmore than it states, rather than so much less.’

The Sunday Times (Paul Driver), 25 November 2007

‘Jonathan Harvey avoided words altogether in his distinctiveSprechgesang, in which the entire musikFabrik ensemble provided acolourful backcloth to a virtuosic imitation of spoken language expressivelycreated on oboe and cor anglais by Peter Veale.’

The Independent (Lynne Walker), 21 November 2007

The French premiere took place at the AgoraFestival in Paris, with further performances inStrasbourg (MUSICA) and at the Venice Biennale. TheGerman premiere takes place on 2 April, with Vealeonce more the soloist, with Ensemble Modern underPeter Eötvös.

‘Angels’ disc reviews & awardAcclaim continues for the Soupir disc of Harvey's choralmusic released by Les Jeunes Solistes last year. In France, itwas awarded the Orphée d'Or Olivier Messiaen.

‘One of the most impressive aspects of this recital of recent choral works byJonathan Harvey is the admixture of different types of material within adisconcertingly coherent whole. In many of the pieces heard here, thesetypes stand for specific ideas or attitudes (a stance reminiscent ofMessiaen); thus in Marahi, angels are expressed as triads, …humans asmonody, and animal sounds are realistically and lovingly rendered byRachid Safir’s singers. … Equally impressive throughout is Harvey’ssubtle approach to harmony. The Sanctus from the Missa Brevis isparticularly telling, as pure triads move in and out of focus: simple ploys,certainly, but rendered with great subtlety.’

Gramophone (Fabrice Fitch), October 2007

‘British choirs that focus on unaccompanied contemporary music are oftentechnically brilliant but lack soul. Not so Rachid Safir’s French outfit:there’s humanity in the voices, which suits the caring spirit of Harvey’smystical music.’

The Times (Geoff Brown), 8 June 2007

‘… shows a side of Jonathan Harvey’s output less familiar to modernistlisteners. … in an era of art for art’s sake, Harvey is happy to subdue hispersonality in communal, functional music… Transcendentally beautifulmusic, beautifully recorded…’

The Wire (Andy Hamilton)

Composer Portrait at ISCM World Music DaysHarvey travels to Lithuania in October this year, whenhe will be one of the two Featured Composers at theISCM World Music Days and the Gaida Festival inVilnius, running from 24 October to 7 November.

Highlights will include the world premiere of acello octet to be given by the Conjunto Ibérico, theBaltic premieres of …towards a pure land, TheSummer Cloud’s Awakening (a half-hour work forchorus and electronics based on a phrase from Tristan)and Songs of Li Po, and a sound installation basedaround Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco.

11

TUNING IN

SelectedForthcomingPerformances

Come HolyGhost10.3.08, European ChoirFestival, Martin Luther Kirche,Gutersloh, Germany: JoyfulCompany of Singers/PeterBroadbent

Hidden Voice 114.3.08, Caen, France:Orchestre de Caen

Messages(world premiere)29 & 30.3.08, Philharmonie,Berlin, Germany: RundfunkchorBerlin/Berliner Philharmoniker/Reinbert de Leeuw

Sprechgesang2.4.08, Alte Oper Frankfurt,Germany: Christian Hommel/Ensemble Modern/Peter Eötvös

Interludes andExcerpts fromWagner Dream*& String QuartetNo 4(world premiere*)10 & 12.4.08, “IRCAM SummerSchool Concert”, City Halls,Glasgow, UK: BBC Scottish SO/Ilan Volkov

Tombeau deMessiaen27.4.08, Geneva, Switzerland:Sylvie Barberi

Tranquil Abiding25.5.08, Brighton Festival, UK:Philharmonia Orchestra/Sir Andrew Davis

Speakings(world premiere)5.6.08, Agora Festival, Paris:Orchestre Philharmonique de laRadio France/Pascal Rophé(UK premiere)19.8.08, London, UK:BBC SSO/Ilan VolkovSeptember 2008, Glasgow CityHalls, UK: BBC SSO/Ilan Volkov

Wheel ofEmptiness7.6.08, CBSO Centre,Birmingham, UK: BCMG/Pierre-André Valade

FeaturedComposer atISCM WorldMusic Days/Gaida Festival2008(24 October-7 NovemberVilnius, Lithuania)Performances to include Newcello octet (world premiere);…towards a pure land;Songs of Li Po, TheSummer Cloud’sAwakening; MortuosPlango Vivos Voco

‘Transcend-entally

beautifulmusic,

beautifullyrecorded

…’

PHO

TO: M

AURIC

E FOXALL

Acclaim for new biographyA fascinating new biography of Sculthorpe by Australianmusicologist Graeme Skinner, has been published bythe University of New South Wales Press. “PeterSculthorpe – The Making of a Composer” is the first oftwo volumes and covers the composer’s life until from1929 to 1974. The second volume will take in the post-1974 period.

At almost 700 pages in length the biographyprovides unique insights to the composer’s formativeyears and is the most comprehensive study of him everto be made. Indeed, it caused the composer to write:“I’ve told everyone that if they find a discrepancy…then Graeme’s [book] will always be right.”:

'… this incredibly detailed and immensely enjoyable book canalready be considered indispensable, tracing as it does the artisticdevelopment not just of an individual but of a nation as it moves towardsa musical maturity both sophisticated and highly distinctive.'

Gramophone (William Yeoman), March 2008

17th Quartet premieres at Huntington FestivalPeter Sculthorpe’s output of quartets is one of the mostimpressive of our time. The most recent is No 17,commissioned by Kenneth Tribe, through Musica Viva,especially for the Goldner Quartet, and premiered bythem as part of the Huntington Estate Music Festival inNew South Wales, on 29 November. The quartet takesthe form of three songs framed by a Prelude and aCadenza, and a Postlude. The movements are:Prelude and Cadenza; A Song of Assurance; A Song of Deliverance;A Love Songand Postlude:

‘Peter Sculthorpe has written his StringQuartet No 17 playfully aware that with thisnumber he goes one better (numerically) thanBeethoven’s tally of complete string quartets.With this in mind, Sculthorpe has drawn hiswork’s motivic kernels from the little mottothemes that Beethoven placed at the head ofthe final movement of his last quartet,accompanied by the German words for: “Must it be? It must be.”

The Sydney Morning Herald (Roger Covell), 5 December 2007

Presteigne FestivalresidencyAs the Presteigne Festival’s FeaturedComposer in August last year,Sculthorpe enjoyed a number of performances of hisworks including the first performance of a new versionof Songs of Sea & Sky for saxophone and piano (AmyDickson), Alice Neary performing Cello Dreaming forcello, strings and percussion, and the French PsophosQuartet taking up the Eighth Quartet:

‘But it was From Nourlangie by the veteran Australian composer PeterSculthorpe which made the deepest impression. With a wonderful build-upof effect from the clarinet, violin and piano trio, this North Australian land-and seascape was so timelessly evocative that I just didn’t want it to end.

There was more wonderful Sculthorpe in Friday evening’s very specialconcert from the exciting young Psophos Quartet, when his String QuartetNo.8, again proudly Australian in its content, gripped a packed audience.

Outer movements largely for solo cello use its capacity formultitexturing to evoke the didgeridoo (that instrument again), crystallineupper strings provide glacial harmonics, and funky percussive stringpatternings bring an Indonesian feel to central movements. Sculthorpeplanted a kiss on both cheeks of these remarkable demoiselles at the end,and who could blame him?…’

The Birmingham Post (Christopher Morley), 28 August 2007

‘Sculthorpe’s Nocturnal was also completely riveting and tantalizinglyatmospheric, in places sounding like moonlight glistening on a tropical pool…

Alice Neary… here gave a stunning account of Sculthorpe’s CelloDreaming, her solo part singing over the complex string accompanimentand exotic percussion (beautifully fashioned by Vass and his PFO) in aglorious threnody, at other times keening like a bird (wonderful control ofharmonics) and even imitating a didgeridoo.

The Birmingham Post (David Hart), 30 August 2007

‘But at the centre of it all was the music of Peter Sculthorpe, one of GeorgeVass’s more inspired choices, and Sculthorpe’s wonderful Cello Dreaming(one of the composer’s own favourites) summed up the strong yet deeplyreflective nature of his music. Copies of the CD vanished from the tablewithin minutes.’

The Hereford Times (Roger Nichols), 6 September 2007

Fourth Sonata premieres at Four Winds FestivalSculthorpe is Guest of Honour at the FourWinds Festival in Bermagui, New SouthWales from 21-23 March. Performancesinclude the world premiere of the FourthSonata for Strings, a reworking of theString Quartet No 16, that will alsoincorporate a solo didjeridu part for thevirtuoso William Barton. Also, aperformance Cello Dreaming for cello(David Pereira), didjeridu, strings andpercussion.

All-Sculthorpe chamber discreleased in SpainA new disc of music for piano trio hasbeen released on the Spanish labelVerso in performance by members of

the Plural Ensemble, with pianist Ananda Sukarlan.“Spirits of Place” includes the premiere recording ofLittle Passacaglia, as well as performances of FromIrkanda III, From Saibai, Djilile, Irkanda I and Night Song.

12

Peter Sculthorpe



Tucson WinterChamber MusicFestival, Tucson,Arizona, USA(March 2008)Jabiru Dreaming & Djilile2 & 3.3.08, Synergy/WilliamBartonSydney Singing4.3.08, Gerard Reuter/Bernadene BlahaString Quartet No 12(From Ubirr)7.3.08, William Barton/BorealisString Quartet

Nourlangie6-8.3.08, Hamer Hall,Melbourne, Australia: JohnWilliams (gtr)/Melbourne SO/Oleg Caetani

String QuartetNo 912.3.08, Adelaide Festival,Adelaide Town Hall, Australia:Australian String Quartet

Fourth Sonatafor Strings(world premiere)22.3.08, Four Winds Festival,Bermagui, NSW, Australia:William Barton (didjeridu)/FourWinds Philharmonia

Cello Dreaming23.3.08, Four Winds Festival,Bermagui, NSW, Australia:David Pereira (cello)/WilliamBarton (didjeridu)/Four WindsPhilharmonia/Roland Peelman

Irkanda IV29.3.08, Beechworth MemorialHall, Beechworth, VIC,Australia: Australian YO/KeithCrellin

String QuartetsNos 8 & 12(From Ubirr)11.4.08, Aurora Festival,Campbelltown Arts Centre,Sydney, Australia: GraingerString Quartet

My CountryChildhood20.4.08, Armadale UnitingChurch, VIC, Australia: KooyongChamber Players/Patrick Young

Mangrove27 & 28.8.08, Sydney OperaHouse, Sydney, Australia:Sydney SO/Tomas Netopil

String QuartetsNos 11, 12,14 & 169.5.08, Canberra InternationalMusic Festival, Australia:William Barton/SculthorpeQuartet

String QuartetNo 816.5.08, Canberra InternationalMusic Festival, Australia:Grainger String Quartet

TUNING IN

Fifth Quartet & Third Sonata steal show at Huntington Estate FestivalVine’s music was centre stage at the Huntington EstateMusic Festival in November last year. One of the mostprestigious events in the Australian musical calendar,the festival (of which Vine is Artistic Director) gatherstogether some of the world’s leading musicians toperform at the renowned vineyard in Mudgee, NewSouth Wales.

Attracting the greatest interest perhaps was theworld premiere of Vine’s own one-movement StringQuartet No 5, in performance by one of Australia’s finestensembles, the Goldner String Quartet. The 20-minutework was commissioned for the occasion by KennethTribe, a leading patron of Australian new music.

In addition, US pianist Elizabeth Schumann gave theAustralian premiere of Vine’s Third Piano Sonata, a workcommissioned for, and premiered by, her as winner ofthe 2004 Gilmore Young Artist Award, a commissionfrom the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival andthe Colburn School:

‘Before the premiere of his fifth quartet, Vine told the audience that therewas no melody or theme, only that it was dedicated to the “finer side ofhumanity”. It is cast as a single movement with clear sections thatsummon different musical cultures from around the world, suggestingmusic’s universality. It began with a slow chorale-like theme, and movedthrough sections that called to mind, variously, Spanish guitar music andfolk fiddle…

As I listened to this, and to Vine’s other works on the program, itstruck me what a musical chameleon he can be. A constant, however, isthe improvisatory quality he gives to solo parts, whether it be to theviolinist in a quartet, or a pianist.

His third piano sonata is in four sections, again performed as a singlemovement. It opens with Messiaen-like chords, and moves into a fantasiawith the mood of a nocturne. A dynamic, rhythmic middle section leads toa tremendous finale.

Schumann is an exciting pianist and Vine could surely not have askedfor a better exponent of the work: he leaped on to the stage tocongratulate her.’

The Australian (Matthew Westwood), 3 December 2007

‘… an attractive, deftly managedclose to a work that invites many

re-hearings.’

‘In Vine’s new fifth quartet it is possible to hear the moment whenmetaphorical windows open on the sinister corridors of the openingsection, letting in a breeze of lyrical and rhythmic contrasts andculminating in a final section in which gentle syncopations and mildlyastringent chording provide an attractive, deftly managed close to a workthat invites many re-hearings.’

The Sydney Morning Herald (Roger Covell), 5 December 2007

Seventh Symphony premiere announcedVine’s Seventh Symphony is to be premiered in Perthon 14 and 15 November this year by the West AustralianSO and Arvo Volmer. More in the next issue.

Sydney Dance Company premieres ‘The Anne Landa Preludes’Graeme Murphy rounded off his 30 years at the helm ofthe Sydney Dance Company with a brand new work setto Vine’s recent piano work, The Anne Landa Preludes.Part of a farewell retrospective programme that ran atthe State Theatre of the Melbourne Arts Centre in July2007 (and then for four further dates in Canberra inSeptember), the new dance work takes its name fromthe first Prelude, “Short Stories”, with the completeevening named “Ever After Ever” in homage to thefourth Prelude.

Graeme Murphy’s ‘Silver Rose’ balletrevived in MunichMeanwhile, Murphy’s all-Vine, full-evening ballet ‘TheSilver Rose’ was revived by the Bayerisches Staatsballetin Munich, in January, with three further performances.The ballet is set to a broad selection of Vine’s orchestralmusic including Pipe Dreams, Choral Symphony (No6),Piano Concerto,Celebrare Celeberrime,Descent andSmith’s Alchemy. The ballet originally premiered inDecember 2005.

‘They Shall Laugh & Sing’ – choral commissionVine has recently completed a 6-minute setting of Psalm65 for chorus and orchestra, They Shall Laugh & Sing.It is the result of a commission from his alma mater,Hale School,who will present the premiere on 9 Augustin Perth Concert Hall.

13

Carl Vine

A PAGE FROM VINE'S STRING QUARTET NO 5


They ShallLaugh & Sing(world premiere)9.8.08, Perth Concert Hall,Perth, Australia: Hale St Mary’sCantate & Hale St Mary’sOrchestra/Andrew Bushell

Symphony No 7(world premiere)14 & 15.11.08, Perth ConcertHall, Perth, Australia: WestAustralian SO/Arvo Volmer

Tansy DaviesPhilharmonia Orchestra presents Davies portraitsIn April the Philharmonia give two concerts of Davies’smusic as part of its ‘Music of Today’ series. The first (11April) is in the Sounds New Festival in Canterbury andwill include Women in Love, a song cycle of texts bythe Trouveres. The second concert takes place at theRoyal Festival Hall, London on 17 April and includes theworld premiere (live) performance of salt box, inaddition to neon and inside out 2.

‘kingpin’ selected as Donatella Flick test piece…kingpin for chamber orchestra has been selected as aset piece for the semi-final stage of the prestigiousDonatella Flick Conducting Competition, to be held inLondon from 30 September to 2 October 2008. All 20entrants will learn the work, with the 10 semi-finalistsperforming it live, with the Guildhall School of Music &Drama Orchestra.

… and premiered in South Americakingpin will receive its South American premiere inSantiago,Chile on 29 and 30 August,when the OrquestaSinfonia de Chile are joined by their new DirectorTitular, the Polish conductor Michal Nesterowicz.

Acclaim for two Birmingham premieresIn February 2007, Birmingham became almost a secondhome for Davies, who enjoyed two major worldpremieres and several workshops in that city.

On 3 February,Thomas Adès conducted BirminghamContemporary Music Group in the first performance ofFalling Angel,a BCMG commission. Then,on 18 February,Paul Daniel conducted the CBSO Youth Orchestra in thepremiere of Streamlines. Both were reviewed in glowingterms in the October issue of ‘Tempo’:

‘Tansy Davies can no longer be described as a ‘rising composer’: two majorworld premières in Birmingham in the same month served notice that shehas emphatically ‘arisen’… [Falling Angel] whose inspiration and titlecame from a painting by German artist Anselm Kiefer. Its high energy hada dark edge (aided by electric harpsichord). Fanfares and marches fuelleddense, multi-layered textures. A folk-like melody introduced a rusticquality, but there was an ever-present sense of danger, of teetering on thebrink – the phrase ‘dancing on a volcano’ came to mind. Under Adès’scommitted guidance, the BCMG players accomplished an overarchingstructural cohesion, whilst conveying the score’s edgy shifts in character,ranging from ‘ethereal’ to ‘effervescent’ via ‘sassy’!

In Symphony Hall, Paul Daniel conducted the première of Davies’sStreamlines, the first work commissioned for the CBSO Youth Orchestra.Influenced by Karl Blossfelt’s photography, which focuses on structure andpatterns in nature, Streamlines treated the orchestra as an organic whole,contrasting sharply with the splintered lines of Falling Angel. Written forhuge forces, including three harps, it was distinguished by resourcefulwriting for percussion (containing dustbin and assorted tin cans). A

gamelan-style section – harps, xylophones and marimba – played a keyrole, and a recurring theme, first heard on oboes and clarinets, suppliedsignposts amid the score’s raucous activity. The orchestra gave a spiritedaccount, punching out spiky tuttis with considerable impact.

David Porcelijin conducts the London Sinfonietta on the orchestra’sown label (SINF CD1-2006) in Davies’s impressive urban soundscapeneon (2004). A chain of self-contained segments (the composer describesthem as ‘boxes’), each powered by their own distinct pulse, grind into oneanother in unstoppable forward motion. Several sections include variedrepeats, forging neon into a raving Rondo. Though the score requirestrash metal, as well as electric keyboard and amplified strings, Davieswriting for soprano saxophone and bass clarinet is equally inventive. Athrilling powerhouse of a scherzo, this self-contained, self-generatingpiledriver of a piece is addictive and riveting – in every sense.’

Tempo (Paul Conway) Volume 61, No 242, October 2007

‘neon’ travels to Warsaw Autumn FestivalThe Warsaw Autumn Festival, one of the highlights onthe European new music calendar, presented the Polishpremiere of neon on 27 September. Zsolt Nagyconducted the Israel Contemporary Players.

String premiere in NorwayThe Sage Gateshead have commissioned Davies towrite a piece exploring different techniques of violinand fiddle playing. The 10-minute work will combinethree different groups of strings, each coming from adifferent playing tradition: Shetland fiddlers, NorwegianHardanger fiddlers, and string players from theNorthern Sinfonia.

The piece will be premiered in April as part of theFartein Valen Festival, Haugesund in Norway and willcome to London shortly afterwards.

Cheltenham Festival premieres co-commissionDavies has been co-commissioned by the CheltenhamFestival and London Sinfonietta to write a 10-minuteensemble work to be premiered as part of theCheltenham Festival in July. The first performance willbe given by the Cheltenham Festival Players, with thesubsequent London premiere being taken up by theLondon Sinfonietta.

Vivienne Westwood orchestral commissionDavies has been commissioned to write an educationalwork by the BBC Concert Orchestra to be premiered on24 October. She will respond musically to one of themany wonderful designs by the celebrated fashiondesigner, Vivienne Westwood, housed within theVictoria & Albert Musuem in London, workshops beginin the summer.

14


neon; salt box &inside out 217.4.08, ‘Music of Today’,Royal Festival Hall, London, UK:members of the PhilharmoniaOrchestra/Peter Rundel

New work(world premiere)24 or 26.4.08, Fartein ValenFestival, Haugesund, Norway: ofHaugesund Chamber Orchestraplus other soloists/ChrisStout/Emma Reid

New work(world premiere)July 2008, Cheltenham Festival,UK: Cheltenham Festival Players

kingpin(South American premiere)29 & 30.8.08, Santiago, Chile:Orquesta Sinfonica de Chile/Michal Nesterowicz(London premiere)1.10.08, Barbican, London, UK:Guildhall School of Music &Drama SO/semi-finalists ofDonatella Flick ConductingCompetition

‘Tansy Davies

can no

longer be

described as

a ‘rising

composer’…

she has

emphatically

‘arisen’.’

‘A thrilling

powerhouse

of a scherzo,

this self-

contained,

self-

generating

piledriver of

a piece is

addictive and

riveting – in

every sense.’

‘Book of Hours’ at Proms, Paris & MontrealAnderson’s Book of Hours for large ensemble and electronics is becoming something of a mini-classic. In recent months, audiences in London, Parisand Montreal are all having the opportunity to sampleits sonorous wares.

At the BBC Proms on 29 August, Oliver Knussenconducted the Birmingham Contemporary MusicGroup in a late-night event that was later nominated forThe South Bank Show’s Classical Award (see p.8):

‘When I first heard Julian Anderson’s Book of Hours, two years ago, itblew me out of my socks with the brilliance of its conceit (I use the wordin the literary sense) and the virtuosity of its acoustic/electronic interplay.And even at the end of a (very) late-night Prom this chamber-orchestracracker sent me out into the midnight streets with a fizz in my soul.

The conceit is that Anderson transfers into music the experience oflooking at two medieval visual treasures: both beautiful but alsoimpossibly distanced from us in spiritual and cultural terms. Part One is apulsating parade mixing Stravinsky’s orgiastic energy with Eastern Europemodality. Perhaps this is the medieval tapestry enthralling itscontemporary observers. Part Two starts with Part One’s opening scalesreplayed through the crackle and hiss of a 78rpm record. The implicationnow is that a forgotten civilisation is being dimly perceived through theobscuring mists of time.

But then comes an explosion. The original music is reinvigorated:complex medieval polyrhythmic techniques are imbued with the force of21st-century rhetoric. That leads to a bone-shaking two-minute blitz byfull-on electronics – a crisis of historical identity, maybe – and then anenigmatic, dance-like coda. Twenty-five minutes of aural magic.’

The Times (Richard Morrison), 31 August 2007

‘Most substantial of all was Julian Anderson’s 2004 Book of Hours, inwhich a beautifully simple opening gives way to vivid instrumentalepisodes punctuated and enhanced by electronically manipulated janglesthat show a delight in sheer sound. It’s a serious work, but one you senseAnderson had fun composing.’

The Guardian (Erica Jeal), 31 August 2007

Anderson attended the French premiere of Book ofHours which took place in the Cité de la Musique,Parison 18 January. Susanna Mälkki conducted the EnsembleIntercontemporain in a programme that also includedHarvey’s Bhakti:

In March Anderson travels to Montreal where he isGuest Composer of the MusiMarch festival at McGillUniversity. The highlight will be a performance of Bookof Hours, being presented on 6 March with DenysBouliane conducting the University Orchestra.

NMC disc awardThe NMC CD ‘Book of Hours’ of Anderson’s recent

orchestral and ensemble music has received the‘Supersonic’ award from the well-known LuxembourgCD journal Pizzicato. This is the highest accolade thatthe magazine bestows upon a recording.

Europe’s finest concert halls present AndersonSome of Europe’s finest concert halls include works byAnderson on their programmes this season:

‘Imagin’d Corners’ in Porto’s Casa da MusicaPorto’s architectural gem, the Casa da Musica, hostedthe Portuguese premiere of Imagin’d Corners for fivehorns and orchestra on 14 October. The OrquestraNacional do Porto were conducted by Cesario Costa.

Glasgow’s City Halls stage ‘The Stations

of the Sun’On 15 March, Martyn Brabbins joins the BBC ScottishSO for a performance of one of Anderson’s firstorchestral successes, The Stations of the Sun.

Concertgebouw hosts Dutch premiere

of ‘Symphony’The Dutch premiere of Anderson’s Symphony takesplace on 19 April, when Ed Spanjaardconducts the RadioPhilharmonicOrchestra inAmsterdam’s celebratedConcertgebouw.

Clevelandcommission Meanwhile, Anderson’snext orchestral work is a24-minute commission fromThe Cleveland Orchestra to be premiered on 6-8November 2008 under thebaton of Franz Welser-Möst.This commission forms thefinal part of his successfulresidency with the orchestra as their Daniel R LewisYoung Composer Fellow from 2005-7.

Ground-breaking new ballet is inspiredby Charles Darwin’s ‘The Origin of Species’Anderson is to write a 30-minute concert work for 12players and electronics to be choreographed by MarkBaldwin for his Rambert Dance Company. It willcelebrate the 150th anniversary of the first publicationof Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species and willembrace a number of innovative types of rhythmiclanguages and tunings. It is being composed for theASKO Ensemble,who will premiere it as a concert workin 2009, and Rambert Dance Company who give theballet premiere, with designs by Kader Attia, inSeptember 2009 at Sadler’s Wells, London, followed by a UK tour.

Julian Anderson

TUNING IN

15


Book of Hours6.3.08, McGill University,Montreal, Canada: McGillUniversity Orchestra/DenysBouliane

AlhambraFantasy7.3.08, Oberlin, OH, USA:Oberlin Contemporary MusicEnsemble/Tim Weiss

The Stations ofthe Sun15.3.08, City Halls, Glasgow,UK: BBC Scottish SO/MartynBrabbins

Symphony(Netherlands premiere)19.4.08, Concertgebouw,Amsterdam, The Netherlands:Netherlands Radio PO/Ed Spanjaard

Beautiful Valleyof Eden(Danish premiere)26.7.08, World ChoralSymposium 2008, Copenhagen,Denamrk: Ars NovaCopenhagen/Simon Halsey

‘… thischamber-orchestracrackersent meout into

themidnight

streets witha fizz in

my soul…Twenty-fiveminutes of

auralmagic.’

Nicholas MawPraise for premiere recording of Third QuartetThe premiere recording of Maw’s StringQuartet No 3 has been released to tremendousacclaim on Somm Records. It is performed bythe Coull Quartet, who commissioned andpremiered the work in 1995 and haveperformed it many times in the UK and USAsince then. The work is coupled on the discwith another Third Quartet, that of Britten:

‘It begins in a spirit of restless lyricism which buildscompellingly, eloquence and drama intensifying in ways whichplace the music firmly in the traditions of Berg and Bartókwithout any hint of abject dependency. The work is crownedby a concluding passacaglia which creates tension from thesuperimposition of contrasting layers of texturebefore reaching a climax with a unisonline for all four players, a moment ofrevelation which subsides into a regretful resolution.’

Gramophone (Arnold Whittall), October 2007

‘In the pithy String Quartet No 3 (1994), there’ssomething of the leanness and organic unity of Tippett’spre-1970’s counterpoint, together with some of thesearching qualities of Britten’s art. This is the music of an individual who knows what he wants to with sound,and does it.’

The Sunday Times (Stephen Pettit), 5 August 2007

‘This is the music of anindividual who knows what he

wants to with sound, and does it.’

‘He combines a felicitous, economical surface with a potent wielding of the overall structure. His eloquent, often wistful movements follow continuously…’

The Sunday Times (Paul Driver), 15 July 2007

‘The Maw also ends with a Passacaglia, though it’s much richer in thetexture than Britten’s, passionate rather than resigned. That’s true of theQuartet as a whole: it’s full of long melodic lies, which even approach themelismatic lushness of Scenes and Arias in the cadenzas of the secondmovement. But there’s also energy in the fast movements, both mutedscurrying, and more insistent irregular rhythms.’

BBC Music Magazine (Martin Cotton), September 2007

‘Maw’s Third Quartet is tautly and economically constructed, with certainsimilarities to the Britten in structure but a recognizably different musicallanguage, one that is never off-putting and which sounds eminently playable.’

International Record Review (Piers Burton-Page), September 2007

‘Maw’s Third String Quartet is anemotionally and expressively variedwork of substance and splendour.’

‘The first movement of Moderato grazioso displays some almost childlikeinnocence. It’s a fine example of what I have always considered Maw’sinborn lyricism. The next movement Larghetto pesante may be regarded asthe first slow movement, described as “a folk dirge” by the composer.There follows a pair of Scherzos, the first one Presto volante played mostlymuted being a ghostlike nocturne and the second Allegro marcato describedas “a stamping dance” but maybe, more seriously, a brutal gesture ofrevolt. A short reprise of the Larghetto pesante leads into the impressive,

and often deeply movingpassacaglia. This concludes witha veiled reminiscence of theopening movement. Maw’sThird String Quartet is anemotionally and expressivelyvaried work of substance andsplendour.’MusicWeb (Hubert Culot),

August 2007

‘Maw wears his influenceslightly; hints of Bartok in the third and fourthmovements never detractfrom the sense of apotent individual voice expressing itself

with assurance and – howeverstormy things get in the fourth movement –

a fundamental lyricism.’The Birmingham Post (Richard Bratby), 24 September 2007

To mark the release, the Coull Quartet performed thework in Warwick in December last year.

Philharmonia portrait concertMaw was in London in November, when thePhilharmonia Orchestra presented a concert of hismusic as part of their “Music of Today” series. Includedwere his Personae IV & V (pianist – Huw Watkins) andthe song-cycle La Vita Nuova (soloist – Gillian Keith).

German premiere of ‘The World in the Evening’Maw travelled to Bochum in December last year, whenhe attended the German premiere performances of hisorchestral lullaby The World in the Evening,which tookplace on 6 and 7 December last year. Americanconductor Steven Sloane conducted the BochumerSymphoniker.

16

‘… buildscompellingly,

eloquence anddrama

intensifying inways which placethe music firmlyin the traditions

of Berg andBartók without

any hint of abjectdependency.’

TUNING IN

‘Violin Concerto’ on DeutscheGrammophon…The eagerly-awaited premiere recording of Knussen’sViolin Concerto was released on DeutscheGrammophon late in 2007, both as a download, and aspart of a “Best of British” 2-disc set celebrating Britishmusic performed at the 2007 BBC Proms. LeilaJosefowicz is the soloist with the composer conductingthe BBC SO.

… and at the BBC PromsOn the platform the Violin Concerto formed part of amemorable evening on 17 August, that culminated inKnussen’s first London performance of Stravinsky’s TheRite of Spring:

‘… reasserted itself as a model of concision in an exceptionalperformance by Leila Josefowicz and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. This isa piece that says all that needs to be said in 16 minutes or so, its quasi-Baroque and Stravinskian-cum-Prokofievian gestures distilled into ascintillating essay in lucidity, lyricism and élan.’

Daily Telegraph (Geoffrey Norris), 20 August 2007

‘… its quasi-Baroque andStravinskian-cum-Prokofievian

gestures distilled into ascintillating essay in lucidity,

lyricism and élan.’

‘The glamorous young Canadian violinist Leila Josefowicz appeared next togive what was already the 60th performance to date of Oliver Knussen’sown Violin Concerto, Op 30 (2002), and by far the most nuanced inexpressive detail that we have yet heard. On paper one of Knussen’ssimpler, more sparingly scored structures, it is remarkable how its lineshave seemed, in a Britten-like way, to accumulate meaningful resonances.’

The Independent (Bayan Northcott), 22 August 2007

With the composer in the audience, Josefowiczperformed the work with the Chicago SO in Januarythis year, under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen:

‘Its three connected sections, Recitative, Aria and Gigue, send the soloiston a fantastical odyssey filled with febrile bravura gymnastics, quietlytender lyricism and witty, dancelike exchanges with the orchestra.

This is mainstream modernism of the most accessible (but neverpuerile) kind – a cannily crafted showpiece that glories in the advocacy ofa superb fiddle player such as Josefowicz.

She dispatched the score with a virtuosic command and expressiveurgency that made it sound as second nature to her as the Brahms orTchaikovsky concertos.’

Chicago Tribune (John von Rhein), 26 January 2008

‘Requiem’ in GlasgowKnussen gave concerts in December with the ScottishCO, in Glasgow and Edinburgh, that included his ownTwo Organa, and the Requiem (soloist Claire Booth):

‘Far from being a morbid tribute to his late wife, Knussen’s musicking ofAuden, Dickinson, Machado and Rilke glows with positive inspiration,achieving maximum purchase from a minimum of ideas and resources –exactly as his Two Organa had done at the start of the concert.

Knussen is one of the most inspiring musicians in any category…’Financial Times (Andrew Clark), 19 December 2007

Third Symphony in San FranciscoKnussen’s Third Symphony is one of his most performedworks, with over 100 performances to date. It waspremiered in its completed version in 1979 by MichaelTilson Thomas and the BBC SO. Tilson Thomas revisitedthe work with the San Francisco SO in January this year,when they gave five performances in Davies Hall:

‘… one of the outstanding compositions of its era… Knussen’samazingly concise and felicitously abundant symphony this week seemedthe ideal work to jump start the new year.

‘… one of the outstandingcompositions of its era… This is thekind of piece that seals a reputation.’

This is the kind of piece that seals a reputation. The Glaswegiancomposer paints on such a broad canvas and avails himself of such a richpalette that the listener is disinclined to breathe throughout the 15-minuteduration, for fear of missing any detail of the almost profligate material.Knussen’s arresting textures, dominated by three immense percussiongroups, sometimes suggest a divine gamelan orchestra. They also admitbrooding string forays and perky wind commentaries. The trajectorythrough the single movement leads us to the state of glisteninganticipation where we began.’

Financial Times (Allan Ulrich), 10 January 2008

Re-release for Unicorn Kanchana gemsThe Third Symphony is one of several Knussen worksrecently released on a Souvenir Records CD. Originallyreleased as an LP on the Unicorn Kanchana label, thedisc comprises Symphonies Nos 2 and 3, OpheliaDances Book 1, Coursing, Cantata and Trumpets. TheLondon Sinfonietta and Philharmonia Orchestra areconducted by the composer,and Michael Tilson Thomas:

‘… a valuable summary of Knussen’s early career. Each work has thecompactness, vibrancy, inner elaborateness and high degree of finish thattypify his approach. They are unified by both technical concerns andthematic links, and could almost be sections of a single opus. SymphonyNo 2, written when Knussen was 19, brilliantly doubles as a soprano songcycle. Ophelia Dances is a skittish companion to the imposing, double-movement Symphony No 3, played here by the Philharmonia Orchestraunder Michael Tilson Thomas. Coursing is five minutes of torrential part-writing, often in complex unison, inspired by Niagara Falls.

The Sunday Times (Stephen Pettitt), 18 November 200717

Oliver Knussen

PHOTO: BETTY FREEMAN


Where the WildThings Are27-29.2 & 2.3.08, Liège,Belgium: Opera Royal deWallonie/Edouard Rasquin

Flourish withFireworks29.2 & 1-2.3.08, Powell Hall,St Louis, MO, USA: St Louis SO/Miguel Harth-Bedoya

The Way toCastle Yonder6-8 & 11.3.08, SymphonyHall, Boston, MA, USA:Boston SO/Julian Kuerti29.3.08, Barbican Hall,London, UK: BBC SO/OliverKnussen

Hums and Songsof Winnie thePooh7.3.08, Birmingham CityUniversity Recital Hall, UK:Swift Ensemble

Masks(performances by Michael Cox,Britten Sinfonia)9.3.08, Krakow (Poland); 11.3Cambridge (UK); 12.3 WigmoreHall, London (UK); 13.3Norwich (UK); 18.3Birmingham (UK)

Coursing10.3.08, Harris Theater,Chicago, IL, USA: Chicago SO/Cliff Colnot15.4.08, Rochester, NY, USA:Ossia/Reuben Blundel

Requiem3.4.08, Juilliard School, NewYork, NY, USA: tbc/New JuilliardEnsemble/Joel Sachs

Music for aPuppet Court(Italian premiere)15.5.08, Turin, Italy: OrchestraSinfonica RAI/Christoph Poppen

Ophelia DancesBook 117.8.08, Lucerne Festival,Switzerland: EnsembleIntercontemporain/GeorgeBenjamin

Colin Matthews‘The island’ – Wigmore Hall hosts vocal premiereA new 10-minute work for voice and chamberensemble, setting texts by Rainer Maria Rilke, will bepremiered in the Wigmore Hall, London on 12 March.The island is written for The Nash Ensemble and theywill be joined by the soprano Claire Booth andconductor Paul Watkins.

RNCM Festival features a Matthews brace!Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music scoopeda first in December last year when they staged a festivalcelebrating the music of both Colin and DavidMatthews. This is the first time the brothers have beenprogrammed together in this way. Both composerswere in attendance.

Highlights included a performance of the StringQuartet No 2 by the Mather Quartet, and a chamberconcert by the RNCM New Ensemble that includedContraflow, The Journey Ends Here and Five Concertinos.

‘Turning Point’ – German premiereMatthews travelled to Cologne in October 2007 for the

German premiere of his most recent orchestralwork, Turning Point, originally commissioned

by the Concertgebouw Orchestra inAmsterdam. Three performances weregiven by Markus Stenz and the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln from 7-9 October. In arather unique innovation, the public wasable to purchase CDs of the entire concert

in the foyer immediately it was over.

John Adams conductsLondon premiere

of ‘ReflectedImages’

Matthews’s 2003commission fromthe San Francisco

Symphony,Reflected Images,

received its London

premiere on 26 October 2007 in London’s Barbican Hall.John Adams directed the BBC Symphony Orchestra:

‘… the superbly assuaging orchestration of a work by Britten’s erstwhileassistant, Colin Matthews. Reflected Images (2003), written for the SanFrancisco Symphony and receiving its London premiere, reflects, amongother things, the composer’s recent experience in transcribing Debussy’spiano preludes for the Hallé Orchestra. The four parts, including a waltz, amarch and a dramatic strings recitative, made a continuous 13-minutewhole, to whose stylish effect every note contributed.’

The Sunday Times (Paul Driver), 4 November 2007

‘An impressive work for large orchestra, its 13-minute span is divided intofour distinctive sections of roughly equal length. The first (‘Distant Waltz’)has a somewhat Bergian feel, the second (‘Past March’) presents ominous,stalking ostinatos in the percussion, the third (‘Present Recitative’) features asearching passage for strings, and the lively finale (‘Future Movement’) endswith a discordant, Ivesian climax for brass. The performance under Adamswas dedicated and convincing. This is the sort of composition – concise,characterful and communicative – that deserves to be heard more often.’

The Classical Source (Christian Hoskins), October 2007

‘A Quick Start’ – Hallé premieres fanfareMatthews enjoys an especially close relationship withthe Hallé Orchestra, as their Composer-in-Association.He has created a number of new works for them, notleast the childrens’ song-cycle Alphabicycle Order,Pluto the Renewer and his orchestrations of all 24Debussy Preludes. The most recent Matthews premiereto be given by them is a short fanfare for brass andpercussion, A Quick Start. It was premiered by theHallé and Mark Elder on 30 January.

BCMG tour ‘Elegiac Chaconne’Birmingham Contemporary Music Group have beenassociated with Matthews’s music almost since itsinception – they commissioned and premiered HiddenVariables, and …through the glass. Earlier this yearthey toured his ensemble work Elegiac Chaconne toSouthampton, Dartington, York, Gateshead andShrewsbury.

Gergiev conducts Debussy Preludes on BBC TVAs Principal Conductor of the London SO,Valery Gergievconducted a festival of “Twentieth Century Masters” inLondon’s Barbican Hall last year, performing music byDebussy, Prokofiev and Stravinsky. These concerts werebroadcast on BBC Four TV in December and includedthree of Matthews’s orchestrations of Debussy Preludes:Ce qu’a vu le Vent d’Ouest, Les sons et les parfumstournent dans l’air du soir and La Puerto del Vino.

Awards and honoursTwo significant honours have been bestowed onMatthews in recent months.

He has been awarded a Fellowship of the RoyalCollege of Music in London, and has also been madeSpecial Professor in Music at Nottingham University for3 years from 2007. An alumnus of that institution,Matthews originally read Classics there.


Pluto, theRenewer1.3.08, Peducah, KY, USA:Paducah SO/Jordan Tang

The Island(world premiere)12.3.08, Wigmore Hall,London, UK: Claire Booth/Nash Ensemble/Paul Watkins

Contraflow;Three Interludes& Time standsstill13.3.08, Birmingham, UK:members of BirminghamConservatoire/Nicholas Cleobury

The JourneyEnds Here & TwoTributes14.3.08, Birmingham, UK:Thallein Ensemble/Nicholas Cleobury

Debussy:Général Lavine -l’eccentrique;Feuilles mortes(Australian premiere)11-14.4.08, Melbourne, VIC,Australia: Melbourne SO/Garry Walker

18


A PAGE FROM 'THE ISLAND'

Thomas Adès

TUNING IN

19


Living Toys13.3.08, Adelaide Festival,Australia: Adelaide SO/Jonathan Stockhammer14.4.08, Madrid, Spain: condJuan Cervero15.6.08, Aldeburgh Festival,Snape Maltings, UK:BCMG/Thomas Adès20.9.08, Brisbane, Australia:The Queensland Orchestra/Johannes Fritzsch

Living Toys &Court Studies16.3.08, Birmingham, UK:BCMG/ Thomas Adès

ChamberSymphony;Living Toys; FiveEliot Landscapes& Court Studies29.3.08, Carnegie Hall, NewYork, USA: BCMG/Thomas Adès

Violin Concerto(Belgian premiere)11 & 12.4.08, Brussels &Bruges, Belgium: CarolinWidmann/Orchestre National deBelgique/Patrick Davin(Dublin premiere)9.5.08, Dublin, Eire: AnthonyMarwood/ RTE National SO/James MacMillan15 & 16.5.08, Baltimore, MD,USA: Anthony Marwood/Baltimore SO/Thomas Adès

In Seven Days(world premiere)28.4.08, Royal Festival Hall,London, UK: Tal Rosner (video)/Nicholas Hodges (pno)/LondonSinfonietta/Thomas Adès(Dutch premiere)5.9.08, Concertgebouw,Amsterdam, The Netherlands:Nicholas Hodges/Radio PO/Thomas Adès

Darknesse Visible6.5.08, Carnegie Hall, New York,USA: Till Fellner18.6.08, Schubertiade Schwarz-enberg, Austria: Till Fellner

Powder Her Face9.5.08, Bremen, Germany:Kammerphilharmonie Bremen/prod. Susanne Kristin Gauchel/Stefan Solyom9, 12, 13, 16, 19 & 21.6.08,Linbury Theatre, ROH, London,UK: The Royal Opera/Timothy Redmond

Tevot(Australian premiere)10.5.08, The Malthouse,Melbourne, Australia:Melbourne SO/Brett Dean

Three Studiesfrom Couperin;Sonata da Caccia& Les baricadesmystèrieuses21.5.08, Los Angeles, CA, USA:Los Angeles PO/Thomas Adès

In Seven Days;ConcertoConciso; LivingToys & Arcadiana(US premiere of In Seven Days)27.5.08, Los Angeles, CA, USA:Tal Rosner (video)/NicholasHodges/LA Philharmonic NewMusic Group/Thomas Adès

New work(world premiere)17.6.08, Aldeburgh Festival,Snape, UK: Steven Isserlis

The Fayrfax Carol26.7.08, World ChoralSymposium, Copenhagen,Denmark: Ars NovaCopenhagen/Simon Halsey

Overture, Waltz& Finale fromPowder Her Face(Swiss premiere)1.9.08, Lucerne Festival,Switzerland: The ClevelandOrchestra/Franz Welser-Möst

‘In Seven Days’ – multi-media piano concertoA substantial work for piano, orchestra and six videoscreens, In Seven Days, will be premiered in the RoyalFestival Hall, London on 28 April. Soloist will beNicholas Hodges, with Adès conducting the LondonSinfonietta. The video element has been created byIsraeli artist Tal Rosner. In seven movements, the work’stitle refers to the Biblical seven days of Creation.

The work has been co-commissioned by the SouthBank Centre and the Los Angeles PhilharmonicOrchestra. Further performances take place in LosAngeles (27 May) and Amsterdam (5 September).

Los Angeles portraitThe US premiere of In Seven Days is the highlight of anAdès mini-residency being presented by the Los AngelesPO in May.

On 21 May Adès joins the Los Angeles CO asconductor and harpsichordist in a concert that includesthe West Coast premiere of his Three Studies fromCouperin and perfomances of Sonata da Caccia, andthe Couperin arrangement Les baricades mystèrieuses.Adès performs with the LA Philharmonic New MusicGroup on 27 May, in the premiere of In Seven Days, aswell as Living Toys, Concerto Conciso and Arcadiana.

‘Violin Concerto’ released on EMI Classics…Adès’s Violin Concerto was released by EMI Classics inNovember 2007, in performance by Anthony Marwood,and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under ThomasAdès. In a new departure for EMI, the recording is onlyavailable as a download, with a CD release beingplanned for later in 2008:

‘… a marvellous combination of extrovert brilliance and great emotionaldepth, contained in a brief 20-minute span that flashes past like amirage. This recording by the performers that gave the premiere capturesboth sides to perfection… The big central movement is like a modernistPassacaglia – a marvel in every way.’

BBC Music Magazine (Ivan Hewett), February 2008

‘… a marvellous combination of

extrovert brilliance and great emotional

depth… a marvel in every way.’

‘Its spiritual ancestors may be Berg and Mahler, but its knack of pushing theviolin to new emotional extremes is unmistakably Adès… sensationally good.’

Financial Times (Andrew Clark), 8 December 2007

… and in concertOn the concert platform, the Violin Concerto is nowfirmly in the repertory of not only Anthony Marwood,but also Leila Josefowicz, Carolin Widmann, PeterHerresthal and Yumi Hwang Williams. The latterperformed it for the first time at the Cabrillo Festival inCalifornia on 11 August, with Marin Alsop conducting:

‘…you have to wonder how long it will take before today’s violinists flock toThomas Adès “Concentric Paths”. This intensely searing violin concerto …has to be among the most difficult works ever conceived for the instrument…

‘… one of this era’s greatcompositional voices.’

… I was put in mind of Prokofiev, not so much because the musicsounds like the Russian, but because the soloist’s part, especially, had therhapsodic impact of Prokofiev’s violin concertos.

… one of this era’s great compositional voices.’Mercury News (Richard Scheinin), 14 August 2007

Meanwhile, Anthony Marwood gave a performancewith the St Paul CO and Douglas Boyd on 14 September:

‘At only 36, Adès already has gathered the critical attention of a majorcomposer. His Violin Concerto, Op. 24 is a good example of why.’

Star Tribune (William Randall Beard), 14 September 2007

‘So many lavish and wicked things have been said about British composerThomas Adès that there has been considerable anticipation…

Well, after a first hearing, the anticipation is certainly justified…Douglas Boyd, … called Adès, who is still in his 30s, one of the leadingcomposers of our time.

The concerto certainly reveals Adès as one of the most original… itseems to tee off the conventions of familiar and established forms inremarkably unique ways. Moreover, it’s very direct. Adès creates for anaudience and this work holds them.’

Pioneer Press (David Hawley), 14 September 2007

‘Tevot’ to premiere in MelbourneThe Melbourne SO is to give the Australian premiere ofAdès monumental orchestral work, Tevot on 10 May.Brett Dean conducts the performance in The Malthouse.

‘Powder Her Face’ – Royal Opera HouseThe Royal Opera House in London is to mount a new production of Adès’s first opera Powder Her Face.The production runs for six performances from 9-21 June at the Linbury Theatre. In the followingmonth Adès conducts five performances of a newproduction of Stravinsky’s opera The Rake’s Progress, inThe Royal Opera House.

‘Powder Her Face’ Suite in ClevelandOn 17-19 January, The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst gave the US premiere of the Overture,Waltz & Finale from Powder Her Face, a work they co-commissioned together with the Aldeburgh Festivaland Philharmonia Orchestra:

‘Tango rhythms weave in and out of this boozy work. Intentionally garishsmears and blurred lines come across like tipsy Kurt Weill.

It’s the hesitations in the waltz rhythms that really make them pop…’Akron Beacon (Elaine Guregian), 19 January 2008

John WoolrichAldeburgh Festival topremiere ‘ViolinConcerto’Woolrich’s series of concertifor viola, oboe and cello areperhaps the epitome of hisorchestral output. He hasnow added a further suchopus, having recentlycompleted a Violin Concertofor the outstanding Germantalent Carolin Widmann. Acommission from AldeburghMusic and Northern Sinfonia(with support from Barbaraand Michael Gwinnell), the20-minute concerto will bepremiered at the AldeburghFestival on 26 June.

BBC Radio 3’s‘Composer of Week’Woolrich is to be BBC Radio3’s “Composer of the Week”from 3-7 March 2008. Fiveone-hour programmes will

feature a number of his works, including the first everbroadcasts of The Elephant from Celebes (BBCNOW/Luke Dollman) and Going a Journey(BCMG/Oliver Knussen). The composer will also be inconversation with presenter Donald Macleod in whatpromises to be a fascinating series of programmes.

Gateshead Dance commissionWoolrich has been commissioned to write a 6-minutedance score, for voice and ensemble, to be performedby young players from the National Youth Orchestra,with choreography by Neville Campbell. The premieretakes place on 15 July 2008, with dancers fromNewcastle’s Dance City in Hall 2 at The Sage Gateshead.Players on stage. The text is to be on a North-Easttheme. The work will later be performed at Sadler’sWells in London.

BBC SO give orchestral premiere in LondonThe 15-minute The Street of Crocodiles, for piano,trumpet and strings received its London premiere on 1February. The performance took place in BBC MaidaVale and was recorded for future broadcast on BBCRadio 3’s “Hear and Now”. Oliver Knussen conductedthe BBC SO, with soloists Huw Watkins (pno) and JulianBrewer (tpt).

Acclaim for disc of wind musicThe recent Meridian disc of Woolrich chamber music forwinds, “Cabinet of Curiosities” (New London ChamberEnsemble) continues to receive plaudits from the press:

‘John Woolrich’s “Cabinet of Curiosities” is a repository for musicalminiatures. The three Books of Studies for Wind Quintet contain 21movements, the longest lasting just over three minutes. The work thatgives the disc its title has nine movements ranging from short to tiny andis built around a Schumann fragment lasting a mere 41 seconds. Suchmicroscopic forms are a Woolrich speciality, provoking him to etch out thepithiest utterances and to create a lasting impression from the mosteconomical materials.

A good example of how this can work is the third study from Bk 3,with a brilliant horn solo that manages to be both angry and eloquent.Woolrich uses the ensemble to chart shifting alliances: no free-for-alls buta distilled transparency which usually achieves considerable intensity. Hisdetermination to avoid textural overload and formal imbalance worksespecially well when the music alludes to models. Monteverdi, Mozart,Schumann, Wagner and Nono are the ones the composer identifies, andall of these except Schumann are ghostly presences in one of the twolonger pieces, Favola in Musica I.

The longest by some way (nearly 15 minutes) is Darker Still for fluteand piano, and here any possible allusions are more oblique. Not that themusic is in any way evasive or obscure: it even risks being over-deliberate,spacing out the separate phases of its form and ensuring that every texturemakes its presence felt before being set aside. All six players respondenthusiastically to the music’s idiomatic consistencies…’

Gramophone (Arnold Whittall), August 2007

BCMG tour with chamber worksLong-time advocates of Woolrich’s music are theBirmingham Contemporary Music Group who havecommissioned four works from him to date, and withwhom the composer is Artistic Associate. In Februarythis year they toured the UK with two chamber pieces,A Presence of Departed Acts and In the Mirrors ofAsleep, giving five concerts in all.

‘Going a Journey’ premiered in USAThe Juilliard School in New York hosted the US premiereof Going a Journey for large ensemble on 20 November.Joel Sachs conducted the New Juilliard Ensemble.

Scottish Ensemble commission & ‘UlyssesAwakes’ in ScotlandThe Scottish Ensemble has commissioned a work forstrings from Woolrich to be premiered in Autumn 2008.This is the second Woolrich commission the group willhave launched, the other being Blue Drowning, whichthey premiered atthe 2006 Aldeburgh Festival. Inaddition, they have been touring Scotland with hismost-performed work, the Monteverdi-inspired UlyssesAwakes for viola and strings.

Contemporary Consort commissionThe London-based ensemble Contemporary Consortwill premiere a 5-minute commission for clarinet, violinand piano, in Stratford-upon-Avon in October 2008. Ithas been commissioned for them by Ambrose Miller.

20

CAROLIN WIDMANNPHOTO: KASSKARA


String Trio & APresence ofDeparted Acts12.3.08, Royal HollowayCollege, University of London,Egham, UK: ContemporaryConsort

Adagissimo18.3.08, Cardiff, UK: Chroma

A Presence ofDeparted Acts16.6.08, Exeter Festival, UK:Contemporary Consort

The ironcockerel sings23.6.08, Aldeburgh Festival,Aldeburgh Church, UK: BrittenSinfonia

After the Clock24.6.08, Aldeburgh Festival,Orford Church, UK: MansonEnsemble/Baldur Brönnimann

Violin Concerto(world premiere)26.6.08, Aldeburgh Festival,Snape Maltings, UK: CarolinWidmann (vln)/NorthernSinfonia/Thomas Zehetmair

New work(world premiere)15.7.08, Dance City,Gateshead, UK: members ofDance City/Northern Sinfonia/chor. Neville Campbell

‘Passing Through’ - new quartet for Guarneri’sBermel has recently completed Passing Through, a 6-minute commission from the renowned Guarneri StringQuartet to mark their final season. They give thepremiere at the University Music Society, Ann Arbor,Michigan on 9 February. Bermel was awarded a SidmanFellowship by the Institute for the Humanities at hisalma mater the University of Michigan.

AMC Trailblazer AwardBermel has been awarded the 2008 Trailblazer Award bythe American Music Center. Established in 2000, theTrailblazer Award is intended “to recognize those whosecontribution is of significant promise now and for thefuture; a person or persons of great expectations,deserving of support and recognition today,who shouldnot have to wait for deferred recognition late in life orposthumously.”

Previous recipients include George Steel/MillerTheater, Matt Haimovitz and eighth blackbird. Theaward will be presented at the Center’s annual awardsceremony to be held on 5 May.

Boston Modern Orchestra Project discAn all-Bermel orchestral disc is being recorded by theBoston Modern Orchestra Project and its ArtisticDirector, Gil Rose. The disc will include premiererecordings of Voices (composer as soloist); DustDances, Thracian Echoes and Elixir.

‘Natural Selection’ in LiverpoolBermel’s song-cycle for baritone and ensemble, NaturalSelection (commissioned by Faber Music Ltd for itsMillennium Series) has been revived by the group whooriginally premiered it. Ensemble 10:10 and ClarkRundell were joined by soloist Julian Tovey in Liverpoolon 16 January.

New York Philharmonic take up ‘Dust Dances’The New York PO performed Bermel’s African-inspiredDust Dances on 10 November in Avery Fisher Hall, NewYork, in one of their celebrated Young People’sConcerts. The conductor was Delta David Gier.

‘Elektrokosmos’premiered in AmsterdamOn 30 September 2007, British guitarist Alan Thomaspremiered Elektrokosmos,an ongoing series of studies forelectric guitar, in Amsterdam’s Musikgebouw. This formedpart of the Output Festival, an electric guitar festival.

Residencies in Italy & BrazilBermel was in Lombardy (Italy) in October 2007,courtesy of a Creative Arts Residency at the RockefellerFoundation’s Bellagio Study and Conference Center. Thiswas followed by a Fellowship at the Sacatar Foundation,Salvador, Brazil, which ran in December and January.


Continental Divide 18.3.08, Chicago, IL, USA: Fulcrum Point

Hot Zone Jul-Aug 2008, The Netherlands, Curacao & Aruba: Ricciotti Ensemble

US premiere of ‘Popcorn Superhet Receiver’Greenwood’s Popcorn Superhet Receiver for stringorchestra, received its US premiere amidst a blaze ofpublicity and two sell-out performances on 16 and 17January this year.

It formed part of the ground-breaking WordlessMusic Series, devised by Ronen Givony, in which he istrying to break down perceived barriers betweenclassical and popular music and “high art”and “low art”.Brad Lubman conducted the Wordless Music Orchestra:

‘Greenwood’s most ambitious score to date. …the piece possesses a solidarchitectural shape, with slow-moving, darkly meditative passages framinga kinetic, rock-tinged midsection. The writing for strings is idiomatic andinventive; at one point, Greenwood devises a buzzing barrage of “Bartókpizzicato” – sharply plucked sounds from violins cradled like ukuleles.

Lubman and his first-rate players made a persuasive case forGreenwood’s score, revelling in its rich sonorities.

Despite the high-tech title, Popcorn has an elegiac air, as if theradio’s white noise were carrying messages from a disintegrating world.’

The New Yorker (Alex Ross), 4 February 2008

‘The lure for listeners who normally attend for the rock offerings was theAmerican premiere of Popcorn Superhet Receiver (2005), a gritty, energeticstring orchestra work by Jonny Greenwood, the lead guitarist of Radiohead.

The gamble paid off. The church was packed, and the audience – notthe usual faces seen at classical or even new-music concerts – sat in raptsilence through Mr. Greenwood’s work and early Minimalist scores by GavinBryars and John Adams. As it turned out, Mr. Greenwood’s 20-minute workwas by far the most viscerally exciting and intellectually engaging of the three.

[He] has described Popcorn Superhet Receiver, named for a shortwaveradio, as a study in white noise, the electronic whoosh you hear betweenradio stations. But it also contrasts old and new technologies: white noise isapproximated by antique instruments made of wood, horsehair and catgut.

And where pure white noise is an undifferentiated hiss, Mr.Greenwood’s score, even at its most densely atonal, has a consistentlyalluring shimmer and embraces everything from lush vibrato, glissandos andsudden dynamic shifts to slowly rising chromatic themes. Toward the end hisclusters give way to a prismatic full-orchestra pizzicato section: imagine thescherzo of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony on steroids, or acid, or both.’

The New York Times (Allan Kozinn), 18 January 2008

Faber Music is delighted to announce that it willpublish the full score of Popcorn SuperhetReceiver in May 2008.

Greenwood focus at ‘Presences’ in ParisGreenwood’s music will be centre-stage at the Presences Festival in Paris,in October this year. The festival willmount the French premieres of PopcornSuperhet Receiver and smear, the latterin performance by the Oslo Sinfonietta,who also give the Norwegian premiere on 5 October.

Greenwood scores soundtrack to Hollywood hit ‘There Will Be Blood’see Features, p.8 & Media Spotlight, p.30

21


PopcornSuperhetReceiver10.4.08, Birmingham, AL, USA:Alabama SO/Justin Brown10.10.08, LSO St Luke’s,London: London ContemporaryOrchestra/Hugh Brunt

smear(Norwegian premiere)5.10.08, Oslo, Norway: OsloSinfonietta

PopcornSuperhetReceiver &smear(French premieres)10-12.10.08, Presences, Paris,France: tbc & Oslo Sinfonietta

‘…imagine

the scherzo of

Tchaikovsky’s

Fourth

Symphony on

steroids, or

acid, or both.’

Derek Bermel

TUNING IN

Jonny Greenwood

PHOTO: JASON EVANS

David Matthews

22


Adagio forString Orchestra14, 15, 18 & 19.3.08,Shipston, Southam,Birmingham & Stratford-upon-Avon, UK: Orchestra of theSwan/David Curtis

Adonis(London premiere)14.5.08, Hampstead &Highgate Festival, London: SaraTrickey/Stephen Kovacevich

String Trio No 1(Finnish premiere)6.6.08, Helsinki, Finland: OvidEnsemble

Adagio for StringOrchestra &Piano Trio No 220.6.08, Brancaster Festival,UK: Orchestra of the Swan/Peter Marchbank/Gould Piano Trio

The Key of theKingdom(world premiere)6.7.08, Faversham, UK: SineNomine (City of CanterburyChamber Choir)/George Vass24.8.08, Presteigne Festival,UK: Sine Nomine (City ofCanterbury Chamber Choir)/George Vass

One Foot inEden(world premiere)19.7.08, Lincoln, UK: JamesGilchrist/Julius Drake/EmperorQuartet

Janacek/arr DM:On anOvergrown Path(world premiere)29.8.08, EdinburghInternational Festival, UK:Scottish CO/Oliver Knussen

‘Bowled overby David

Matthews’sSixth

Symphony atthe Proms?

Then bask inmore

adventurouslyricism in

thiscollection…’

BBC Radio 3 symphony cycleIn December last year, BBC Radio 3 staged a week ofafternoon broadcasts focusing on David Matthews’scycle of six symphonies. The five programmes includedfive of the six symphonies, in addition to the symphonicpoems Chaconne and In the Dark Time. One of thehighlights was the opportunity to hear the SymphonyNo 1 in its first ever broadcast, in performance by theUlster Orchestra and George Vass. Originally premieredin 1975, Matthews revised it in 1978 but has onlyrecently released the symphony for performance.

Edinburgh Festival commission Janác̆ek arrangementMatthews has been commissioned by the EdinburghInternational Festival to arrange one of Janác̆ek’s majorpiano works, On an Overgrown Path for full orchestra,for performance in the 2008 festival. The premiere willbe given by the augmented forces of the Scottish CO,conducted by Oliver Knussen, on 29 August.

‘From Sea to Sky’ – praise for orchestral discNewly-released on Dutton Epoch is an all-Matthewsorchestral disc, including premiere recordings of threesong cycles, in addition to several purely orchestralworks, all in performance by Orchestra Nova andGeorge Vass:

‘The Proms prospectus hailed David Matthews as “the 21st century’soutstanding heir to the great tradition of English symphonism”. …thenew release is welcome as Matthews’s first single-composer disc sincesome chamber works 12 years ago and reveals more of his personalitywith works for string orchestra and three song-cycles with chamberaccompaniments, all written in the past 15 years.

Matthews, more obviously than hisbrother Colin, is a composer in theEnglish tradition… The first of thesong-cycles, A Congress of Passions, is asetting of Sappho sung in the originalGreek and drawing on Cretan folk music.Movements of Autumn sets poems byVernon Watkins, nicely sung by RachelNicholls… “Moonrise” is an atmosphericnocturne that recalls Britten’s examples. Themost attractive of the cycles is The SleepingLord, using part of a poem by David Jones…

Of the instrumental works, From Sea toSky is a busy Kent seascape, Aubade is aboutAustralian birds with no hint of Messiaen’stechniques; and Total Tango is an amiable five-minute piece that barely refers to the traditional rhythm. The composerpays tribute to these sympathetic performers and one can see why.’

Gramophone (Peter Dickinson), November 2007

‘The reputation of David Matthews has risen steadily over the last fewyears, …among his contemporaries, he has few rivals in the creating andsustaining of larger forms. The present disc focuses on smaller-scaleprojects … mixture of instrumental and vocal work…

‘… among his contemporaries, he hasfew rivals in the creating and

sustaining of larger forms.’

… The Sleeping Lord looks towards Vaughan Williams. The piece sets alate poem by David Jones, whose allusions to Celtic mythology find anideal complement in music as fluid and ‘visionary’ as any Matthews haswritten, with the ecstatic vocal part finely realised by Gillian Keith…

The performances are uniformly excellent, George Vass encouragingOrchestra Nova to give what is probably its finest recorded showing todate. The sound is unexceptionally fine and the booklet notes are areminder that Matthews is a formidable writer… this remains one of thebest discs yet to appear under the Epoch imprint.’

International Record Review (Richard Whitehouse), October 2007

‘Bowled over by David Matthews’s Sixth Symphony at the Proms? Thenbask in more adventurous lyricism in this collection from Orchestra Nova andGeorge Vass. Gillian Keith’s radiant soprano in the beautiful The SleepingLord is the highlight; but the reflective Movement of Autumn, with RachelNicholls, isn’t far behind. Plus lighter pieces, a nifty string tango, and theyoung mezzo Lucie Spickova giving us her best ancient Greek.’

The Times (Geoff Brown), 17 August 2007

RNCM presents Matthews festival Matthews and his brother Colin were the focus of afestival at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Musicin December last year, the first time they have ever beenprogrammed together in this way. Both composers werein attendance.

Highlights included orchestral performances ofConcerto in Azzurro (cellist GuyJohnston), The Music of Dawn, A Visionand a Journey by the BBC PO and RumonGamba. All three works were thenrecorded for future release on Chandos.

James Gilchrist premiereschamber commissionMatthews has been commissioned byConvivium Music to write a 20-minute work for high voice andpiano quintet. He will set the poem‘One Foot in Eden’ (1956) by EdwinMuir. The premiere takes place on19 July in Lincoln with James

Gilchrist and Julius Drake joining theEmperor Quartet.

Choral commission in FavershamThe Key of the Kingdom is a new 7-minute work forSATB choir and organ. A setting of the anonymousnursery rhyme, it has been commissioned by BarbaraWanklyn and will be premiered on 6 July in Faversham,Kent, by Sine Nomine (the City of Canterbury ChamberChoir) and George Vass.

SECTION HEAD

‘Movements for a Clarinet Concerto’A new work for clarinet and orchestra is to be unveiledat The Sage Gateshead on 22 May 2008. Soloist will beMichael Collins, with Thomas Zehetmair conductingNorthern Sinfonia. It will subsequently be commerciallyrecorded for future release on the NMC label.

Movements for a Clarinet Concerto has beendevised and orchestrated by Colin Matthews, Chairmanof The Britten Estate. It will last around 18 minutes andthe three-movement work takes it source material fromthree different Britten compositions:

1. Molto Allegro. Completely sketched by Britten in1941-2, and orchestrated by Colin Matthews in 1990;

2. Poco lento. Arranged by Colin Matthews fromBritten’s 1941 Mazurka elegiaca for two pianos;

3.Allegro.Adapted by Colin Matthews from Britten’sextensive sketches for an orchestral Partita (1941).

'Death in Venice' performances & DVDIn recent years Death in Venice has achieved anunprecendented number of new productions all overthe world, not least two stunning stagings in Londonand Aldeburgh last summer. The August issue of ‘Opera’magazine heaped yet more praise on Yoshi Oida’s starkand haunting production:

‘… a perfomance of outstanding musical and verbal clarity…The whole experience of this evening, inparticular the triumphant

contributions of Paul Daniel and Alan Oke, made a fascinating contrastwith ENO’s production only weeks before. I felt fortunate, privileged, tohave seen and heard both of them.’

Opera (Patrick O’Connor), August 2007

The Snape production was a co-production withBregenz and Prague State Opera.

Meanwhile, the much-lauded ENO production byDeborah Warner will be heard at La Monnaie (Brussels)in 2009.

The Spanish premiere takes place at the LiceuOpera, Barcelona from 13 March in a new productionby Willy Decker. It will later be released on DVD.

La Fenice in Venice are reviving the Genoaproduction of 2000, with five performances from 20-29June in the celebrated Venetian theatre.

In Germany, a new production will be unveiled atTheater Hof on 14 March. It will receive nine dates inHof, followed by two on tour in Bayreuth’s Stadthalle.

‘Owen Wingrave’ in London and HelsinkiOwen Wingrave, too, has enjoyed an Indian summer inrecent years. London audiences were treated to amoving concert performance of the work on 4December last year, when Richard Hickox conductedthe City of London Sinfonia in Cadogan Hall:

‘Any doubts as to its worth, however, were quashed by this performance,conducted by Richard Hickox, who exposed, often with lethal precision, themoral paradox at the work’s centre. In depicting Owen’s determination tocome out to his military family as a pacifist, Britten adopts a fiercely anti-war stance: yet the opera also envisions life as a battlefield, where deathis often the price for the preservation of integrity. Hickox drew us throughthe resulting complexities with passionate subtlety. Ricocheting brass andclattering timpani delineated both Owen’s struggle and the forces ofreaction that hem him in, while sensual strings and the sound of Britten’sbeloved gamelan conveyed the vision of peace that drives Owen on.’

The Guardian (Tim Ashley), 6 December 2007

‘Hickox and the CLS made every note count, every hiccupping rhythm, eachtransparent texture. Battle nightmares, sherry being poured: we saw themall, in sound.’

The Times (Geoff Brown), 6 December 2007

The same forces recorded the opera for futurerelease on Chandos, looking to match the success oftheir recording of Death in Venice for that same label.

‘Paul Bunyan’ in LucerneThe Bregenz production of Paul Bunyan, premiered inJuly 2007, receives further performances in Lucernecommencing 16 March. With sets by the BrothersQuay, and directed by Nicholas Broadhurst, there are tobe ten performances in all, running to 8 June. Thestaging is a co-production with Bregenz, Opera North(Leeds) and Volksoper Wien.

23

Benjamin Britten

TUNING IN


Curlew River6, 8, 10 & 15.3.08, Lyon,France: Opera de Lyon/dirOlivier Py/cond Garry Walker19.4.08, Heidelberg, Germany:Theater der Stadt Heidelberg

Movement forWind Sextet10.3.08, Birmingham CityUniversity Recital Hall, UK:Birmingham Conservatoire WindEnsemble/Michael Harris23.6.08, Aldeburgh Festival,Aldeburgh Church, UK: BrittenSinfonia

Death in Venice14, 15, 28-30.3, 8 & 9.4, 17& 18.5, Theater Hof, Germany:Theater Hof/dir HermannSchneider/cond Karl Prokopetz(also perfs 26 & 27.4.08,Bayreuth Stadthalle)(Spanish premiere)13, 16, 20, 25, 27 & 30.3.08,Barcelona, Spain: Liceu Opera/dir Willy Decker/cond SebastianWeigle20-29.6.08, La Fenice, Venice,Italy: Teator La Fenice/dir PierLuigi Pizzi/cond Bruno Bartoletti

Paul Bunyan(Swiss premiere)16, 22, 29.3, 2, 6, 18, 26.4,22, 29.5, 1 & 8.6.08, Lucerne,Switzerland: LuzernerTheater/cond Rick Stengards

Owen Wingrave(Finnish premiere - concertperformance)4.4.08, Tapiola Hall, Helsinki,Finland: Various soloists/TapiolaSinfonietta & Choir/StefanAsbury

Suite on EnglishFolk Tunes25-27.4.08, Romilly-sur-Seine,Nogent-sur-Seine, Troyes &Bars-sur-Aube, France:Orchestre symphonique del'Aube/Gilles Millière18.5.08, Philharmonic Hall,Liverpool, UK: LiverpoolPhilharmonic YO/MatthewWood

Third Suite for Cello2.5.08, Cadogan Hall, London,UK: Natalie Clein

Movements for a ClarinetConcerto(devised and orchestrated byColin Matthews)(world premiere)20.5.08, The Sage Gateshead,UK: Michael Collins/NorthernSinfonia/Thomas Zehetmair

QuatreChansonsFrancaises19.6.08, Aldeburgh Festival,Orford Church, UK: CarolynSampson/Jonathan Papp

Sacred andProfane26.6.08, Aldeburgh Festival,Blythburgh Church, UK: BBCSingers/David Hill

William Barton premieres ‘Kalkadungu’in Sydney Opera HouseIn an exciting development, Hindson has collaboratedwith Australia’s leading didjeridu player,William Barton,in a co-written commission from the Sydney SO.

Barton shot to fame as the virtuoso who inspiredPeter Sculthorpe’s recent Requiem, and who has alsonow recorded a number of Sculthorpe’s works on ABCClassics and Naxos. Kalkadungu features him ondidjeridu, electric guitar, and as a singer! Marrying histalents to Hindson’s exciting and unique orchestralstyle will doubtless prove an irresistible cocktail! The20-minute work is in five movements: Warrior Spirit I;Songman Entrance;. Bleached Bones; Warrior Spirit IIand Spirit of Kalkadunga. It premieres in Sydney OperaHouse on 2 April with further performances on 3 and 4.Richard Gill conducts.

Li-Wei Qin premieres amplified cello andorchestra work in AdelaideIctalurus punctatus is a 6-minute work for amplifiedcello and orchestra, commissioned by the Cellissimofestival in Adelaide.

The work is unusual in that it is inspired by catfish –as a metaphor for current affairs journalists who are heldin especially low regard in the composer’s nativeAustralia. It will be premiered by the outstanding youngtalent Li-Wei Qin, together with the Adelaide SO andArvo Volmer on 11 April.

‘Boom-Box’ in Adelaide and LondonThe bustling orchestral opener Boom-Box is becomingone of Hindson’s most performed works. In recentmonths it has featured in the programmes of theLondon PO and the Adelaide SO.

The LPO included it in their sell-out schools’concerts in the Royal Festival Hall on 4 December.Meanwhile, the ASO performed it to thousands at theirannual outdoor season-launching ‘Symphony Under theStars’ concert in Elder Park.

Chamber premieres in Sydney & MelbourneLight Music a 12-minute work for wind quintet, hasbeen commissioned by Ars Musica Australis andpremiered by the Sydney Omega Ensemble in Sydney, inOctober last year:

‘Light Music was not, in the event, so much reminiscent of BBC radio lightmusic of the 1940s and 50s… as of more recent trends, apparentespecially in the resourcefully off-beat first movement Strobe. But it wasthe less immediate luminosity of its profound second movement, A SingleMatch (as in “by the light of”) that will, I think, emerge on (let’s hope)repeated hearings as its most radiant characteristic.’

Sydney Morning Herald (Gordon Skinner), 3 November 2007

Meanwhile, Hindson’s recent 16-minute Piano Trioreached Melbourne in November last year, when thevirtuosic young Benuad Trio rose to its challenges.

‘The three-movement score explores yet again the Australian composer’sfascination with contemporary popular dance music… These highly ablemusicians proved sympathetic exponents of Hindson’s amiable new work…’

The Age (Clive O’Connell), 22 November 2007

‘There is plenty of fun and humour in this piece. Energy, extreme dynamicsand varied timbre gave interest to the opening moto perpetuo.

The Benauds played with tight ensemble, plenty of eye contact andattention to the details that elevate the movement above technical study status.’

Herald-Sun (Melbourne) (Anna McAlister), 21 November 2007

German premieres for ‘The Rave and theNightingale’ & ‘Home’Hindson’s music is increasingly being taken up inGermany. His unaccompanied choral work Home isnow firmly in the repertory of the Bonn Chamber Choirwho gave three performances last year.

Looking ahead, the German premiere of The Raveand the Nightingale for string quartet and stringorchestra takes place on 20 June in Jena, with theKlenke Quartet and the Jenaer PO conducted byNicholas Milton.

World Shakuhachi Festival commissionHindson has been commissioned to write a work forshakuhachi and electronics, for the World ShakuhachiFestival, being held in Sydney in July this year. Thecommission came from one of the world’s leadingperformers of the instrument,Riley Lee,who performedin the premiere of Hindson’s Spirit Song for chamberensemble in 2006.

Carnegie Hall premiere for viola ‘Lament’The US premiere of the Lament for viola and pianotakes place in Carnegie Hall, New York on 24 March. Itwill be performed by Matthew Jones and MichaelHampton, for whom it was written.

24

Matthew Hindson


Comin’ RightAtcha13.3.08, Adelaide Festival,Adelaide Town Hall, Australia:Adelaide SO/JonathanStockhammer

Lament(US premiere)24.3.08, Carnegie Hall, NewYork, NY, USA: Matthew Jones(vla)/ Michael Hampton (pno)

Kalkadungu(world premiere - cowritten byMatthew Hindson and WilliamBarton)2-4.4.08, Sydney Opera House,Sydney, Australia: WilliamBarton (didjeridu/elec gtr &voice)/Sydney SO/ Richard Gill

Ictaluruspunctatus(world premiere)11.4.08, Cellissimo, AdelaideTown Hall, Australia: Li Wei(ampl vlc)/Adelaide SO/ArvoVolmer

Industrial NightMusic (StringQuartet No 1)11.4.08, Aurora Festival,Campbelltown Arts Centre,Sydney, Australia: GraingerString Quartet

The MetallicViolins(world premiere)16.4.08, Aurora Festival,Female Orphan School,Parramatta, Australia: JamesCuddeford/Natsuko Yoshimoto

The Rave andthe Nightingale(German premiere)20.6.08, Jena, Germany:Klenke Quartet/Jenaer PO/Nicholas Milton

New work(world premiere)July 2008, Sydney WorldShakuhachi Festival 2008,Sydney, Australia: Riley Lee(shakuhachi)

TUNING IN

25


The Big Parade& One Week(Luxembourg premiere)7 & 8.3.08, Luxembourg:Orchestre Philharmonique deLuxembourg/Carl Davis

Behind theScreen; TheCure & TheAdventurer(South Korean premieres)14 & 15.3.08, Seoul, S Korea:cond. Carl Davis

Easy Street;Behind theScreen; ThePawnshop; TheRink; TheAdventurer; TheFloorwalker; TheCure; TheImmigrant21 & 22.3.08, Macau CulturalCentre, Macau: Hong KongPO/Carl Davis

Alice inWonderland(US premiere)17-20.4.08, Benedum Center,Pittsburgh, PA, USA: PittsburghBallet Theater/chor. DerekDeane

Show People19.4.08, Hearst Castle, CA,USA: San Luis Obispo SO/Michael Nowak

Ben Hur19.4.08, Royal Festival Hall,London, UK: London PO/Carl Davis

Peace(Irish premiere)24.8.08, Summer Music on theShannon, Limerick, Eire: dir.Robert Creech

Malcolm Arnold Carl Davis‘The Three Musketeers’ on DVDRecently released on a Quartz DVD is the swashbucklingArnold ballet, The Three Musketeers, performed byNorthern Ballet Theatre with choreography by DavidNixon. Poignantly, it was premiered on the day he died,and has been toured throughout the UK to tremendousreception ever since:

‘Ironically, it was on the day Sir Malcolm Arnold died that this full-lengthballet, drawn from a dazzling range of his works, was premiered at theAlhambra Theatre, Bradford. Years before Arnold had toyed with the idea ofwriting a ballet on the colourful subject, even writing a few sketches. Yet hisfragile health prevented him from progressing and it was John Longstaff,prompted by choreographer David Nixon, who with the composer’s approvaldevised a sequence of pieces from Arnold’s enormous catalogue, arrangingthem for the modest theatre orchestra of Northern Ballet.

It works superbly, giving one an exciting conspectus on the work ofone of the 20th century’s most approachable composers…

Having this dazzling sequence on disc is a joy… A valuable additionto the Arnold repertory.’

Gramophone (Edward Greenfield), September 2007

Naxos disc reveals piano gemsNewly out on Naxos is a welcome disc of Arnold’sworks for piano and orchestra, in performance by thePhilip Dyson and Kevin Sargent, with the UlsterOrchestra under Esa Heikkilä. It includes the Fantasyon a Theme of John Field and the Concerto for TwoPianos (Three Hands):

‘The three major concertante works here reflect in a moving way the strangecontradictions in Arnold’s character, the mixture of lyrical warmth, popularinspiration and, in complete contrast, the darkness of Arnold’s deeplydepressive side, which at times had him consigned to psychiatric hospitals…

The Concerto for Two Pianos… represents Arnold’s lighter side,notably in the big tune of the central slow movement, first cousin to thegreat surging second subject theme in the Fifth Symphony. The work endswith a delightful rumba full of cross-rhythms… dazzling playing from theUlster Orchestra, vividly recorded.’

Gramophone (Edward Greenfield), December 2007

‘The Song of Simeon’ in Southwell MinsterA rare performance of the delightful Nativity masque TheSong of Simeon took place in Southwell Minster on 1December. The Southwell Choral Society wereconducted by Nicholas Thorpe.


Peterloo1.3.08, Leeds Town Hall, UK: Leeds University SO30.3.08, Bromley, UK: Bromley Youth SO/John Esaias3.7.08, Peel Hall, Salford, UK: Chetham’s Sinfonia/Benjamin Ellin

Concerto for Two Violins & String Orchestra1 & 2.3.08, Bern, Switzerland: Kammerorchester Bern-Neufeld/Ivan Wassilewski30.4.08, Orebro, Sweden: Orebro University Orchestra/Sven-Ole Svarfvar

Four Cornish Dances16.3.08, Epsom Playhouse, UK: Epsom SO

Concerto for Clarinet No 211.5.08, Royal & Derngate Theatre, Northampton, UK: Timothy Orpen/RPO/Barry Wordsworth

Concerto for Recorder15.5.08, Rovaniemi, Finland: Piers Adams/The Chamber Orchestra of Lapland/John Storgårds

Four Irish Dances9, 12 & 14.7.08, Perth (UK), Dublin & Limerick (both Eire): Edinburgh YO/Garry Walker

'The Lady of the Camellias' – new balletCarl Davis has been commissioned to write a new full-evening ballet by the Croatian National Theatre inZagreb. To choreography by Derek Deane (with whomDavis also worked on ENB’s Alice in Wonderland), thetwo-act ballet will be based upon the novel La Dameaux camélias by Alexander Dumas (fils). The premierewill take place on 24 October this year.

Bintley's 'Aladdin' in Japan & UKDavis’s ballet Aladdin is to be newly choreographed byDavid Bintley for his Birmingham Royal Ballet. It wasoriginally commissioned by Scottish Ballet andpremiered by them in 2001. Davis has now reworkedthe score, and has written some new material. Bintley’snew choreography will be unveiled in a run at theTokyo National Theatre in November this year, beforecoming to the UK in 2009.

‘Alice in Wonderland’ comes to PittsburghDerek Deane’s acclaimed production of Alice inWonderland for the English National Ballet, originallystaged in 1995, has been revived in recent years by thatcompany. Its success is in no small way due to thewonderful orchestral score that Carl Davis created andorchestrated from a selection of Tchaikovsky works.Deane will now take that ballet stateside when hechoreographs it with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater inApril this year. There will be five performances in all.

‘Peace’ to be staged in LimerickDavis’s community opera, Peace, will be staged at theSummer Music on the Shannon festival in Limerick, Eirethis summer. The festival was conceived,and is directedby, Robert Creech, with whom Davis worked closelywhilst Artistic Director of the Liverpool Summer Pops(1991-2000).

Peace was premiered by Scottish Opera in the1970s, then later taken up by Opera North and the Cityof Birmingham Touring Opera.

‘Clarinet Concerto’ released on CDClarinet Classics will release the first recording ofDavis’s Clarinet Concerto in April. David Campbell, forwhom the work was written, is accompanied by TheAurora Orchestra and Nicholas Collon.

Chaplin cycles in London and MacauTwo cycles of Davis’s scores to The Chaplin Mutuals arebeing staged this season. In August Davis conducted theRoyal PO in the inaugural complete cycle of all twelvefilms in London’s Cadogan Hall. There were fourconcerts of three films each, and all were introduced bya number of special guests, including Michael Chaplin(Charlie’s son), David Robinson (Chaplin’s biographer)and Richard Briers.

Meanwhile, Davis travels to Macau in March, wherehe will conduct eight of the Mutuals with the HongKong PO. He precedes this date with a short trip toSouth Korea where he conducts a Mutuals triple-bill.

26

SPOTLIGHT ON…

Concerto for Two Violins & StringOrchestra (1962)Duration 17 minutesFP: 24.6.62, Bath Festival, Guildhall, Bath, UK:Bath Festival Orchestra/Yehudi Menuhin/Albert LysyScore 0-571-50046-3, piano reduction and solo parts 0-571-50017-X on sale, parts for hire

About the workWritten for Yehudi Menuhin and his pupil Albert Lysy,this effervescent work has become one of Arnold’smost performed. It shows the composer in seriousmode, and pays homage to the Bach Double ViolinConcerto with its contrapuntal writing and passages forsolo and ripieno strings. There are three movements:

Allegro risoluto;Andantino;Vivace.

Press Comments

‘ Malcolm Arnold is a master of what might bedescribed as the “quarter-hour concerto”. Neo-classical in scale and aim, the genre demonstrates hisbrilliant ability to compress his style, and write forparticular performers with jewelled concision,adopting neo-classical patterns – as in the DoubleViolin Concerto… but also letting his lyrical giftblossom too in amiable, often catchy tunes.’

The Gramophone (Edward Greenfield),August 1989

‘… a craftsman-like and gracefully wroughtwork… The middle movement is particularlyfine, a wistful slow waltz of lovely simplicity

which begins and ends with a tranquil dialoguebetween the two unaccompanied violins… The last movement opens

with the only real solo fireworks in the piece – a brilliant chase for the twoinstruments over steady rhythmic support from the accompanying strings.’

Music & Letters, 1966

‘His enormous oeuvre has too easily been relegated to a middling,patronisable category of British music. In fact, he is one of our mostintriguing as well as enjoyable composers. Like Shostakovich, he has theability to hold light music and dark symphonic intensity in a single embrace.’

The Sunday Times (Paul Driver), 2 July 1989

Selected Recordings* Igor & Vesna Gruppman/San Diego Chamber

Orchestra/ Donald Barra. Koch 37134-2

* Albert Lysy & Sophia Reuter/Camerata Lysy/Yehudi Menuhin. Dinemec DCCD 001

* Alan Loveday/Frances Mason/London Philharmonic Orchestra/Malcolm ArnoldBBC Radio Classics 15656 91817

* Kenneth Sillito & Lyn Fletcher/London Musici/Mark Stephenson. “Malcolm Arnold – The Concertos”Decca Universal 4765343

Selected orchestras who have performed the Concerto for Two Violins & String OrchestraLondon PO;Academy of St-Martin-in-the Fields;CincinnatiSO; BT Scottish Ensemble; West Australian SO; LondonMusici; RTE Concert Orchestra; Goldberg Ensemble;London CO; European Union CO; Knoxville Symphony;Queensland SO; Chamber Orchestra of Lapland;ProMusica CO; Istanbul CO; Docklands Sinfonietta;London Festival Orchestra; Parnassus Ensemble; SanDiego CO; Louisville Orchestra; Camerata of St John’s(Australia); Toledo SO; Lucerne Festival Strings;European Union CO; Dala Sinfonietta; Ernest Read SO;Alabama SO.

Further informationArnold originally began to sketch the concerto whilst inIndia. He met many musicians there who knew andadmired Menuhin, and Arnold’s original idea was toincorporate some of the idioms of Indian music into hisnew piece. However, he later abandoned the idea.

Programming ideasAt its 1962 Bath Festival premiere, the Concerto for TwoViolins and String Orchestra was premiered in theGuildhall alongside Handel’s Concerto Grosso in GMinor (Op 6, No 6), Boccherini’s Cello Concerto in B7and Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins, Op 3, No 10.

SIRMALCOLMARNOLD

REPERTOIRE GUIDE… THE OBOE

SELECTED MUSIC FOROBOE & ORCHESTRA

Benjamin Britten: Temporal Variations (1936/arr 1994)Oboe & strings. 15 mins. Orchestrated by Colin Matthews. FP: 12.6.94, Aldeburgh Festival, SnapeMaltings, UK: Nicholas Daniel/English Chamber Orchestra/Steuart Bedford

David Matthews: A Congress of Passions Op 62a & b(1993-4/ 2001 & 2003)Cantata on poetry by Sappho for medium voice, oboe and strings (44321 or 43221). 9 mins. FP (44321vrsn): 23.5.01, Bury St Edmunds Festival: Michael Chance/Nicholas Daniel/Britten Sinfonia/NicholasCleobury. FP (43221 vrsn): 15.11.03, St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead, London, UK: Ruth Peel/RuthBolister/Orchestra Nova/George Vass

David Matthews: Oboe Concerto Op 57 (1991-2)17 mins. 2(II=picc).ca.2(II=bcl).asax.2 - 4231 - timp - perc(3) - pno(=cel) - harp - strings (min8.6.4.4.2). FP: 18.9.92, Barbican Hall, London: Nicholas Daniel/London Schools SO/ Meredith Davies

Nicholas Maw: Little Concert (1987)12 mins. 0000 - 2000 - strings. FP: 28.5.88, Wymondham Abbey, Norwich: Melinda Maxwell/Orchestraof St John's Smith Square/John Lubbock

Dominic Muldowney: Oboe Concerto (1991-2)25 mins. picc.2.0.ca.2.bcl.2.cbsn - 4221 - perc(4) - harp - strings. FP: 30.9.92, Barbican Hall, London:Roy Carter/London SO/Michael Tilson Thomas

Carl Vine: Oboe Concerto (Monody) (1996)16 mins. 1(=picc).1.1(=bcl).1 - 2200 - timp - perc(2) - strings. FP: 11.9.96, Llewellyn Hall, Canberra,Australia: David Nuttall/Canberra SO/Nicholas Braithwaite

John Woolrich: From the Book of Disquiet (2005)Music for alto, oboe and strings. 17 mins. FP: 6.2.05: Chelmsford Civic Centre, Chelmsford, UK: MichaelChance/Britten Sinfonia/Nicholas Daniel

John Woolrich: Oboe Concerto (1996)26 mins. 2 picc.1 fl.3 ob.ssax.Ebcl.cl.cbcl.2 bsn.cbsn - 4331 -timp - perc(4) - strings. FP: 14.8.96, BBCPromenade Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London: Nicholas Daniel/BBC SO/Matthias Bamert

John Woolrich: A Litany (1998-9)Oboe and strings. 15 mins. FP: 29.1.00, St Andrew’s Hall, Norwich: Britten Sinfonia/Nicholas Daniel

COR ANGLAIS & ORCHESTRA

Nicholas Maw: Concerto for Cor Anglais (2004)20 mins. 2(II=picc).2.2.2 - 4211 - strings. FP: 27.4.05, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts,Philadelphia, PA, USA: Elizabeth Starr Masoudnia/The Philadelphia Orchestra/Rossen Milanov

OBOE & ENSEMBLE

Malcolm Arnold: Oboe Quartet Op 61 (1957)Oboe & string trio. 13 mins. FP: 2.5.57, Cambridge University Music School, UK: Leon Goosens/Carter String Trio

Michael Daugherty: FirecrackerOboe and chamber ensemble of 6 players. 14 mins. fl(=picc).bcl - perc(1) - pno - vln.vlc.

Jonathan Harvey: Sprechgesang (2007)Oboe/cor anglais & chamber ensemble of 13 players. 10 mins. 1(=picc).1.0.1(=small tgl) - 1.1.tenor trbn- perc(1) - pno - 2vln.vla.vlc.db. FP: 15.4.07: WDR Funkhaus am Wallrafplatz, Cologne, Germany: PeterVeale/musikFabrik/ Peter Rundel

Matthew Hindson: Rush (1999/2001)Oboe and string quartet. 9 mins. FP: September 2002, Collins St Baptist Church, Melbourne, Australia:Diana Doherty/Belcea Quartet

Oliver Knussen: Cantata (1977)Oboe and string trio. 10 mins. FP: 17.9.79, National Gallery, Athens ISCM: Janet Craxton/Nash Ensemble

C Matthews: Oboe Quartet No 1 (1981)Oboe and string trio. 10 mins. FP: 29.11.81, Music Studio, Nottingham University: Russell Keable/CatherineDendy/Jonathan Cane/Paul Goodwin

C Matthews: Oboe Quartet No 2 (1988-9)Oboe and string trio. 9 mins. 9.2.90, Purcell Room, London: Berlin Oboe Quartet

D Matthews: A Congress of Passions Op 62 (1993-4)Cantata on poetry by Sappho for medium voice, oboe & piano. 9 mins. FP: 20.3.94, Cranbrook School,Kent: Michael Chance/Julius Drake/Nicholas Daniel

D Matthews: The Flaying of Marsyas Op 42 (1986-7)Concertino for oboe and string quartet. 18 mins. FP: 6.5.87, Purcell Room, London: Spohr Quartet/NeilBlack

John Woolrich: Leaving Home (2003)Oboe and string quartet. 14 mins. FP: 10.09.03, Kaiserberg, Nuremburg, Germany: David Fresquet(ob)/Fiona McCapra (vln)/Jan Peter Schmolk (vln)/Judith Busbridge (vla)/Adrian Bradbury (vlc)

John Woolrich: The Lost Day of Return (2004)solo oboe and chamber ensemble of 11 players. 10 mins. 2.0.4.0.cbsn - 2 hrn - perc(2). FP: 11.06.04:Sheringham, Norfolk: Nicholas Daniel/Britten Sinfonia

John Woolrich: My box of phantoms (1995)Oboe and string trio. 5 mins. FP: 30.4.95, Jackson's Lane Arts Centre, Highgate, London: MelindaMaxwell/Composer's Ensemble

John Woolrich: Oboe Quintet (1998)Oboe and string quartet. 20 mins. FP: 20.6.98, Leicester International Music Festival, New Walk Museum:Nicholas Daniel/Festival Ensemble

John Woolrich: Three Arias for Oboe & Six Viols (2001)from the Book of Disquiet, for oboe and six viols. 4 mins. FP: 2.11.01, UK, St Mary in the Castle, Hastings:Nicholas Daniel/Fretwork

COR ANGLAIS & ENSEMBLE

John Woolrich: Quiddities (2005)cor anglais and string sextet (2 vln, 2 vla, 2 vlc). 10 mins. FP: 11.10.05: West Road Concert Hall.,Cambridge: Britten Sinfonia/Nicholas Daniel

SOLO OBOE

Malcolm Arnold: Fantasy for Oboe Op 90 (1966)5 mins. FP: May 1966, Birmingham Town Hall, Maurice Bourgue

Jonathan Harvey: Ricercare una Melodia (1984)Oboe and electronics. 6 mins

John Woolrich: Three Capriccios for Oboe (2001)from the Book of Disquiet, for solo oboe. 5 mins.

SOLO COR ANGLAIS

David Matthews: A little threnody for coranglais Op 63 (1993)4 mins. FP: 7.8.93, Deal Festival, UK: Nicholas Daniel

John Woolrich: Keepsake (2000)3 mins. FP: 18.4.01, Czech Republic, Brno: Pavel Novak

OBOE & PIANO

Julian Anderson: The Bearded Lady (1994)Oboe/cor anglais and piano. 9 mins. FP: 23.10.94, Wigmore Hall, London: NicholasDaniel/Julius Drake

Derek Bermel: SchiZm (1994)9 mins. FP: May 1994: Ann Arbor, MI, USA: Harry Sargous/Anton Nel May

Benjamin Britten: Temporal Variations (1936)13 mins. FP: 15.12.36, Wigmore Hall, London: Natalie Caine/Adolph Hallis

Benjamin Britten: Two Insect Pieces(1935)3 mins. FP: (public) 7.3.79, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester: JanetCraxton/Margot Wright

Matthew Hindson: Night Pieces (1998)7 mins

Colin Matthews: Duologue (1991)12 mins. FP: 16.6.91, Wigmore Hall, London: Nicholas Daniel/Julius Drake

Colin Matthews: Night-Spell (1992)5 mins. FP: 2.2.93, Pebble Mill, Birmingham: Nicholas Daniel/Julius Drake

David Matthews: Montana Taylor’s Blues Op57a (1991-2/96)Arrangement of the slow movement of the Oboe Concerto. 5 mins. FP: 24.6.93, Tisnov,Czech Republic: Milan Kanak/Peter Graham

Peter Sculthorpe: Sydney Singing (2002)15 mins. FP: 6.07.02, UK, Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham: Nicholas Daniel/JuliusDrake

John Woolrich: The Kingdom of Dreams (1989)9 mins. FP: 7.7.89, Cheltenham Festival, Pittville Pump Room: Nicholas Daniel/JuliusDrake

John Woolrich: The Turkish Mouse (1988)4 mins. FP: 13.5.89, Brighton Festival: Nicholas Daniel/Julius Drake

Unbeaten TracksEdited by Sarah Francis. Contemporary works for oboe and piano by Peter Sculthorpe,Matthew Hindson, Carl Davis, Joseph Phibbs, Christopher Fox, Julia Usher, CeciliaMcDowall and Eddie McGuire

COR ANGLAIS PLUS ONE

Oliver Knussen: Elegiac Arabesques Op 26a(1991)Cor anglais and clarinet. 4 mins. FP: 7.11.91, Concert Hall, Broadcasting House,London:Nicholas Daniel/Joy Farrall

27

28

NEW WORKS FROM THE PERFORMANCE DEPARTMENT

Stage WorksTORSTEN RASCHRotter (2007)

Opera in two acts. Duration 160 minutes. Libretto by Thomas Brasch, adapted by KatharinaThalbach and Christoph Schwandt (Ger). Rotter: bass-baritone, Fleischer/Kunde/Maschke/Polizist/Lackner: tenor, Stridde/Tetzner/2nd Arbeiter: baritone, Ehm/Kutz/3rd Arbeiter: bass,Rotmaler/Der Vorsitzende: bass, Elisabeth: mezzo-soprano, Frau Rotter: contralto, Fräulein Berthold:colloratura soprano, Grabow/Kloppenburg/1st Arbeiter: tenor, Das Radio: soprano, SATB chorus: DieAlten Kinder; Arbeiter; Die mitglieder der okönomischen kommission. Orchestra: 3(II=afl,III=picc).3(III=ca).3(III=Ebcl).bcl(=cbcl).3(III=cbsn) - 4331 - timp - perc(2) - accordion -harmonium - cel - harp - strings. Commissioned by Oper Köln. FP: 23, 29 February 2008, 2, 8,14, 16, 18 March 2008, 5, 11, 13 April 2008, Cologne Opera House, Cologne, Germany: OperKöln/dir.Katharina Thalbach/cond.Hermann Bäumer

OrchestralGEORGE BENJAMINCanon & Fugue from “The Art of Fugue”(arr 2007)

Chamber orchestra. Duration 7 minutes. fl - 2hn - strings (3-part vlns, 2-part vlas, no db).Commissioned by the Orchestre de Paris. FP: 16.12.07, Cité de la Musique, Paris, France: Orchestrede Paris/Christoph Eschenbach

BENJAMIN BRITTENMovements for a Clarinet Concerto (1941-2/2007)

Devised and orchestrated by Colin MatthewsClarinet and orchestra. Duration 17 minutes. 2.2.0.bcl.2 - 4230 - timp - perc(1): SD/susp.cym/cyms/glsp - harp - strings. FP : 22.5.08, Hall One, The Sage Gateshead: Michael Collins/NorthernSinfonia/Thomas Zehetmair

MATTHEW HINDSON & WILLIAM BARTONKalkadungu (2007)

didjeridu/singer/electric guitar (1 player) and orchestra. Duration 20 minutes. 1.1.ca.1.bcl.1.cbsn -4.2.2.btrbn.1 - timp - perc(1) - strings. Commissioned by Maggie Gray and Roger Allen for theSydney Symphony. FP: 2.4.08: Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, Sydney: William Barton/SydneySymphony Orchestra/Richard Gill

MATTHEW HINDSONSong and Dance (2006)

String orchestra. Duration 10 minutes. Commissioned by The Orchestras of Australia Network withthe financial assistance of the Australia Council, the Federal Government's arts funding and advisorybody. FP: 21.10.06, Queensland Conservatorium Theatre, SouthBank, Brisbane: William LovelockString Orchestra/Warwick Adeney

DAVID MATTHEWSGoodnight Song (Arrane Oie Vie) Op 102a (2007)

String orchestra. Duration 5 minutes. FP: 2007, Dutton Epoch recording session: OrchestraNova/George Vass

DAVID MATTHEWSSymphony No 1 Op 9 (1975/78)

Orchestra. Duration 20 minutes. 2(I & II=picc).2(II=ca).2(II= Eb, A & bcl).2 - 4200 - timp -perc(1): glsp - harp - strings. FP: (unrevised as ‘Sinfonia’) 8.10.75, Stroud Festival, Stroud:Academy of BBC/Norman del Mar. FP: (revised 1978 version) 5.11.07, Belfast: UlsterOrchestra/George Vass

Chamber/Instrumental

MATTHEW HINDSON2+5<>6 (2004/6)

Solo viola. Duration 4 minutes

MATTHEW HINDSONThe Metallic Violin (2007)

Solo violin. Duration 9 minutes. Commissioned by Fr. Arthur Bridge on behalf of Ars Musica Australis

DAVID MATTHEWSAdonis Op 105 (2007)

Violin and piano. Duration 12 minutes. FP: 26.8.07, Presteigne Festival, UK: Sara Trickey/Gretel Dowdeswell

DAVID MATTHEWSTwo Dionysus Dithyrambs Op 94 (2007)

Solo piano. Duration 7 minutes. FP: 5.8.07, Dartington International Summer School, Dartington,UK: Helen Reid

CARL VINEString Quartet No 5 (2007)

Duration 20 minutes. Commissioned for the Goldner String Quartet and Musica Viva Australia byKenneth Tribe, AC. FP: 30.11.07, Huntingdon Estate Music Festival, Mudgee, NSW, Australia:Goldner String Quartet

Choral/VocalJONATHAN HARVEYMessages (2007)

SATB chorus & orchestra. Duration c25 minutes. double SATB chorus and orchestra: Text: Angelnames. 3(III=picc & alt fl).3(III=ca).3.3(III=cbsn) – 4.3(I=picc tpt).3.1 - perc(5): player 1: 3bowls/2 wdbl/3 tpl.bl/2 bongos/large BD, player 2:crot/2 susp.cym, player 3: glsp/large tam-t,player 4: 3 bowls/susp.cym, player 5: t.bells/medium tam-t/susp.cym - cel – pno - cimbalo - 2harp – 12 vlas.10 vlc. 8 db (minimum) (NB no violins). Commissioned by the Rundfunkchor Berlinand its Chief Conductor, Simon Halsey (Commissioner I) and Fundación Patronata de la Semana deMusica Religiosa de Cuenca (Commissioner II). FP: 29.3.08, Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany:Rundfunkchor Berlin/Berliner Philharmoniker/Reinbert de Leeuw

COLIN MATTHEWSThe island (2008)

Voice and chamber ensemble of 7 players. Duration c 10 minutes. Text: Rainer Maria Rilke (Eng).afl - hn - pno - harp - vln.vla.vlc. Written for Claire Booth and the Nash Ensemble. FP: 12.3.08,Wigmore Hall, London: Claire Booth/The Nash Ensemble/Paul Watkins

EXTRACTS FROMJONATHAN HARVEY'S'MESSAGES'

BOOKS ON MUSIC FROM FABER & FABER

THOMAS ADÈS

BrahmsBaritone and orchestra. Full score 0-571-52200-9 £tbc,vocal score 0-571-52246-7 £tbc

SIR MALCOLM ARNOLD

Hobson’s BrassBrass band. Score and parts 0-571-56850-5 (fp) £19.95

SIR MALCOLM ARNOLD

Introduction & Pas-de-Deux from‘Rinaldo & Armida’Orchestra. Score 0-571-52766-3 £8.95

GEORGE BENJAMIN

Piano FiguresSolo piano. 0-571-52959-3 £29.95

JAMES FRANCIS BROWN

SinfoniettaChamber ensemble/orchestra. Score 0-571-52084-7

TANSY DAVIES

kingpinChamber orchestra. Score 0-571-53142-3 £17.95

CLAUDE DEBUSSY/ORCH COLIN MATTHEWS

Preludes: Canope & Les tiercesalternéesOrchestra. Scores 0-571-52427-3 & 0-571-52429-X £5.95 & £7.95

NICOLAS DE GRIGNY/ARR GEORGE BENJAMIN

Récit de tierce en tailleOrchestra. Score 0-571-52392-7 £8.95

MATTHEW HINDSON

WhitewaterString ensemble of 12 players. Score 0-571-51879-6 £17.95

TORSTEN RASCH

Piano TrioPiano score and parts 0-571-53082-6 £tbc

PETER SCULTHORPE

My Country ChildhoodString orchestra. Score 0-571-53104-0 £9.95

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

Heroic Elegy & Triumphal MarchOrchestra. Score 0-571-52379-X £24.95

THOMAS ADÈS

ArcadianaKuss Quartet. Sony Classical 88697 09216-2

THOMAS ADÈS

Violin Concerto (‘Concentric Paths’)Anthony Marwood/Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Thomas Adès. EMI Classics

(download only)

SIR MALCOLM ARNOLD

Fantasy on a Theme of John Field &Concerto for Two Pianos (3 hands)Philip Dyson/Kevin Sargent/Ulster Orchestra/Esa Heikkilä. Naxos 8.570531

SIR MALCOLM ARNOLD

Philharmonic ConcertoLondon Philharmonic Orchestra/Bernard Haitink (world premiere performance).

LPO-0023

BENJAMIN BRITTEN

NocturnalCraig Ogden. Hyperion CDA67648

CARL DAVIS

Champions:Theme & Grand NationalRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Carl Davis “Great Movie Themes” Naxos

8.570505

JONATHAN HARVEY

ChuEnsemble Accroche Note. L’Empreinte Digitale ED13229

JONATHAN HARVEY

Ricercare una MelodiaManuel Zurria (flute). repeat! die Schachtel zeit 01

OLIVER KNUSSEN

Symphonies 2 & 3; Ophelia DancesBook 1; Coursing; Cantata;Trumpets

Various soloists/London Sinfonietta/Philharmonia Orchestra/Michael TilsonThomas/Oliver Knussen. Souvenir Records (previously on Unicorn Kanchana)

OLIVER KNUSSEN

Violin ConcertoLeila Josefowicz/BBC SO/Oliver Knussen. Deutsche Grammophon 477 7352

PETER SCULTHORPE

Into the DreamingAbigail James (gtr). Riverrun RVRCD64

PETER SCULTHORPE

“Spirits of Place” - music for piano trioLittle Passacaglia (premiere recording); From Irkanda III; Mountains; From Saibai;

Night Pieces; Djilile; Sometimes When I’m Dreaming; Irkanda I; Four LittlePieces; Night Song

Ema Alexeeva/David Apellaniz/Ananda Sukarlan. Verso VRS 2036

SECTION HEAD

29

SELECTED NEW PUBLICATIONS & RECORDINGS

MEDIA SPOTLIGHT

30

Carl DavisCranford, broadcast on BBC1 over five weeks lastAutumn, proved a triumph for the BBC – and for CarlDavis, whose beautiful theme and typically well-craftedincidental music added immeasurably to the intimate‘chamber’ quality of the series. At the time of writingthe DVD was scheduled for release on 14 February andhad already achieved pre-sales of 15,000.

Adrian JohnstonFollowing the success of Becoming Jane, for which hewrote the score, Adrian Johnston has worked on anumber of further productions for Ecosse Film &Television. These include the 8-part seriesMeadowlands,which was broadcast in the USA and theUK last summer; and also My Boy Jack which starredDaniel Radcliffe as Rudyard Kipling’s son John who,having had a commission procured for him by hisfather, was killed in the Battle of Loos in 1915. The filmwas broadcast on Channel 4 on Remembrance Sunday.

Simon Fisher TurnerOne of the new BBC1 ident films,which first went to airat the beginning of the year and features a helicopter inflight, uses music by Simon Fisher Turner and the voiceof Alexander L’Estrange – who is also signed to FaberMusic as a composer and arranger. The two hadpreviously worked together on the BBC’s SweeneyTodd, and indeed were asked to re-create the sound oftheir music for that production in this film.

Jonny GreenwoodJonny Greenwood’s original music for the film ThereWill Be Blood was disqualified for an Oscar nominationin the ‘Best Score’ category, we are sad to report,because it contains music from his pre-existing worksPopcorn Superhet Receiver and smear – which areFaber Music works! Nevertheless, at the time of writingthe score retains its nomination in the same categoryfor the BAFTAs. The score also won him the Best FilmScore in the Evening Standard British Film Awards, andthe Best Composer Award at the Broadcast Film CriticsAssociation in the US (see p.8).

Starring Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood wasreleased on 15 February in the UK.

Dan JonesThe Tonto Woman, scored by Dan Jones, has receivedan Oscar nomination in the field of Short Film (LiveAction). Directed by Daniel Barber and based on ashort story by Elmore Leonard, it has already won the2007 Palm Spring International Short Film Festivalaward. The short film tells the story of a cattle rustlerwho meets a woman living in isolation, after being heldprisoner for eleven years by the Mojave Indians.

Adrian Lee & Simon Rogers Adrian Lee and Simon Rogers worked together on the5-part natural history series Monkey Business, made byIcon Films for National Geographic. Due for broadcastin Spring 2008, this fascinating series tells the stories ofrival gangs of Vervet monkeys on the streets of Durban,South Africa.

David MotionMusic by David Motion - the track entitled "Buoyancy"from his album ‘Neo-Classic’ - has been taken up byPrada as the soundtrack for their FallWinter08 season'smen's fashion show on their website, www.prada.com.David recently re-released the album via his verystriking new website www.davidmotion.com, where ithas attracted considerable on-line attention.

DAME JUDI DENCH IN 'CRANFORD'

A STILL FROM 'THE TONTO WOMAN'

DAVID MOTION

31

Sergey Prokofiev: Diaries Volume Two(1915-1922): Behind the MaskEdited by Anthony PhillipsISBN: 9780571226306, Royal 8vo hardback £30.00 April 2008A momentous epoch in European history, in thepersonal story of Prokofiev’s life, and in thedevelopment of his art. The second volume ofProkofiev’s recently uncovered Diaries covers theperiod from 1915 to 1923 – a momentous epoch inEuropean history, in the personal story of thecomposer’s life, and in the development of his art. TheDiaries describe in detail the genesis and, all too often,the problematical path to performance, of major worksin the canon.

A period of sustained creative endeavour, therefore,interspersed with the life of a touring virtuoso pianist,was all the more remarkable considering the life-changing experiences of living,working and travelling inwar-torn and revolutionary Russia, and his decision toleave Russia and embark on the precarious life ofan artist in the mythic America he had longdreamed of visiting. Would it be El Dorado, or anoubliette of indifference and incomprehension?The Diaries chart the author’s swings of fortune,the elation and disappointment, the lonelinessof the émigré,his encounters with a luminousrange of personalities from the worlds of music,theatre, art and literature, his deepening searchfor philosophical understanding and the parallelsearch for true love and friendship, all cast inthe burnished, idiosyncratic prose of a bornmaster, not just of music, but of words.

Praise for Sergey Prokofiev Diaries 1907-

1914: Prodigious Youth ‘Phillips’s enthusiasm, tact and sympathy, not to mentionhis wide knowledge of music and history, have produced awork that everyone interested in music and Russian culture ofthe past hundred years should read.’

New Statesman

Anthony Phillips learnt Russian in the ‘SecretClassrooms’ of National Service in the 1950s andlater at Oxford. The language continued to playan important part during his later career inmusic administration, during which he becamegeneral manager of London’s Royal Festival Hall.Story of a Friendship, his translation ofShostakovich’s letters to Isaak Glikman, waspublished by Faber in 2000, and AntonChekhov: A Life in Letters (with RosamundBartlett) by Penguin Classics in 2004. SergeyProkofiew Diaries 1907-1914: ProdigiousYouth was published by Faber in 2006 and wasdescribed by the New Statesman as an‘extraordinary achievement’.

Coltrane: The Story of a SoundBen Ratliff

ISBN: 9780571232741, B paperback £8.99 October 2008No other jazz musician has proved so inspirational andso fascinating as Coltrane. By grappling with Coltrane’sunique sound, Ben Ratliff, jazz critic for the New YorkTimes, has written the first book to do justice to thisgreat and controversial music pioneer.

‘Consistently stimulating.’Geoff Dyer, Guardian Book of the Week

‘Even those who think they know Coltrane's life and work from back tofront will find a fresh and provocative insight on just about every page.’

Richard Williams

Ben Ratliff, son of American and British parents, is thejazz critic of The New York Times and is the author ofJazz: A Critic’s Guide to the 100 Most ImportantRecordings.

The Wagner ClanJonathan Carr

ISBN: 9780571207909, B paperback £8.99 September 2008For over a century the Wagners have presided over theBayreuth Festival, amidst in-family fighting and politicalcontroversy. Jonathan Carr presents a balanced butgripping portrait of Germany’s most notorious family,whose story presents a mirror of Germany’s rise, falland ressurection.'In its depth of research, its wealth of anecdotal interest and in the

refreshing sanity of its judgements, it offers both afascinating introduction to laymen and a wealth of newinformation to the most dedicated Wagnerians.'

Tim Martin, Independent on Sunday

For more than three decades JonathanCarr (b.1942) served as a foreigncorrespondent, initially in Geneva, Paris andBrussels, later as bureau chief of theFinancial Times and the Economist inGermany. A regular visitor to the Bayreuthfestival since 1970, his interest has grownsteadily in the saga of the Wagner family –above all as a mirror of German (and in part

European) history.His other books include biographies of the

former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt(1985) and of Gustav Mahler (1997), as wellas Goodbye Germany (1993), a far fromsolemn obituary of the pre-unity FederalRepublic. The winner of several pressawards for his reporting from Germany, hereceived the CBE in 2000 for services toBritish-German relations.

Jonathan Carr lives with his wife in avillage overlooking the Rhine near Bonn.

Ten Bad Break-Up SongsEdited by Angus Cargill

ISBN: 9780571241729, B hardback £12.99October 2008

A musical follow up to Richard T Kelly’sbrilliant Ten Bad Dates with De Niro,Left ofthe Dial eschews the traditional ‘best of’ listformat as it celebrates popular music in allits eclectic, and sometimes guilty, glory.

From personal blogs to end of year criticpolls;Desert Island Discs to i-pod playlists;thefilms of Tarantino to the books of NickHornby; music fans have always loved to

compile and to indulge, to collect and to hoard. Mixinganecdote, humour, reference and quality anorakbehaviour, Left of the Dial is a collection of lists aboutmusical loves and hates, dreams and nightmares.Including contributions from bloggers, journalists,novelists, poets and musicians, it will be the literaryequivalent of a great pub jukebox – inspiring,provocativeand irresistible – and the perfect gift for all music lovers.

Angus Cargill works in publishing and lives inLondon.

BOOKS ON MUSIC FROM FABER & FABER

Head OfficeFaber Music Ltd3 Queen Square

London WC1N 3AUTel: +44

(0)20 7833 7900Fax: +44

(0)20 7833 [email protected]

www.fabermusic.com

Promotion tel: +44(0)20 7833 7911/2

[email protected]

Distribution CentreFMDistribution

Burnt MillElizabeth WayHarlow, Essex

CM20 2HXTel: +44

(0)1279 82 89 89Fax: +44

(0)1279 82 89 01trade@

fabermusic.comHire tel: +44

(0)1279 82 89 07/8Hire fax: +44

(0)1279 82 89 [email protected]

Cover picture credit:Maurice Foxall

Editor: Tim BrookeDesigner:

Dave Warden

SALES PUBLICATION NEWS

www.fabermusic.com

Faber Music 2008: diversification & opportunity2008 will be a busy year for the Print Division at FaberMusic: three years after the acquisition of InternationalMusic Publications (and with it, the exclusive license toEMI and Warner Chappell’s pop catalogues), the rock andpop publications are going from strength to strength; theeducational catalogue continues to receive accolades(winning the Music Industry Association’s ‘BestEducational Product’ for its series Language of Song in2007); and it is now also driving through the resourceelement of ‘Sing Up’, the Music Manifesto’s NationalSinging Programme.

In November 2007, the Government announced a£40 million initiative to put singing at the heart of everyprimary school (the investment is part of a widercommitment to provide £332 million to support music-making in schools over the next three years). ‘Sing Up’was the result of this Government funding, and aims toensure that every primary-school aged child has theopportunity to experience high quality singing as part oftheir everyday lives in the school,the home and the widercommunity. The national campaign was launched by Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families,Ed Balls, and is being spearheaded by SingingAmbassador Howard Goodall (published by Faber Music, see p.9) and backed by singer Jamelia.

‘Sing Up’ is being run by a consortium ledby Youth Music in partnership with FaberMusic, The Sage Gateshead and advertisingagency Abbott Mead Vickers. It comprises anational singing resource or “songbook”, amedia and schools campaign highlighting thebenefits of singing and a workforcedevelopment programme to build theconfidence and expertise of primary schoolteachers,musicians and parents in leadingand supporting children’s singingactivities. Faber Music is producing the ‘Sing Up’ resource, a web-basedsongbook drawing on music from manydifferent publishers, teaching materials such as activities and lesson plans(www.singup.org), and is supported by atermly magazine for primary school teachers.There is a commitment to deliver resourcessuitable for both non-specialist and specialistteachers. The repertoire provided continuesto celebrate our national heritage, with awide range of folksongs (particularly regionalsongs), original works and arrangements ofwell-loved songs.

The consortium was appointed, followinga tendering process which attracted morethan 80 enquiries. Talking about FaberMusic’s involvement Publishing DirectorKathryn Knight said “We are absolutelythrilled to be involved with an initiative thatis at the heart of music education and whichpromises not just to re-invigorate singing inschools but potentially transform the lives of so manychildren”. Talking about the initiative, Howard Goodall

said:“Research has shown that young people who arelucky enough to learn music and sing from an early agedevelop better social skills,memory, ability to listen andhave more confidence. Singing also builds a child’s self-esteem, promotes team work irrespective of age,gender, and background, celebrates diversity, facilitatesself-expressions – andis just plain fun.” Forfurther information,and to explore theSong Bank, go towww.singup.org.

New publicationsFollowing the success of the recent George Gershwin

and Cole Porter volumes, Irving Berlin is the latest greatAmerican songwriter to join the Platinum series. IrvingBerlin: The Platinum Collection features 50 of his best-loved songs in one publication – including ‘Let’s Face theMusic and Dance’, ‘There’s No Business Like ShowBusiness’ and ‘White Christmas’. Next on the schedule isthe innovative composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim,very much in the press recently thanks to the Tim Burtonfilm adaptation of Sweeney Todd. The collection will

feature songs from this and other well-knownmusical scores, including A Funny ThingHappened on the Way to the Forum,Company,Follies, Into the Woods and Sunday in the Parkwith George.

The simplest ideas are often the best,and thiscertainly rings true for the great new series TheBest of Grade 1 to 5. These five books for piano(one for each grade) quite simply contain thebest pieces ever selected by the variousexamination boards. From old favourites to thestars of syllabuses long forgotten, these pieceswill provide a trip down memory lane for

teachers and core repertoire for students. The serieshas been rigorously tried and tested by renownedexamination selector Anthony Williams. These arebooks to come back to again and again – forexample as a fantastic sight-reading resource formore advanced students.

Fortissimo readers will have seen thearticles on Johnny Greenwood on pp. 8, 21 &30. Through it’s deal with Warner Chappell,Faber Music is currently working on a limitededition songbook to match Radiohead’snumber 1 album In Rainbows. The album

was famously released last year as a ‘chooseyour own price’ download, heavily influencingthe future of the way music is marketed andsold. The book contains all the songs arrangedfor guitar and voice from the In Rainbowsbox-set, as well as special artwork fromrenown designer Stanley Donwood and photosof the band. We were very pleased to do a jointventure with the indie/rock music magazineNME in January 2008: their January 5th editionfeatured four pages of Faber Music’s rock andpop arrangements of indie songs for thespecial guitar issue of the magazine, which

received very positive feedback from the massive NME readership.

faber music news spring 2008 fortissimo! · pdf filefaber music news spring 2008 fortissimo!...

Documents