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fortissimo!

Carl Davismusical polymathreaches 70

TUNING IN • NEW WORKS FROM THE PERFORMANCE DEPARTMENT • NEW PUBLICATIONS • NEW RECORDINGSMEDIA SPOTLIGHT • FABER MUSIC EXHIBITION AT ALDEBURGH FESTIVAL

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Nemmers Prize for Oliver KnussenTansy Davies on board‘Into the Little Hill’: Benjamin premiere at Festival d’AutomneAdès retrospectives in Paris and LondonRattle brings Harvey’s ‘Madonna’ to BerlinMalcolm Arnold Festival in Northampton

Anderson on Ondine – ‘biting brilliance and exotic passion’

Carl Davis – 70th birthday celebrations

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Phantom of The Royal Opera!For the first time, The Royal Opera House in London

will stage what promises to be an eerily atmospheric

performance of the 1925 classic silent horror film, The

Phantom of the Opera, starring Lon Chaney, for one

night only on 8 October 2006. Carl Davis’s evocative

score will be performed live by The Orchestra of The

Royal Opera under the composer’s baton.The added bonus of Covent Garden being in the

midst of staging Gounod’s Faust in that period, meansthat the setting will be nigh on perfect – Davis’s scoresreflects themes from the opera. (In the film, thePhantom terrorizes the Paris Opéra amidst theirproduction of Faust).

Chaplin premieres in Germany and the UKThe final two films in Davis’s Chaplin Mutuals 12-film

cycle are premiered this year.The Lichfield Festival saw the first live performance

of Davis’s score for The Count (1916), with aperformance as part of a Chaplin triple-bill in LichfieldCathedral. Davis conducted the Royal Liverpool POthere on 14 July.

The twelfth and final Mutual to be premiered live isThe Vagabond (1916). It forms part of a Mutualsevening to be staged at the Braunschweig Film Festivalin Germany on 10 November. Also in the programmeare The Pawnshop, The Cure and Easy Street.

Birmingham Comedy FestivalDavis joins forces with the City of Birmingham SO from

13-15 October this year, as part of the Birmingham

Comedy Festival. They give three concerts each

focusing on a legendary screen giant – Charlie Chaplin

(The Rink & Modern Times), Harold Lloyd (An Eastern

Westerner & Safety Last) and Buster Keaton (One Week

& Our Hospitality).

London Philharmonic’s birthday silentsNo Davis celebration would be complete without a

concert with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with

whom he has a long-standing relationship. Davis joins

them in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 29 October for a

silent film concert that includes the UK premiere of his

score to Chaplin’s The Fireman, as well as Buster

Keaton’s feature, Our Hospitality.

RLPO host “Birthday Bash”Davis has had a long association with the Royal

Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and was Artistic

Director of the RLPO’s hugely successful Liverpool

Pops concerts from 1993 to 2001. He returns to

Liverpool for a birthday concert on 18 November,

which shows the breadth of Davis’s work. Included are

the Chaplin silent film Easy Street, The Town Fox for

speaker and orchestra (text by Carla Lane, narrated by

Michael Angelis), a selection from Davis’s film and TV

scores, including music from the Grand National-based

Champions – a favourite with Liverpool audiences.

Davis’s impressive ballet output will also be

represented by the world premiere of a selection from

his forthcoming, Cyrano de Bergerac. The complete

ballet will be launched by Birmingham Royal Ballet on

7 February 2007, with choreography by David Bintley.

‘Alice in Wonderland’, the ballet…Alice in Wonderland, Davis’s 1995 commission from

English National Ballet, is to be revived this autumn.

Originally choreographed by Derek Deane, the ballet

consists entirely of short pieces by Tchaikovsky cleverly

assembled by Davis.The production tours the UK (visiting Manchester,

Bristol, Southampton, Oxford and Liverpool) beforereaching London’s Coliseum on 27 December, where itwill run for 26 performances.

… and the musical!Meanwhile, on 29 October, Davis’s stage musical, Alice

in Wonderland – in Ian Brown’s successful production

that premiered to great acclaim at the West Yorkshire

Playhouse in winter 2005 – comes to the Birmingham

Repertory Theatre for their Christmas 2006 season. It

plays there from 29 November–30 December and

promises to be as surefire a hit with audiences in the

Midlands as it was with those in the North.

Carl Davis will be 70 on 28 October2006, incredible to contemplatereally, given that his boundlessenthusiasm for everything he doeswould put to shame many peoplehalf his age! A number of concertsand events will mark this specialanniversary and display thediversity that has led to Davis beingregarded as one of the UK’s mostprominent musical personalities.

PHOTO: RICHARD CANNON

Tansy Davies on board

HIGHLIGHTS

PHOTO: MAURICE FOXALL

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Faber Music Ltd is delighted to announce the signing of

a publishing agreement with composer Tansy Davies

(b.1973).

In recent years Davies has established herself at the

vanguard of the new wave of young British composers.

Her music is informed by the worlds of both the

classical avant-garde and experimental rock (as one

critic wrote “between Prince and Xenakis”), and her

scores are littered with unusual yet insightful directions,

such as “urban, muscular”,“seedy, low slung”,“stealthy”

and “solid, grinding”. She is also greatly influenced by

both the natural world and,recently,by the controversial

architecture of the Iraqi-born Zaha Hadid.

Following initial studies at Colchester Institute

(French horn and composition), she later freelanced

professionally in orchestras and rock bands whilst

studying composition with Simon Bainbridge at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama,and then, later, for

her PhD with Simon Holt at Royal Holloway College,

London (where she is now Composer in Residence).

Davies has already enjoyed a number of

commissions from such organisations as the London

Symphony Orchestra,the Aldeburgh Festival, the London

Sinfonietta, the BBC (for the BBC Scottish SO), the

Composers Ensemble, the Brunel Ensemble and from

oboist Nicholas Daniel.

In June 2006, the BBC SO and Zsolt Nagy performed

(and recorded for broadcast) the orchestral work

Tilting, and in February 2007 the Birmingham

Contemporary Music Group and Thomas Adès give the

premiere of Falling Angel, a 20-minute commission for

large ensemble, in Birmingham and at the Présences

festival in Paris.

Other forthcoming commissions include works for

the Britten Sinfonia, the CBSO Youth Orchestra, City of

London Sinfonia, the Norwegian ensemble BIT 20, and a

large-scale multi-media work for the Aldeburgh Festival.

Works available from Faber Music

(as at August 2006)

Spiral House (2004)trumpet and orchestra – 22 mins

Tilting (2005)orchestra – 7 mins

Iris (2004)soprano saxophone & ensemble of 15 players – 14 mins

neon (2004)chamber ensemble of 7 players – 10 mins

All other works are currently available from

the British Music Information Centre,

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7928 1902, info@bmic.co.uk

‘(Spiral House) For a first orchestral composition, this was a tour de force,a vast juddering monster of a piece, with its unforgettable rhythmic treadconjuring images of the lumbering giants in “The Ring”, and its mind-blowing trumpet solos wonderfully offset in a muted Miles Davissoundalike section. An impressive orchestral debut.’

The Glasgow Herald (Michael Tumelty), March 2006

‘… in its structural inspiration, Tilting proved to be one further workinspired by her fascination with Zaha Hadid, the Iraqi-born architect famousfor cubes and slabs conjoined at perilous angles. Now, in a sense, theorchestra was the building; and there was Davies staring up at it, creating agiddy musical architecture from superimposed layers, hiccupping rhythms,melodic flute fragments, distorted echoes of troubadour songs – everythingglinting in sharp, bright shapes and colours… Most exhilarating.’

The Times (Geoff Brown), 16 June 2005

‘(neon) … a gloriously offbeat scherzo made from “distressed” materials.’The Sunday Times (Paul Driver)

‘(neon) This is Stravinsky for the club generation, modernist collage built fromtwisted funk riffs; deceptively complex music that repays repeated listening.’

The Classical Source (Rob Witts)

‘(Iris) Brilliantly uninhibited wind and semi-pitched percussion sonoritiesform blocks against the soft background of a slightly rancid string chorale– the very description evokes memories. Yet the music is entirelyindividual, vivid, and above all acutely “heard”.’

The Independent (Stephen Walsh), 8 July 2004

‘(Iris) … casts a soprano saxophone in the role of a shaman whocommutes between levels of the subconscious. The musical poles are aPurcell-derived chorale and a scrubby Birtwistlian modernism that seemsdetermined to wring the neck of its own rhetoric. This is a talented piecewith a striking conclusion…’

The Daily Telegraph (David Fanning), 7 July 2004

“… a livewireimpossible topigeonhole…”

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George Benjamin is Featured Composer this year at the

ground-breaking Festival d’Automne in Paris.

‘Into the Little Hill’

The highlight will

undoubtedly be the world

premiere of Into the Little

Hill, a “lyric tale” in two parts,

for soprano, contralto and

ensemble of 15 players, the

composer’s first ‘operatic’

work. The librettist is the

acclaimed English dramatist

Martin Crimp, whose work is

enormously admired in

France. Into the Little Hill is

the result of a co-commission

from the Festival, Opéra

National de Paris and

Ensemble Modern, with support from the Siemens

Music Foundation and the Forberg-Schneider-Stiftung.

The world premiere, with the Ensemble Modern,

conducted by Franck Ollu, takes place in the

Amphitheatre of the Opéra Bastille on 22 November

with repeat performances there on 23 and 24. Anu

Komsi and Hilary Summers are the singers – each

responsible for multiple roles – and the production is

directed and designed by Daniel Jeanneteau. The piece,

which will be prefaced by two of Benjamin’s chamber

pieces (Three Miniatures for Solo Violin and Viola,

Viola) moves to the Théâtre de St.Quentin en Yvelines on

26 November; further performances of this production

are already scheduled in Amsterdam, New York and

Frankfurt in 2007 and Liverpool and Vienna in 2008.

Paris premiere of ‘Dance Figures’

Elsewhere in the Festival d’Automne Benjamin

conducts Ensemble Modern in a concert on 27

November that includes his own Three Inventions for

Chamber Orchestra and At First Light, a programme

that is then repeated in Frankfurt on 1 December and

Madrid on 4 December. The festival portrait concludes

on 19 December when Benjamin will conduct Dance

Figures and Palimpsests, with the Orchestre de l’Opéra

National de Paris, in the main hall of the Opéra Bastille.

Ballet production thrills European audiencesBenjamin’s music reached the stage for the first time on

17 May with the premiere of Rosas’s “D’un soir un jour”

in the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels. Anne Teresa de

Keersmaeker’s ravishing choreography set Benjamin’s

Dance Figures (a co-commission from La Monnaie, the

Chicago SO and Strasbourg Musica), and Ringed by the

Flat Horizon, amidst classic scores by Debussy

(Prélude a l’après-midi d’un faune and Jeux) and

Stravinsky (Symphonies of Wind Instruments and

Fireworks). The performance was enhanced by the use

of live orchestra throughout – La Monnaie’s Music

Director, Kazushi Ono presided:

‘Avec “D’un soir un jour”, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker livre un spectacleplein de surprises, de rêverie, de menace suspendue, de sensualité, dedésirs inassouvis…’

Le Soir (Jean-Marie Wynants), 19 May 2006

The production has since toured widely to Paris,

Montpellier and Vienna. Future performances include

50 dates around Europe, taking in France, the UK,

Belgium and the Netherlands:

Berlin Philharmonic debutBenjamin made his conducting debut with the Berlin

Philharmonic from 5-7 May 2006. The programme

included his Ringed by the Flat Horizon, alongside

works by Messiaen, Rihm and Ravel:

‘’Aber auch George Benjamin hörte sich nach seinem Eliot-Tonpoemlautstark ausgezeichnet. Es ist doch immer wieder überraschend, in wiejungen Jahren sich das künftige musikalische Großtalent Bahn bricht,vorzugsweise mit kleinen Naturkatastrophen wie diesen, die Benjaminheraufbeschwört und immer erneut vom Solo-Cello beschwichtigen läßt.’

Berliner Morgenspost (Klaus Geitel), 7 May 2006

George Benjamin at Festival d’Automne, Paris

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Adès retrospectives in London & Paris

HIGHLIGHTS

Capitals vie with each other for Adès retrospectives…Paris and London festivals planned for February

and April respectively…

2007 will be an extraordinary year for Thomas Adès. In

February the Berliner Philharmoniker premiere a

commissioned work, Tevot, in Berlin and on tour. The

same month launches the biggest festival to date of

works by Adès – no less than 23 works performed by

700 musicians comprise the controversial Paris

Présences festival organised by Radio France.

Adès takes part as conductor and pianist in many of

these concerts whilst simultaneously rehearsing for

Royal Opera’s The Tempest revival at Covent Garden

which runs throughout March. During April, ‘Traced

Overhead’, the UK’s most significant Adès homage to

date, promoted by the Barbican, features the UK

premiere of Tevot with 11 other works by Adès placed

in the context of music close to him by composers such

as Stravinsky, Kurtag and Nancarrow.

Later in the year another focus on Adès based in

Scandinavia is promised – more details in our next issue.

By way of an introduction to this musical feast, on 8

June this year the Barbican hosted a breathtaking

concert performance of Adès’s notoriously provocative

chamber opera, Powder Her Face. Adès himself

conducted members of the London SO with soloists

Valdine Anderson, Mary Plazas, Daniel Norman and

Stephen Richardson:

‘With his librettist Philip Hensher, Adès has created a dramma per musicaof the voyage of the human spirit of a modern-day Helen of Troy, aMarschallin, a Lulu, maybe. The Duchess is all and none of these things.But, as time ticks by in the dry, brittle percussion, as the blood pulses inbow and bell, and as the nerves jangle in the tortured tangos of brass andaccordion, a whole world of music is assimilated and subsumed into ascore that has never before sounded quite so brilliant.

The opera was new in 1995 and has been performed worldwide. ButI’d be willing to bet that the wit, panache, compassion and sheertheatricality of its musical language has never been revealed with suchaccuracy and flair as in this performance by an ensemble of LSO soloists.The players clearly relished the devilish challenges of Adès’s score – andhis own ever more incisive and authoritative conducting of its short scenesand their screw-turning instrumental interludes.’

The Times (Hilary Finch), 12 June 2006

‘The score is nothing short of sensational in its brilliance, energy and wit…’Daily Telegraph (Rupert Christiansen), 16 June 2006

Présences Festival (Paris)

9.2.07, Anthony Marwood/City of Birmingham SO/Thomas AdèsAdès: Violin Concerto (French premiere) & Asyla; Gerald Barry: La Plus Forte

10.2.07, Various/Thomas Adès (pno)/Choeur de Radio FranceAdès: The Lover in Winter; The Fayrfax Carol; Five Eliot Landscapes; January Writ; Life Story

11.2.07, Anthony Marwood (vln)/Thomas Adès (pno)All Stravinsky-Dushkin programme: Suite Italienne; Pastorale; Song of the Nightingale& Chinese March; Duo concertant; Berceuse, Scherzo and Prelude & Ronde des Princesses(from The Firebird); Chanson Russe; Divertimento; Danse Russe (from Petrishka)

16.2.07, Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège/Pascal RophéAdès: Brahms (French premiere – baritone Thomas Bauer); Michel Fourghon:New work; Benoit Mernier: An die Nacht; Pascal Dusapin: Exeo Solo No 5

17.2.07, Sophia Domancich (pno)“Electro-libres” – jazz concert

17.2.07, Orchestre Philharmonique de RadioFrance/Thomas AdèsAdès: These Premises are Alarmed & … but all shall be well (French premieres);Pascal Zavaro: The Meeting (world premiere); Thierry Pécon: Vague de pierre(world premiere)

18.2.07, Ensemble Calliopée/Krystok MaratkaAdès: Court Studies from ‘The Tempest’ (French premiere) & Catch; Maratka: Lecorbeau à quatre pattes (world premiere)

23.2.07, Ensemble L’Itineraire/Mark FosterAdès: Concerto Conciso (pno Bertrand Chamayou); Luis Fernando Rizo-Salom: Newwork (world premiere); Jérôme Combier: Estran; Esteban Benzecry: PILLÁN QUITRAL– Le feu sacré (world premiere); Frank Bedrossian: Charleston (world premiere)

24.2.07, Birmingham Contemporary MusicGroup/Thomas AdèsAdès: Chamber Symphony; Tansy Davies: Falling Angel (French premiere); GeraldBarry: The Triumph of Beauty & Deceit (French premiere)

25.2.07, ‘Hommage à György Ligeti’ – various & Thomas AdèsAdès: Darknesse Visible, Traced Overhead & Still Sorrowing (TA pno); Ligeti: Monument.Selbstportrait . Bewegung; Antheil: Ballet Mécanique; Ligeti: Poème symphonique

1.3.07, Orchestre de Pau/Fayçal KarouiAdès: The Origin of the Harp (French premiere); Pascal Zavaro: Cello Concerto (worldpremiere) & Three Studies for a Crucifixion; Charles Chaynes: Poèmes Rimbaldiens

2.3.07, Quatuor Diotima/Bertrand ChamayouAlain Bancquart: Partitas for violins, viola & cello & String Quartet No 5 (world premieres)Adès: Arcadiana & Piano Quintet; Eryck Abecassis: Phaz 2 (world premiere);Patrice Fouillaud: À partir du moment (world premiere)

3.3.07, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France(OPB)/Jean DeroyerAdès: Living Toys; Graciane Finzi: Harpsichord Concerto (world premiere); OscarStrasnoy: New work (world premiere); Antoine Hervé: Piano Concertino (world premiere)

4.3.07, Orchestre & Choeur Colonne/Laurent PetitgirardAdès: America-A Prophecy (French premiere – Susan Bickley, mezzo); Michel Decoust: Horn Concerto (world premiere); Stravinsky: Persephone

5.3.07, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra & Sir Simon RattleAdès: Tevot (French premiere); Janacek: Sinfonietta; Dvorak: Symphony No 7

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PHOTO: MAURICE FOXALL

Awards aplenty!

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Nemmers for KnussenOliver Knussen has been awarded the 2006 Michael

Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Musical Composition. The

biennial award honours composers “who have

significantly affected the field of composition.’ Knussen

was praised for his “uniquely focused, vibrantly varied

music and his total embrace – as a profoundly

influential composer, conductor, and educator – of

today’s musical culture.”Knussen received $100,000 and will

have one of his works performed by theChicago SO in the 2007-8 season;he will alsovisit Chicago for a residency at NorthwesternUniversity’s School of Music.

RPS Award for Anderson’s ‘Book of Hours’Julian Anderson has received the Royal

Philharmonic Society Award for Large-Scale

Composition for his work for ensemble and

electronics, Book of Hours. He collected the

award on 9 May at a gala dinner at London’s

Dorchester Hotel.The work has also been recognised by the

International Jury of the ISCM, who programmed thework into the 2006 World Music Days in Stuttgart. Itwas performed there on 16 July by Ensemble Modernand Kaspar de Roo. It receives its North Americanpremiere on 28 February 2007 when Oliver Knussenperforms it with the Toronto SO.

Hindson awarded Order of AustraliaMatthew Hindson has been awarded the Order of

Australia, Member (AM) in the General Division in The

Queen’s 80th Birthday Honours. This is for his services to

the arts as a leading Australian composer and teacher of

music,and through the wide promotion of musical works

to new audiences. At the age of only 37 this is an

impressive achievement and is just recognition for the

selfless work he does for music education, and for his

programming and advocacy of new music, not least with

the recent launch of his Aurora Festival in Western Sydney.

Bermel scoops Academy of Arts & Letters AwardDerek Bermel has been awarded one of the Academy

Awards in Music by the American Academy of Arts and

Letters, which honours outstanding artistic achievement

and acknowledges a composer who has arrived at his or

her own voice.

South Bank appointments for Knussen & BenjaminOliver Knussen and George Benjamin have been

appointed as Composers in Association to London’s

South Bank Centre,as part of the new structures created

following Jude Kelly’s appointment as Artistic Director.

The first commercial disc of Julian Anderson’s musichas been released by the Finnish label Ondine. Itcomprises five of his works for orchestra and largeensemble including The Stations of the Sun, TheCrazed Moon, Diptych, Khorovod and AlhambraFantasy. All performances are conducted by longtimeAnderson champion, Oliver Knussen, directing the BBC

Symphony Orchestra and theLondon Sinfonietta:

‘Anderson at last!… a wonderfullyconvincing survey of the earlydevelopment of one of the mostimportant British composers of hisgeneration… (Alhambra Fantasy)seems just as dazzling now as itdid when it received its firstperformance in 2001.

Anderson’s confidence inhandling and shaping hismusical material and his

wonderfully precise ear for instrumental colour havebeen constants in his music, as have his widely varied influences – fromFrench spectralist composers like Grisey and Murail whose techniques informthe second part of the Diptych, to the east European folk traditions that givesuch energy to Khorovod… The big orchestral canvases, the genuinelydisquieting The Crazed Moon (1997) and The Stations of the Sun (1998),show Anderson’s priceless gift for making complex formal shapes totallylucid. Oliver Knussen’s beautifully integrated performances with both theBBC Symphony and the Sinfonietta help inestimably too, and the detail inthe recordings is always faithful to Anderson’s fastidious sensibility.’BBC Music Magazine “Monthly Choice” (Andrew Clements), August 2006

‘… one of our most original and accomplished composers, whosevibrantly adventurous, often folk-influenced music belies his image as aHarvard professor, albeit a precocious one… (Khorovod) … a score ofbiting brilliance and exotic passion, yet also wonderfully down to earth.The Crazed Moon (1997) and The Stations of the Sun (1998) are big,bold orchestral statements, superbly realised here.’

The Sunday Times (Paul Driver), 30 July 2006

‘… a leading talent… The music is always direct in its tone of voice andunfailingly approachable without turning its back on all contact withprogressive modernism… (Khorovod) Anderson’s knack for dramatisingunexpected compatibilities makes for an enthralling structure of genuinesubstance… it is good to hear that another disc of his music will soonappear. It is high time that Anderson was given his due.’Gramophone “Editor’s Choice” (Arnold Whittall), September 2006

A second all-Anderson disc will be released on the NMClabel later this year. It will feature the works written aspart of his 3-year residency with the City of BirminghamSO – Imagin’d Corners, Symphony, Eden, Book ofHours and Four American Choruses on Gospel Texts.More details and reviews in the next issue.

Anderson on Ondine

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‘The Wasps’ on disc

HIGHLIGHTS

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The new performing edition of Vaughan Williams’s The

Wasps has been released on a widely lauded CD by the

Hallé Orchestra and Choir under Mark Elder. David

Pountney’s English singing translation of Aristophanes’s

Greek text is narrated by Henry Goodman. The

recording was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as

part of its British Music Focus late in 2005. This

complete version of The

Wasps is available worlwide

exclusively from Faber Music

Ltd, and its hire/rental

agents, and will arouse real

interest in the work from

Vaughan Williams lovers

and scholars alike..

‘This recording has just abouteverything: robust comedy, sharp wit, sensuosdelight, emotional uplift and food for thought all in one package. DavidPountney has done a masterful job in compressing and updatingAristophanes’s play, with references to focus groups and lemongrasssorbets fitting very neatly with Aristophanes’s original satiric thrust…

… the big surprise is how marvellously Vaughan Williams’s musicserves its original theatrical purpose. If you know the famous WaspsOverture and the March Past of the Kitchen Utensils you won’t needconvincing that the 36 year-old composer’s imagination was firing on allfour cylinders. But there’s so much more glorious music in this extensivescore: rumbustious march-songs; a gorgeous, Delius-inflected nocturne; andchunks of melodrama that spark wonderfully off the words and actions –hearing this makes it easier to understand how the older Vaughan Williamscould take so readily to film music. And as well as sounding lovely, therecording is something of a theatrical achievement in its own right.’

BBC Music Magazine (Stephen Johnson), May 2006

‘…rumbustious march-songs;a gorgeous,

Delius-inflected nocturne;and chunks of

melodrama that spark wonderfully off

the words and actions…’

‘… quite outstanding new release… the set begins with a magnificentaccount of the familiar Overture: indeed, Sir Adrian Boult, Sir JohnBarbirolli and Sir Malcolm Sargent notwithstanding, this is the finest, mostintensely musical performance I have ever heard – setting the mood witha keen sense of anticpation, which is an utter delight… I was hooked,and it really is an ear-opener to hear such excellent music by this greatBritish composer that has remained unknown for almost 100 years.

… this is Vaughan Williams’s first important score for the stage,looking forward to his (still neglected) fine series of operas and ballets whichwere to come. All good stuff – this issue is a must for your collection.’

International Record Review (Robert Matthew-Walker), April 2006

Sir Malcolm Arnold is to be honoured with an annual

festival in his home town of Northampton. It will be

hosted by the newly-revamped Royal and Derngate

complex and runs from 21-22 October 2006 (he

celebrates his 85th birthday on 21 October). The

festival is the brainchild of Nick Hallam of the Royal and

Derngate, and Arnold’s biographers, Paul Harris and

Anthony Meredith .

Highlights include the inaugural Malcolm Arnold

Concerto Competition, in which young conservatoire

soloists will play Arnold concerti, accompanied by The

Arnold Ensemble and Matthew Taylor. The judges

include Emma Johnson, Julian Lloyd Webber and David

Mellor. The winner will then perform with the RPO and

Tolga Kashif on 3 June 2007, at the Royal and Derngate.

Elsewhere there will be illustrated talks by Piers

Burton-Page, Annetta Hoffnung and Katherine Arnold

(the composer’s daughter).

There will be a rare performance of the childrens’

musical The Turtle Drum, the world premiere of the

brass band version of the Sweeney Todd Suite, concerts

and projects by local musicians and schoolchildren, a

concert of his three string quartets and a cycle of the

Fantasies for wind.

The festival culminates with a gala concert on 22

October given by the Royal PO and Barry Wordsworth. The

programme includes the Symphony No 8 and The Fair

Field Overture (a work originally premiered by the RPO).

For further information and tickets, see the Royal

and Derngate website, www.royalandderngate.com

BBC Radio 3’s ‘Composer of the Week’BBC Radio 3 will mark Sir Malcolm’s 85th birthday

in October by making him ‘Composer of the Week’.

The programmes will be transmitted at noon daily

from the 16-20 of October, and at midnight from

the 22-26 October.

Arnold Festival launchPH

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‘Wagner Dream’ premieres in April 2007Harvey’s chamber opera Wagner Dream (for 24

players, a cast of 11 plus chorus, and electronics) is to

be premiered on 28 April 2007 in Luxembourg by

Netherlands Opera, Ictus Ensemble conducted by

Martyn Brabbins. To an English libretto by French

author Jean-Claude Carrière, it has been co-

commissioned by Netherlands Opera, Holland Festival,

Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg and IRCAM.The opera is set in Venice where Wagner died in

1883, and is Harvey’s take on Wagner’s unfullfilled 30-year ambition to create an opera based on a Buddhistlegend: the love of a low-caste servant girl for a monk.

Featured Composer in Barcelona festivalHarvey travels to Barcelona in March 2007, where he is

to be Featured Composer at the Nous Sons (Festival de

Musiques del Nostre Temps). Included will be the

searing orchestral song-cycle White as Jasmine (soloist

Anu Komsi), Death of Light, Light of Death for small

ensemble, Song Offerings, the Spanish premiere of

String Quartet No 4 (Arditti Quartet) and Tombeau de

Messiaen for piano and electronics.

‘… towards a Pure Land’ at the BBC PromsHarvey’s recent orchestral work, ... towards a Pure

Land, received its London premiere on 9 August when

Ilan Volkov and the BBC Scottish SO presented it at the

BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall. Volkov gives the US

premiere of the work from 28-30 September in

Washington DC with the National Symphony.

Immediately prior to the London concert Harvey was

the subject of a Proms Portrait Concert that included the

recent Run Before Lightning, Vers and The Riot.

Rattle conducts ‘Madonna’ in BerlinSir Simon Rattle is to conduct Harvey’s most

complex orchestral score to date with the Berlin

Phil in September this year as the opening

concert of the Berlinerfestspiele. Madonna of

Winter and Spring (originally premiered at the

BBC Proms) is one of his most important

creations and a fitting introduction to Harvey’s

musical vision for this important musical centre.

The composer will supervise the live electronics

which will shroud the Philharmonie with a

mantle of sound.

Percussion Concerto premiered in StrasbourgAnother piece originally commissioned for

the BBC Proms receives its French

premiere on 7 October this year. The

Percussion Concerto will be one of the

highpoints of the Strasbourg Musica

festival. Thierry Miroglio joins the Orchestre

Philharmonique de Liège and Pascal Rophé.Harvey has a close association with the festival –

in 2002 he was featured composer there with 23 works performed.

Acclaim as ballet tours EuropeTwo compositions have provided the music for a dance

double-bill, created by Susan Buirge for her company,

toured throughout France recently. A l’abri des vents is

set to Harvey’s reworking for choir and electronics of

Palestrina’s Stabat Mater, whilst At a Cloud Gathering

is for solo percussion and electronics.

‘Dans A l’abri des vents, Jonathan Harvey revisite le Stabat Mater dePalestrina en un traitement électroacoustique qui démultiplie la musiqueoriginale. Les quatre interprètes respirent dans les séquences de silence,dansent avec des gestes précis, dessinent dans la lumière des chemins oùrien n’est tracé d’avance, dégageant une énergie sensuelle… Avec At aCloud Gathering… la musique est diffusée en direct avec transformationdu son. Les déplacements dans l’espace, la précision des tours, lacirculation entre les corps qui cherchent à s’élever, tout concourt audéploiement d’une pièce raffinée et touchante.’

Le Figaro (Isabelle Danto), 23 March 2006

There are future performances of the double-bill inRoyaumont, Grasse and Nanterre.

EIC bring ‘Bird Concerto’ and ‘OneEvening…’ to ParisParis is almost like a second home to Harvey. He has

had a long and productive relationship with IRCAM

there, with eight commissions from them to date. The

coming season by Ensemble Intercontemporain sees

two major works presented, both incorporating live

electronics.The Bird Concerto with Pianosong comes

to Paris for first time on 3 October when Susanna

Mälkki conducts EIC with soloist Hidéki Nagano. Then

on 15 December singers Katsuko Matumoto and Katalin

Károlyi join the group for a performance of the

Buddhist-inspired One Evening…, again under Mälkki’s

expert guidance. Elsewhere in the EIC season are

performances of a number of Harvey’s chamber

and instrumental worls including Album and

Advaya.

String Quartet No 4 in France &Germany

The Fourth Quartet is one of Harvey’s finest

achievements. In recent months it has been

presented by the Arditti Quartet in Witten,Paris

and Berlin. They take it to Barcelona on 24

March 2007 (see above), whilst the Quatuor

Diotima perform it in Monaco a week later.

8

SelectedForthcomingPerformances

A l’abri des vents &At a CloudGathering(perfs by La compagnie de SusanBuirge/ch. Susan Buirge/GilbertNouno/Jean-Paul Bernard)2.9.06, L’abbaye de Royaumont,France; 10.11.06, Festival Manca,Théâtre de Grasse, France; 1.12.06,Nanterre, France

Madonna of Winterand Spring(German premiere)9 & 10.9.06, Philharmonie, Berlin,Germany: Berlin PO/Sir Simon Rattle

Death of Light,Light of Death15.9.06, Berlin, Germany: membersof Berlin PO/Catherine Milliken28.1 & 5.3.07, Gouda & Eindhoven,The Netherlands: Nieuw Ensemble/Ernestine Stoop

String Quartet No 420.9.06, Philharmonie, Berlin,Germany: Arditti Quartet

… towards a PureLand(US premiere)28-30.9.06, Washington DC, USA:National SO/Ilan Volkov

Bird Concerto withPianosong(Paris premiere)3.10.06, Cité de la Musique, Paris,France: Hidéki Nagano/EnsembleIntercontemporain/Susanna Mälkki

Album5.10.06, Cité de la Musique, Paris,France: Ensemble Intercontemporain

PercussionConcerto(French premiere)7.10.06, Strasbourg Musica, France:Thierry Miroglio/OrchestrePhilharmonique de Liège/Pascal Rophé

Song Offerings23.10.06, Chicago, IL, USA: TonyArnold/Chicago SO/Cliff Colnot

Soleil Noir/Chitra9.11.06, Wien Modern, Austria:Champ d’Action/Luc Brewaeys

Lotuses18.11.06, Festival Manca, Nice,France: Nouvel Ensemble Moderne/Lorraine Vaillancourt

Song Offerings,Flight Elegy &Tombeau deMessiaen4.12.06, Bologna, Italy: FontanaMIX

How could the soulnot take flight?11.12.06, St John’s Smith Square,London, UK: New London ChamberChoir/James Wood

One Evening…15.12.06, Musée d’Orsay, Paris,France: Kazuko Matsumoto/KatalinKárolyi/Ensemble Intercontemporain/Susanna Mälkki

Chu20.1.07, Berlin: Accroche Note

Advaya15.2.07, Pompidou Centre, Paris,France: Florian Lauridon/DimitrisSaraglou/IRCAM

Nous Sons Festival,BarcelonaString Quartet No 4 (Spanishpremiere)24.3.07, Arditti QuartetSong Offerings & Death ofLight, Light of Death (Spanishpremiere)27.3.07, Anu Komsi/BCN216/Georges-Elie OctorsWhite as Jasmine (Spanishpremiere)29.3.07, Anu Komsi/OrquestraSimfònica de Barcelona i Nacionalde Catalunya/Francois Xavier Roth

Jonathan Harvey

STILLS FROM SUSAN BUIRGE’S HARVEY BALLET DOUBLE-BILL. PHOTO: GILLES ABBEGG

TUNING IN

Acclaim for ‘Cello Concerto’ at AldeburghIn this, his second year as Associate Artistic Director of

the Aldeburgh Festival, John Woolrich’s own music was

greatly to the fore on 17 June when Jean-Guihen

Queyras joined forces with the CBSO and Oliver

Knussen in Snape Maltings, for a haunting performance

of the Cello Concerto:

‘In John Woolrich’s 1998 Cello Concerto the Mahlerian connection wasmore to do with mood. The tone of this bitingly sustained singlemovement is by turns angry, anguished and elegiac, until it finds amodicum of resolution in the closing moments. Compared with much ofWoolrich’s music the concerto is rhapsodically expressive, and the ways inwhich the solo cello (played here with vivid commitment by Jean-GuihenQueyras) is alternately set against one section of the orchestra orreinforced by another, sets up the concerto’s discourse and generates itsmost ravishing moments, especially the dialogue between flute and cellothat seems to be the wonderfully understated climax. It is one of the verybest things Woolrich has done.’

The Guardian (Andrew Clements), 20 June 2006

The concert was later broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as

was a recital given by the Royal String Quartet and

Antoine Tamestit on 23 June in Blythburgh, that

included Woolrich’s melancholic string quintet The

Death of King Renaud.

Rolf Hind premieres ‘Pianobook X’Woolrich’s series of Pianobooks for solo piano provide

some of his most intimate and revealing musical

thoughts, almost like a fragmented diary or journal.

Pianists such as Thomas Adès, Joanna MacGregor,

Charles Rosen and Ian Munro have taken them into

their repertoire and they have even been “staged” with

great imagination by The Brothers Quay.

The latest of these is Pianobook X. It receives its

world premiere in August this year by Rolf Hind, as part

of the Dartington International Summer School, where

Woolrich himself taught for a number of years.

‘Ulysses Awakes’ tours Scottish HighlandsThis autumn the Scottish Ensemble take up

the Monteverdi-inspired Ulysses Awakes for viola

and strings, giving six performances in the

Scottish Highlands.

Selected Forthcoming Performances

Ulysses Awakes3-9.9.06, Scottish tour, UK (Isle of Arran; Ballachulish; Clashmore; Stornoway; Isle of Benbecula; Isle of Skye):Scottish Ensemble

Three Fantasias for six viols(French premiere)14.9.06, Cité de la Musique, Paris, France: Fretwork

Sestina7.11.06, Cardiff, UK: Schubert Ensemble

New work(world premiere)23.3.07, CBSO Centre, Birmingham, UK: BCMG/Oliver Knussen

‘Dance Figures’ at BBC Proms…The dazzling orchestral Dance Figures received its UK

premiere at the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall

on 24 July. David Robertson conducted the BBC SO.

Earlier in the evening Benjamin was the subject (and

pianist) in a Composer Portrait when Viola, Viola and

part of Piano Figures were heard.

‘Each of Benjamin’s orchestral works… is a miraculously craftedmasterpiece, often the result of years of planning and sketching. ButDance Figures has a directness and at times a simplicity that is new in hiscatalogue. In writing a piece for dancers, Benjamin has thinned out thedense layerings and intricate polyphony that often characterises his music.The result, in the nine interlinked sections of Dance Figures, is adistillation of his style and an enhancement of its poetry.

The first six sections play together and create a single arc of graduallyincreasing speed and tension. The last three sections telescope andamplify this journey, ending in some of the most exciting and immediatemusic Benjamin has ever written… Dance Figures was a hugelyimpressive Proms premiere.’

The Guardian (Tom Service), 26 July 2006

… and around EuropeThe take-up for the new work is remarkable. Ilan Volkov

brings it to Glasgow with the BBC Scottish SO on 14

September, whilst Austrian festivals Klangspuren and

Steirische Herbst (Graz) both feature it with the Radio SO

Wien and Martyn Brabbins. The Italian premiere takes

place on 9 February 2007 with the Turin Radio Orchestra.

‘Piano Figures’ & Carnegie Hall portraitBenjamin’s most recent piano work, Piano Figures, was

premiered by long-time friend Pierre-Laurent Aimard in

Luxembourg’s new Philharmonie concert hall on 18 May.

Aimard later gave performances of the 14-minute score in

Austria, the UK (Cheltenham Festival) and Italy. Future

dates include Lucerne,Paris,Brussels and the US premiere

in New York.

Aimard’s Zankel Hall performance of Piano Figures

forms part of a Benjamin portrait on 29 March 2007 that

will also include At First Light, Viola, Viola and

Shadowlines. On the following day David Robertson

and the St Louis SO bring Sudden Time to Carnegie

Hall, following performances in St Louis from 23-25

March. They also performed Palimpsets and Benjamin’s

de Grigny arrangement in May.

Robertson also conducted Antara for two

flutes, ensemble and electronics in Carnegie Hall on

18 May this year:

‘A cityscape of energy in sound.’The New York Times (Bernard Holland), 20 May 2006

9

SelectedForthcomingPerformances

Piano Figures(Swiss premiere)2.9.06, Lucerne, Switzerland: Pierre-Laurent Aimard

A Mind of Winter &De Grigny: Récit detierce en taille(South Korean premiere)13.10.06, Seoul, South Korea: YereeSuh/Seoul PO/Rudiger Bohn

At First Light13.10.06, Stockholm, Sweden:KammerensembleN/Franck Ollu2.12.06, Dortmund, Germany,Ensemble Modern/Franck Ollu

Shadowlines25.10.06, Royal College of Music,London, UK: Julian Jacobson

Palimpsests(Netherlands premiere)26 & 27.10.06, Concertgebouw,Amsterdam: Het ConcertgebouwOrkest/George Benjamin

Three Inventions forChamber Orchestra& At First Light28.11.06, Luxembourg: EnsembleModern/George Benjamin

Three Inventions forChamber Orchestra& At First Light1.12.06, Frankfurt, Germany:Ensemble Modern/George Benjamin(Spanish premiere of Three Inventions)4.12.06, Madrid, Ensemble Modern/George Benjamin

Viola, Viola15.12.06, Ghent, Belgium: GeneviéveStrosser/Paul de Clerck8.2.07, Philharmonie, Köln, Germany:Tabea Zimmermann/Antoine Tamestit21.3.07, Munich, Germany, membersof Munich Chamber Orchestra

Dance Figures08.10.06, Graz, Steirischer Herbst,Vienna Radio SO/Martyn Brabbins (Italian premiere)9.2.07, Turin, Italy: Turin RadioOrchestra/tbc

Dance Figures &Palimpsests19.12.06, Paris, Orchestre de l’OperaNational, Opera Bastille/GeorgeBenjamin

Three Miniatures forSolo ViolinMarch 2007, Ars Musica, Brussels,Belgium: Carolin Widmann

Piano Figures &Sudden Time11.3.07, Ars Musica, Brussels, BelgianNational Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins23-25.3.07, St Louis, MI, USA: StLouis SO/David Robertson30.3.07, Carnegie Hall, New York, NY,USA: St Louis SO/David Robertson

Shadowlines(Belgian premiere of Piano Figures)17.3.07, Ars Musica, Brussels,Belgium: Pierre-Laurent Aimard

Piano Figures;Shadowlines; Viola,Viola & At First Light(US premiere of Piano Figures)29.3.07, Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall,New York, NY, USA: Pierre-LaurentAimard/Misha Amory/Hsin-YunHuang/The Zankel Band/GeorgeBenjamin

John Woolrich George Benjamin

Malcolm Arnold Torsten Rasch‘The Three Musketeers’ ballet premieresA swashbuckling new ballet set entirely to Arnold’s

music premieres in Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre on 23

September. It is performed by the Northern Ballet

Theatre and Orchestra to choreography by their Artistic

Director, David Nixon and a scenario by David Drew.

The music includes extracts from Arnold’s

The Fair Field, Flute Sonata, Four Irish Dances and

Anniversary Overture.

The production runs until 30 September and will

then tour to Woking, Nottingham and Milton Keynes.

More information from

www.northernballettheatre.co.uk

Decca: The Malcolm Arnold EditionDecca is to re-release the acclaimed (and sadly deleted)

BMG/Conifer recordings originally made in the 1990s.

They will issue them in three boxed sets comprising

symphonies, concerti and other works. A number of

Decca’s own earlier recordings are also included. The

three volumes are available from 11 September this year.

Ernest Read SO give London birthday concertOn 15 October in St John’s Smith Square, the Ernest

Read SO and Peter Stark give what will be the only

Arnold 85th birthday concert to be staged in London.

The programme promises some real treats and rarities,

including the Symphony No 8,Concerto for Two Violins

and String Orchestra and Peterloo.

‘Symphony for Brass’ live and on discOn 4 June the Royal Opera House Brass Soloists under

Eric Crees gave a performance of the Symphony for

Brass in Covent Garden’s Floral Hall. The concert was

recorded for future release on the Brass Classic label.

‘Odysseus’ in Norwich CathedralArnold’s rarely-heard cantata The Return of Odysseus

(released on a Divine Art disc for the first time earlier

this year),will be performed in Norwich Cathedral on 4

November. David Dunnett conducts the Norwich

Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra.

Nettle/Markham premiere newarrangement of ‘Four Cornish Dances’Well-known piano duo David Nettle and Richard

Markham will premiere their new arrangement of

Arnold’s Four Cornish Dances in Truro on 21 October.

They give two preview performances in Lincolnshire in

the days leading up to this.

‘Piano Trio’ premiered at Cheltenham FestivalCommissioned by the BBC, Rasch’s Piano Trio

luxuriated in a stirring and virtuosic performance by

the Emperor Piano Trio at the Cheltenham Festival on 7

July. The 33-minute work is the first to be contracted by

Faber Music Ltd as part its publishing relationship with

the German composer:

‘Torsten Rasch’s collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys for their TrafalgarSquare screening of Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin in June 2004indicated that here was a composer who very much related to the present.The piano trio premiered at the Cheltenham Festival, however, underlinedthe Dresden-born Rasch’s natural affinity with the past: his musicallanguage is essentially the overblown Austro-German Romanticism ofBerg, Schönberg and Zemlinsky.

Structurally, this four-movement work is rooted even further back inthe classical tradition and, as such, the almost half-hour piece sat easilybetween trios by Haydn and Mendelssohn. Rasch chooses to opt in and outof the strictures of 12-note technique at will. The result is a piece quite outof its time, though its lyricism and fever of fluid, imaginative detail werevividly communicated by the Emperor Piano Trio.

‘… a piece quite out of its time… Amid the high emotional energy anddramatic undertow, the music was at

its most arresting when the densetextures collapsed into utterancesaltogether more terse and austere.These suggested a clarity of vision

entirely Rasch’s own.’

Amid the high emotional energy and dramatic undertow, the musicwas at its most arresting when the dense textures collapsed into utterancesaltogether more terse and austere. These suggested a clarity of visionentirely Rasch’s own.’

The Guardian (Rian Evans), 11 July 2006

‘Rotter’ – opera takes shape in CologneRasch is currently resident in Cologne, where he is

working on his first opera, Rotter, a commission from

Cologne Opera. It is based upon an allegorical

“everyman”play by Thomas Brasch, the deceased partner

of German actress Katharina Thalbach with whom Rasch

collaborated on his epic song-cycle Mein Herz brennt in

2003. The principal character, Rotter, journeys through

recent German history from the 1920s-70s ending his life

as a high-ranking East German politician. Rotter

premieres in Cologne in February 2008.

10

SelectedForthcomingPerformances

The ThreeMusketeers(world premiere performancesof new ballet by NorthernBallet Theatre, choreographedby David Nixon)23-30.9.06, Alhambra Theatre,Bradford, UK; 4-7.10.06, NewVictoria Theatre, Woking, UK;18-21.10.06, Theatre Royal,Nottingham, UK; 24-28.10.06,Milton Keynes Theatre, UK

Peterloo27.9 & 8.10.06, SymphonyHall, Birmingham & Brewood,UK: Birmingham PO/MichaelLloyd2.12.06, RAM, London, UK:Junior Academy (RAM) SO/PeterStark

Symphony No 8;Concerto forTwo Violins andString Orchestra& Peterloo15.10.06, 85th BIrthdayConcert, St John’s SmithSquare, London, UK: ErnestRead SO/Peter Stark

Four CornishDances(world premiere performancesof new arrangement for twopianos by Richard Markham &David Nettle)17.10.06, Bourne, UK (prev’w);19.10, Grimsby (prev’w);21.10, Truro (world premiere)17.10.06, Borlange, Sweden: BorlangeOrkesterforening/Christer Paulsson10.12.06, Sherborne, UK:Sherborne School Orchestra

Malcolm ArnoldFestival,Derngate,NorthamptonConcerto No 2 forClarinet & Concerto No 2for Flute21.10.06, Arnold ConcertoCompetition: various performersFantasies for Flute, Oboe,Clarinet, Bassoon & Horn21.10.06: members of SwiftWind QuintetString Quartet No 222.10.06: RCM String QuartetSweeney Todd Suite(world premiere of brass bandversion)22.10.06: Rushden WindmillBrass BandThe Turtle Drum22.10.06: Derngate YouthPlayers/Ed SimpsonFour Cornish Dances &Four Irish Dances22.10.06: Northampton MusicService SO/tbcSymphony No 8 & TheFair Field22.10.06: Royal PO/BarryWordsworth

The Return ofOdysseus4.11.06, St Andrew’s Hall,Norwich, UK: NorwichPhilharmonic Choir & Orchestra/David Dunnet

Concerto forTwo Violins &String Orchestra16.2.07, Birmingham, AL, USA:Daniel Szasz/Andras Agoston/Alabama SO/Horia Andreescu

PHO

TO: M

NIG

EL LUC

KHU

RST

Matthew Hindson

TUNING IN

11

SelectedForthcomingPerformances

An InfernalMachine(world premiere)19.8.06, TOAN annualconference, Melbourne,Australia: Tamworth YO/Ann Hoy26.8.06, Tamworth, NSW,Australia: Tamworth YO/Ann Hoy

Flash Madness(world premiere)22 & 23.8.06, Brisbane,Australia: The QueenslandOrchestra/Nicholas MiltonOctober 2006, Sydney, NSW,Australia: Sydney Sinfonia

Violin Concerto(AustralianPostcards)30.8.06, Great Hall, SydneyUniversity, Australia: ThomasTalmacs/Sydney University SO/George Ellis

LiteSPEED20.9.06, Federation ConcertHall, Hobart, Tasmania,Australia: TasmanianSO/Kenneth Young

The Big 5-023.11.06, BMIC’s Cutting EdgeSeries, The Warehouse, London,UK: Alexandra Wood

House Music(world premiere)13.12.06, Queen ElizabethHall, London, UK: MarinaPiccinini/London PO/RobertoMinczuk

London Philharmonic to premiere flute concertoThe LPO is to give the world premiere of a 20-minute

flute concerto, House Music, commissioned for the US

flautist Marina Piccinini by her husband, the pianist

Andreas Haefliger. The premiere takes place on 13

December 2006 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.

The LPO is conducted by Roberto Minczuk.

Aurora Festival launches with great successThe inaugural Aurora Festival of new music, conceived

and devised by Hindson, was launched to great acclaim

in Sydney, in May this year. Hindson was inspired by the

example set by the UK’s Vale of Glamorgan Festival,

where he was featured composer in 2003. Indeed, he

had the idea on the return journey to Sydney as he

realised there was no longer any contemporary music

festival in his home country.

His first season focussed on two US composers,

Terry Riley and Michael Daugherty together with the

Australian,Stuart Greenbaum. Hindson’s own music also

featured with the premiere of a new version of Comin’

Right Atcha, plus a number of instrumental works.

‘You have to admire the boldness of the Aurora Festival’s artistic director,Matthew Hindson, for he has made two leaps of faith. Not only has hecreated a festival devoted to the music of living composers, he has alsochosen to stage it in Sydney’s west rather than among the moreestablished audiences in the city’s north and east… I cannot praiseHindson’s initiative highly enough.’

The Australian (Murray Black), 1 May 2006

Orchestral brace premiered at Australian conferenceTwo short orchestral works have been commissioned

by TOAN (The Orchestras of Australia Network).

An Infernal Machine for orchestra, lasts 5 minutes

and was launched by the Tamworth YO and Ann Hoy at

the TOAN annual conference in Melbourne on 19 August,

then repeated by them on 26 August in Tamworth, New

South Wales. A second piece for string orchestra has

recently been completed and will be premiered in the

coming months by a TOAN member orchestra.

The Queensland Orchestra unveil ‘Flash Madness’Hindson’s productive residency with The Queensland

Orchestra drew to a close with the launch of Flash

Madness, a 5-minute work for orchestra. It was

premiered on 22 August as part of TQO’s schools

education series of concerts. The conductor was

Nicholas Milton.

‘LiteSpeed’ provides highlight in WinnipegIn Canada, the Winnipeg SO’s annual New Music

Festival closed in February 2006 with a performance of

Hindson’s outrageous LiteSpeed:

‘The thirty-something composer’s hurtling music seemed only to pause tocatch its breath so it could ratchet up an even higer, louder, faster andgutsier end to the night’s proceedings.’

Winnipeg Free Press, 19 February 2006

‘Nintendo Music’ premiered in LondonAustralian clarinettist Andrew Harper gave the first

performance of Nintendo Music at the Royal Academy

of Music in London on 29 March 2006. The 6-minute

work for clarinet and piano is a virtuosic and tongue-in-

cheek homage to the music written for the early hand-

held computer games.

Nintendo Music was later heard at Hindson’s Aurora

Festival in May

‘Lament’ for bassoon and orchestralaunched in GermanyA memorial concert took place in Reichenbach

(Germany) on 18 July for Australian cyclist Amy Gillett

who died tragically in 2005. It included an adapted

version for bassoon and orchestra of Hindson’s Lament

for cello and orchestra, the slow movement of his

concerto, In Memoriam. Bassoonist was Miriam Butler,

with Stefan Fraas conducting the Vogtland Philharmonie.

PHO

TO: C

HRISTIN

E MYERS

‘I cannotpraise

Hindson’sinitiativehighly

enough.’

Thomas Adès‘Three Studies from Couperin’ premieredin SwitzerlandA delightful 12-minute ‘arrangement’ of three

movements from Pièces de Clavecin was the result of a

commission from the Basel Chamber Orchestra in

celebration of founder Paul Sacher’s centenary. Adès

has shown his fascination with, and love of Couperin’s

music in a number of other works, and this playful

homage likewise revealed a disarming warmth and

sensitivity towards the original scores. The composer

conducted the work in a programme otherwise led by

Christpher Hogwood on 21 April in Basel.

‘Powder Her Face’ in St Gallen & BremenAlso in Switzerland, the St Gallen Open Opera

presented Adès’s popular chamber opera on 19 August

with eight further performances. Whilst in Germany

Bremen was the setting for a semi-staged performance

given by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie on 18

September under the baton of Stefan Solyom.

Berlin Philharmoniker commissionMeanwhile Adès is hard at work on the commission for

his abiding advocate Sir Simon Rattle and his orchestra.

Already attracting international interest, Tevot (the

Hebrew word for ‘arks’), is expected to be a 20-minute

work for full orchestra. It premieres in Berlin on

February 21 and tours to the Canary Islands, Paris,

London and Brussels.

Residencies and conductingPortrait in HamburgThe composer travels to Hamburg in October 2006 for

a two-day portrait to be presented by Norddeutscher

Rundfunk. It includes a performance of the Violin

Concerto on 14 October with Anthony Marwood, the

NDR Orchestra and Adès directing. The concert also

features the Arditti Quartet in Arcadiana and the Piano

Quintet (Adès as soloist).

Cordes sur Ciel residencyAdès enjoyed a residency at the Cordes sur Ciel festival

in France in July. Amongst his works performed were the

Piano Quintet, Arcadiana, all of his solo piano works,

Court Studies from ‘The Tempest’, Catch and Five Eliot

Landscapes. Performers included pianist Bertrand

Chamayou and the Diotima Quartet.

Return to Los AngelesAdès’s ongoing relationship with the Los Angeles PO

continues later this year, when he conducts them in his

Asyla on 2 and 3 December in Walt Disney Hall.

‘The Tempest’ in Santa Fe…The first new production of The Tempest opened in

Santa Fe on July 29 with three further performances.

This keenly anticipated treatment by Jonathan Kent,

uses some of the Covent Garden cast – notably the

redoubtable Cyndia Sieden – and is conducted by Alan

Gilbert. Reviews to follow in next issue.

… revived at Covent GardenThe composer once again takes up the baton for the

Royal Opera House revival of the Tom Cairns

production from 12-26 March 2007.

… and ‘Scenes’ in AmsterdamMarkus Stenz conducted the Netherlands premiere of

Scenes from ‘The Tempest’ as part of the Holland

Festival on 24 June in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.

The Netherlands Radio Orchestra accompanied a

number of soloists, including Cyndia Sieden as Ariel.

‘Asyla’ in AustraliaIn Australia, Asyla was performed by both the

Melbourne SO and the West Australian SO in April this

year. In Perth, Paul Daniel conducted the WASO, whilst

in Melbourne,Markus Stenz returned to the orchestra at

which he was the former chief conductor and gave a

repeat performance.

Aldeburgh Festival highlightsIn his 8th year as Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh

Festival, Adès was greatly in evidence as composer,

conductor and pianist once again. The festival ended

with a riveting performance of his Violin Concerto by

Anthony Marwood and the City of Birmingham SO

under Adès’s guidance:

‘… an original and intricately expressive score… The dense but edgy,Ligetian counterpoints of the first movement go by so fast that you want tostop the score and savour them. (And the movement is designed to givethe impression that we are halfway through when it starts.) The danceyfinale, on the other hand, unnerves one by being far catchier than seemsplausible. Not that this compact concerto ever lacks drama. And thedrama (as with Adès’s Piano Quintet) is essentially that by which aclassical model is exploded from within.’

The Sunday Times (Paul Driver), 2 July 2006

12

SelectedForthcomingPerformances

ChamberSymphony(Malaysian premiere)30.8.06, Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia: Malaysian PO/KevinField3.2.07, Birmingham, UK:BCMG/Thomas Adès7-10.3.07, San Francisco, CA,USA: San Francisco SO/AlanGilbert

Powder Her Face26, 29, 30.8 & 1, 2.9.06, StGallen, Switzerland: OpenOpera18.9.06, Musikfest Bremen,Germany: DeutscheKammerphilharmonie Bremen/Stefan Solyom

Asyla7.10.06, Teatro Locale, Venice,Italy: Orchestra Sinfonica AI/Paul Daniel2 & 3.12.06, Walt Disney Hall,Los Angeles, USA: Los AngelesPO/Thomas Adès29 & 31.3.07, Symphony Hall,Birmingham, UK: CBSO/SakariOramo

HamburgPortrait (14-15October)

Violin Concerto14.10.06, AnthonyMarwood/NDR Orchester/Thomas Adès

Piano Quintet,Arcadiana &Catch15.10.06, Arditti Quartet/Thomas Adès/Various

Court Studiesfrom TheTempest20.10.06, Little MissendenFestival, UK: London Sinfoniettaother perfs 31.10 (AbbotsholmeMusic Society); 1.11(Colchester); 8.11 (York);6.2.07 (Dartington)

… but all shallbe well28.10.06, Konzerthaus, Berlin,Germany: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin/MartynBrabbins8.3.07, Cologne, Germany: HetConcertgebouw Orkest/MartynBrabbins9.3.07, Amsterdam, TheNetherlands: ConcertgebouwOrkest/Martyn Brabbins

Catch8.1.07, Théâtre des Bouffes duNord, Paris, France: Solistes del’Ensemble Intercontemporain

FeaturedComposer -PrésencesFestival, Paris(see page 5)

Tevot(world premiere performancesby Sir Simon Rattle and theBerlin Philharmonic Orchestra)21-23.2.07, Philharmonie,Berlin, Germany; 26.2.07, GranCanaria, Spain; 1.3.07,Tenerife, Spain; 5.3.07, SallePleyel, Paris, France; 7.3.07,Barbican Hall, London, UK;8.3.07, Palais des Beaux Arts,Brussels, Belgium

The Tempest12-26.3.07 (6 perfs), RoyalOpera House, Covent Garden,London, UK: The RoyalOpera/Thomas Adès

TracedOverhead &DarknesseVisible24.3.07, Carnegie Hall, NewYork, USA: Louis Lortie

PHO

TOS: KEN

HO

WARD

TUNING IN

Kirchschlager stars in Proms premiereAngelika Kirchschlager was the star of the show when

Anderson’s Heaven is Shy of Earth was premiered at

the BBC Proms on 6 August. The 32-minute work,

commissioned by the BBC, sets Latin texts from the

High Mass and an extract from Psalm 84 together with

a poem Emily Dickinson (in English). It is scored for

mezzo-soprano, SATB chorus and orchestra. Sir Andrew

Davis conducted the BBC SO and Chorus. Reviews to

follow in the next issue.

It wasn’t the first time this year that the BBC Symphony

Chorus had performed Anderson’s music. On 20 May,

under Music Director Stephen Jackson, they sang two

of the Four American Choruses on Gospel Texts in a

London concert.

Ensemble Modern take ‘Book of Hours’ toISCM World Music DaysThe RPS-Award winning Book of Hours for large

ensemble and live electronics (see p 6) is now in the

repertoire of Ensemble Modern. The crack German

new music group gave the German premiere as part of

the 2006 ISCM World Music Days in Stuttgart on 16 July.

Caspar de Roo conducted.

Looking ahead, Oliver Knussen gives the Canadian

premiere of Book of Hours with the Toronto SO on 28

February 2007.

Premiere recording for choral anthemAnderson’s O Sing Unto the Lord, for unaccompanied

SATB chorus has been recorded for the first time as part

of a new disc on the Avie label. Edward Higginbottom

conducts the Choir of New College Oxford

(see New Recordings).

‘Diptych’ reaches the USAAnderson’s two-year residency with The Cleveland

Orchestra continued when they performed his Diptych

from 16-18 March 2006, under the baton of Music

Director Franz Welser-Möst.

‘Imagin’d Corners’ and ‘Eden’ close CBSOresidency in Birmingham’s Symphony HallAnderson’s highly-successful and fruitful residency with

the City of Birmingham SO as its Composer-in-

Association was brought to an impressive close with

the performance of two works written as part of the

residency in Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on 26 April

2006. Sakari Oramo conduced the CBSO in Anderson’s

Imagin’d Corners and Eden:

‘The New World has seduced one of England’s finest living composers toleave London and Birmingham for Harvard and Cleveland… Anderson’sfirst piece for the CBSO was Imagin’d Corners, an eight-minute tribute toSymphony Hall and to the orchestra’s five virtuoso horn players. The titlerefers to one of John Donne’s Holy Sonnets and, if memory serves, it’strumpets rather than horns who are exhorted to blow “at the round earth’simagin’d corners”. But the notion of a physical and metaphysical conceitis very much a clue to Anderson’s creative thinking. Here, time and spaceare played off against each other to thrilling effect.

One horn soloist sits at the back of the stage , and the other four areperipatetic , playing from the balconies, from the front and from the sidesof the stage. As a shrill upward spiral of tingling percussion summonsthem to the front, a dance of dense polyphony ensues, ending in wildalphorn calls and a final whoop.

What links this brilliant and compelling work with Eden,.Anderson’s last piece for the CBSO, is his play with differenttuning systems… the effect, particularly in these fineperformances conducted by Sakari Oramo, is beautiful.

Eden was inspired by the sculpture of Brancusi – and it’sas though its simple lines and masses are being thawed intosound. A solo viola plays a song that seems both ancientand timeless. Its variations are suspended in a world ofbarely moving strings and gentle percussive resonances thatshift hypnotically like bells change-ringing.

Anderson’s works are a hard act to follow…’The Times (Hilary Finch), 28 April 2006

13

SelectedForthcomingPerformances

The Colour ofPomegranates21.1.07, Wigmore Hall, London,UK: Susan Milan/Ian Brown

Book of Hours(Canadian premiere)28.2.07, Toronto, Canada:Toronto SO/Oliver Knussen

Julian Anderson

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65

‘… one ofEngland’s

finestliving

composers…’

PHOTOS: MAURICE FOXALL

Philharmonia portrait in LondonBermel appeared as composer and clarinettist when the

Philharmonia Orchestra presented a portrait of his

music in London on 4 April, as part of its Music of Today

series, curated by Julian Anderson:

‘… [Bermel’s] diverse output shows just how many types of music canimpact on a contemporary musician, from classical to jazz, from R&B tohip-hop, as well as innumerable folk traditions. Thracian Sketches, whichBermel played himself, is a steadily rising crescendo of solo clarinet hyper-activity, drawn fron folk songs he transcribed in a region of Bulgaria. IfBartok is the obvious model, there’s something distinctive not only in thepiece’s use of indigenous rhythms and melodic shapes but also in itsincreasingly manic attitude. Even more striking was Soul Garden for violaand string quintet, whose origins lie in African-American gospel music.

With soloist Rachel Roberts emulating the vocalism of an alto gospelsinger answered by the church baritone represented by an ensemble cellist,the result lies in the tradition of Aaron Copland’s popular Americana in itsimmediacy and sense of respectful parody.’

The Guardian (George Hall), 7 April 2006

‘Elixir’ premiered in Carnegie HallElixir, an 8-minute commission from Betty Freeman for

the American Composers Orchestra was premiered by

them with Steven Sloane on 3 May in Carnegie Hall,

New York:

‘… [a] magical concoction that opened with a shimmer of bowed metal,the elongated dry shush of a rain stick and a glistening sweep on a marktree. Hushed strings and harp played a simple lullaby, which gained inmicrotonal complexity with each repetition. Ghostly voices soon soundedout from Bermel’s orchestra… Bermel’s vocabulary drew upon Ives andMessiaen, but in a strikingly original manner that yielded an utterlynarcotic effect. All too soon, the percussionists ended the piece as it hadbegun – a pity only in that this was a sound world I would have happilylived in for a much greater length of time.’

Steve Smith, nightafternight.blogs.com

‘Turning Variations’ launched at USconferencePianist Christopher Taylor premiered Turning

Variations,premiered on 21 April with the Indianapolis

SO, as part of the American Pianists Association

Conference.

Wynton Marsalis commissionA new commission from Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at

Lincoln Center will be premiered by them together

with the American Composers Orchestra in the Rose

Auditorium,New York from 16-18 November 2006. This

forms part of his three-year Music Alive residency with

the ACO. Details in next issue.

Symphony No 7 premiere in PerthCarl Vine’s eagerly-awaited Seventh Symphony will be

premiered by the West Australian SO on 1 and 2

December in Perth. It has been commissioned by Janet

Holmes à Court and Symphony Australia, with funds

provided by the Commonwealth Government. It will

be Vine’s first substantial purely orchestral work for

some time, given that the Fifth features four solo

percussionists, whilst the Sixth has a chorus.

‘The Anne Landa Preludes’Vine’s piano music has a huge following around the

world: his two sonatas and the set of Five Bagatelles

have won him a host of admirers. He has now

completed another major work. The Anne Landa

Preludes is a 22-minute set of 12 short, descriptive

piano pieces. It has been commissioned by John Sharpe

in loving memory of Anne Landa. It will be premiered

on 4 September in Goossens Hall, Sydney by a group of

four pianists who are previous winners of the David

Paul Landa Fellowship. The concert will be

simlutaneously broadcast live on ABC Classic FM radio.

Michael Kieran Harvey has also recorded them for

future release on an all-Vine piano CD on the Tall

Poppies label.

News from the USA:‘Pipe Dreams’ in Baltimore…

Pipe Dreams for flute and strings received its US

premiere on 24 May this year. Jeffrey Khaner joined

forces with the Baltimore CO and Markand Thakar.

Third Quartet in New York…

The ravishing String Quartet No 3 enjoyed its first US

outing on 9 July as part of the “Summergarden”series at

the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The

performers were the New Juilliard Ensemble.

‘Percussion Symphony’ in Chicago

Meanwhile, the effervescent Percussion Symphony (No

5) was performed twice in Chicago’s Grant Park Music

Festival in Millennium Park, one of the highpoints in

Chicago’s summer calendar. Christopher Bell conducted

the Grant Park Orchestra.

Selected Forthcoming Performances

The Anne Landa Preludes(world premiere)4.9.06, Eugene Goossens Hall, Sydney, Australia: various pianists

Pipe Dreams29 & 30.1.06, BMW The Edge, Melbourne, Australia: Prudence Davis/Australia Pro Arte/Jeffrey Crellin

Symphony No 7(world premiere)1 & 2.12.06, Perth Concert Hall, Perth, Australia: West Australian SO/tbc

SelectedForthcomingPerformances

Thracian Echoes3.11.06, Jordan Hall, Boston,MA, USA: Boston ModernOrchestra Project/Gil Rose

New work(world premiere)16-18.11.06, Rose Hall(Columbus Circle), New York,NY, USA: Jazz at LincolnCenter/American ComposersOrchestra/Wynton Marsalis

Soul Garden9.3.07, Westport Arts Center,New York, NY, USA: LarkQuartet

14

Derek Bermel Carl Vine

Oliver Knussen

TUNING IN

15

SelectedForthcomingPerformances

The Way toCastle Yonder7.10.06, Glasgow, UK: RoyalScottish NO/Stephane Deneve

… upon onenote20.10.06, Little MissendenFestival, UK: London Sinfoniettaother perfs 31.10 (AbbotsholmeMusic Society); 1.11(Colchester); 8.11 (York);6.2.07 (Dartington); 18.3.07,Caen, France

Requiem–Songsfor Sue &Trumpets(UK premiere of Requiem)21.10.06, CBSO Centre,Birmingham, UK: ClaireBooth/BCMG/Oliver Knussen

Requiem–Songsfor Sue(London premiere)13.3.07, London, UK: ClaireBooth/London Sinfonietta/George Benjamin

Violin Concerto& The Way toCastle Yonder(Hungarian premieres)10-12.11.06, BudapestFestival, Hungary: Clio Gould/Festival Orchestra/OliverKnussen

Coursing15.12.06, Den Haag, TheNetherlands: ASKOEnsemble/Oliver Knussen

Symphony inOne Movement(Canadian premiere)28.2.07, Toronto, Canada:Toronto SO/Oliver Knussen

Requiem–Songsfor Sue & TwoOrgana(Canadian premiere)7.3.07, Ottawa, Canada:National Arts CenterOrchestra/Oliver Knussen

‘Requiem’ premiered in ChicagoKnussen’s Requiem–Songs for Sue is a 12-minute work

for soprano and ensemble of 15 players, commissioned

by MusicNOW, the Chicago SO’s new music

programme. It was premiered as part of a Knussen

portrait concert in Chicago’s Symphony Center on 3

April 2006, with Claire Booth (soprano) joined by

members of the CSO and the composer conducting:

‘The Requiem Knussen wrote in memory of his wife, Sue, lasts about 12minutes and is a song cycle, in English, Spanish and German, based onpoems by Emily Dickinson, Antonio Machado, W.H. Auden and Rainer MariaRilke. Knussen describes it as an act of public mourning. Elegantly craftedreflections on what it means to lose a loved one, the songs reveal a morenakedly personal side of his art than one has ever encountered before.

The clear, cool soprano of Claire Booth curled around the words andmusic, fusing them into something eloquent, poignant and touching within theluminous 15-piece ensemble of winds, strings, piano, harp and percussion.’

Chicago Tribune (John von Rhein) 5 April 2006

‘Knussen describes it as an act ofpublic mourning. Elegantly crafted

reflections on what it means to lose aloved one, the songs reveal a more

nakedly personal side of his art thanone has ever encountered before.’

‘Knussen is a miniaturist who can pack a lot of musical ideas into three-minute pieces for solo violin or piano or a 12-minute requiem. And in thehands of such dazzling MusicNOW soloists as pianist Amy Dissanayakeand violinist Baird Dodge, even his shortest works leave a lingeringimpression.

Knussen used fragments of poems by Emily Dickinson, AntonioMachado, W.H. Auden and Rainer Maria Rilke in his requiem for his latewife Sue, who died three years ago. Accompanied by austere butbeautifully colored murmurs and episodic outbursts from the small, variedensemble, British soprano Claire Booth brought great warmth to Knussen’shaunting texts and vocal line.’

Chicago Sun-times (Wynne Delacoma) 5 April 2006

Elsewhere in the Chicago programme were A

Fragment from Ophelia’s Last Dance (piano) and

Secret Psalm (solo violin).

The Requiem will receive its UK premiere on 21

October this year, in Birmingham (BCMG/Knussen). It

will also be performed in Ottawa (Canada) on 7 and 10

March 2007 (National Arts Center Orchestra). The

London premiere is set for 13 March 2007, when

George Benjamin conducts the London Sinfonietta.

Knussen gives the New York premiere on 13 April 2007.

‘Violin Concerto’ on both sides of the AtlanticKnussen’s glittering Violin Concerto is becoming one of

his most performed works. Recent performances in the

USA and Europe by several soloists have served to

enhance this reputation.

Leila Josefowicz has given performances with the St

Louis SO and in Europe with the Leipzig Gewandhaus

Orchestra, whilst Clio Gould has given the Swedish

premiere with the Gothenburg SO. She performs it

three times at the Budapest Festival in November this

year.

‘Symphony’ in TorontoKnussen’s early Symphony in One Movement (written at

the age of 17) receives its Canadian premiere as part of a

British music focus to be give by the Toronto SO in

February 2007. Unusually,the work features an extrovertly

jazzy piano solo,originally written for André Previn.

Carnegie Hall hosts new work for Peter SerkinLong-time Knussen advocate, pianist Peter Serkin, will

premiere a new work for piano and ensemble in

Carnegie Hall on 13 April 2007. It forms part of a

Knussen-conducted programme that also includes the

NY premiere of the Requiem (see above).

Carl Davis‘The Rink’ at Sadler’s WellDavis’s score to Chaplin’s The Rink received its London

premiere on 9 April this year to a packed house on

successive nights. Davis conducted the London

Philharmonic Orchestra:

‘Sometimes, on an unseasonally grey, chilly Monday evening, when thenews is full of mutually assured destruction and other madnesses, and thingsare not quite working out as planned, only the sight of a man slipping over,causing another man to slip over, causing a tray of food to come crashingdown on top of a fat woman’s head, will serve to revive the spirits…

… There is something invigorating about seeing an old movie classicin this way. It is of course something to do with the spontaneity and soundquality that a live orchestra can provide; but also something more subtlethan that: the idea of cinema as a grand occasion, releasing us from theDVD/HDTV/Plasma/Widescreen tyranny that locks us into our sittingrooms, enabling us to pay proper respect to a masterpiece, and get somefresh air into the bargain.

There is a certain amount of cultural nostalgia at work too. This is theway it once was: queues around the street, not a spare seat in the house,the beginning of mass entertainment in the true sense of the phrase(compare and contrast with today’s “mass” media, enjoyed in anincreasingly atomised context, the nadir being the addictive portable DVDplayer, fast becoming the 21st century snuff box). There are few things solife-affirming as a full theatre roaring with laughter (the Greeks understoodthis, rounding off their tragedy cycles with their infernal satyr plays), even if– particularly if – the comedy is coarse. Our inner children can let rip.

With Chaplin, of course, we get something more…’Financial Times (Peter Aspden), 24 April 2006

Mutuals aboundPerhaps 2006 will forever be known as the “Year of the

Mutual”? In addition to the Chaplin Mutuals shows in

Lichfield and Braunschweig mentioned on p.2, Davis

has also presented many other such evenings around

the world in 2006, sometimes as curtain-raisers or as a

triple, or quadruple, bill. These include Luxembourg,

Cardiff (Millennium Centre), Hereford, Chelsea Festival,

Llangollen International Eisteddfod, Wroclaw (Poland),

Canary Wharf (London) and Snape Proms. Coming up

are dates in Taiwan, Leeds, Birmingham, Warwick and

Gävle (Sweden).

‘A Christmas Carol’ toursDavis’s ballet, A Christmas Carol (1992) returns to the

repertory of the Northern Ballet Theatre once again this

winter, when the company tour it around the UK,

visiting Canterbury, Norwich, Hull, Sheffield,

Manchester. and Leeds.

Nash Ensemble premiereA new work for mezzo-soprano and ensemble has been

commissioned by the Nash Ensemble. It receives its

first performance on 6 March 2007 in the Wigmore Hall,

London. Soloist will be Jean Rigby who is no stranger

to Matthews’s music – she was soloist in his large-scale

Vespers (1993-4).

‘Darkness Draws In’Matthews travelled to the Isle of Man in August to hear

the first performance of Darkness Draws In for solo

viola. It was the result of a commission for the IX Lionel

Tertis International Viola Competition 2006 with funds

provided by the Manx Heritage Foundation – Undinys

Eiraght Vannin, and was a compulsory test piece for all

competition entrants.

Presteigne FestivalAnother work for a solo string instrument, Journeying

Songs for solo cello, was performed by Gemma

Rosefield at the Presteigne Festival on 26 August this

year. Matthews was in attendance and during the

festival gave a lecture on Britten’s Canticles, which

were being performed there.

Young quartets champion MatthewsMatthews output of ten string quartets are among some

of the most important works in his catalogue and have

been championed by performers such as the Medici,

Brodsky, Endellion, Fitzwilliam, Brindisi, Kreutzer, and

Diotima Quartets. In recent months, some of the very

best of young British quartets have championed them

too. Amongst these are the Elysian Quartet who have

taken String Quartet No 2 into their repertoire. Also, the

outstanding Carducci Quartet who perform the String

Quartet No 10 in Cheltenham on 21 November.

Selected Forthcoming Performances

The Music of Dawn20.9.06, BBC studio recording, Manchester, UK: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/Rumon Gamba

Voyages(Netherlands premiere)3.10.06, Schiermonnikoog Festival of Chamber Music, The Netherlands: François Le Roux/Hebe Mensinga/Paul deClerck/Justus Grimm/Frank Peters

Violin Concerto No 2(US premiere)16.11.06, New York, NY, USA: tbc/members of Juilliard School/Joel Sachs

String Quartet No 1021.11.06, Cheltenham, UK: Carducci Quartet

New work(world premiere)6.3.07, Wigmore Hall, London, UK: Jean Rigby/Nash Ensemble

Psalm 23: The Lord is my Shepherd24.3.07, St Jude-on-the-Hill, London, UK: Finchley Choral Society/George Vass

SelectedForthcomingPerformances

The Rink; TheCure & Easy St30.8.06, Snape Proms, UK:Britten Sinfonia/Carl Davis

How to MakeMovies15 & 16.9.06, Pamplona,Spain: Orquesta Sinfonica deNavarra/Carl Davis

Alice inWonderland(UK tour of Derek Deane’sprodn by English Nat’l Ballet)19-29.10.06, Manchester; 1-5.11, Bristol; 8-18.11,Southampton; 21-26.11,Oxford; 29.11-3.12, Liverpool;27.12.06-14.1.07, London

The Phantom ofthe Opera8.10.06, Royal Opera House,Covent Garden, London, UK: TheOrchestra of The Royal OperaHouse/Carl Davis

One Week; OurHospitality; TheRink; An EasternWesterner &Safety Last13-15.10.06, “Silent Heroes”,Symphony Hall, Birmingham,UK: CBSO/Carl Davis

The Fireman &Our Hospitality(UK premiere of The Fireman)29.10.06, QEH, London, UK:LPO/Carl Davis

A ChristmasCarol(UK tour by Northern BalletTheatre)7-11.11.06, Canterbury; 14-18.11.06, Norwich; 21-25.11.06, Hull; 28.11-2.12.06, Sheffield; 5-9.12.06,Bath; 12-23.12.06, Leeds

Intolerance(Icelandic premiere))9.11.06, Reykjavik, Iceland:Iceland SO/Frank Strobel

The Count, ThePawnshop, TheCure & Easy St10.11.06, Braunschweig,Germany: cond. Carl Davis

The Immigrant &The Adventurer12.11.06, Leeds, UK: Orchestraof Opera North/Carl Davis23.12.06, Lleida, Spain: Lleida SO/Alfons Reverte

70th BirthdayConcertEasy Street;TheTown Fox, Cyranode Bergerac,&Napoléon, plusfilm themes(world premiere of Cyrano)18.11.06, Liverpool, UK:RLPO/Carl Davis

Alice inWonderland29.11-30.12.06, BirminghamRep. Theatre, UK: dir Ian Brown

The Rink8 & 9.12.06, Taipei, Taiwan:National SO/Carl Davis

Cyrano deBergerac(world premiere)7.2.07, Birmingham, UK:Birmingham Royal Ballet/ch.David Bintley

Napoléon10.2.07, The Sage Gateshead,UK: Northern Sinfonia/Alan Fearon

The Adventurer;Easy Street &Behind the Screen17.2.07, Warwick Arts Centre,UK: CBSO/Carl Davis

16

David Matthews

TUNING IN

Featured Composer at Sydney’s inaugural Aurora FestivalDaugherty’s music much to the fore during the first ever

Aurora Festival of new music in Sydney in May this year.

Sadly,the composer wasn’t able to attend,but enthusiastic

audiences enjoyed first-class performances by the New

Music Now Ensemble of the Australian Youth Orchestra

and Kevin Field,of Le Tombeau de Liberace (piano,Simon

Docking), Dead Elvis (bassoon, Kim Walker) and many

other chamber and instrumental works:

Glennie premieres brass band version of ‘U.F.O.’Since premiering Daugherty’s percussion concerto,

U.F.O., Evelyn Glennie has made the work her own,

adding a number of theatrical elements to his already

dramatic and vibrant work. A successful recording on

Naxos further emphasised this belief in the piece. A

further dimension has now been added as Glennie will

premiere a percussion and brass band version of the

final movement “Objects” in Bristol’s Colston Hall on 17

November. The premiere forms part of a gala concert in

which Glennie guests with The Aldbourne Band, who

have commissioned the arrangement.

Selected Forthcoming Performances

Desi8.9.06, Trossingen, Germany: Bundesakademie für Musikalische Jugendbildung10.9.06, Musikschile Dornbirn, Austria: Student performers/Prof Guntram Simma

‘Objects’ from U.F.O.(world premiere of brass band arrangement of finale)17.11.06, Colston Hall, Bristol, UK: Evelyn Glennie/The Aldebourne Band/Steve Sykes

‘Requiem’ comes to Sydney Opera HouseEagerly awaited is the Sydney premiere of Sculthorpe’s

Requiem for didjeridu, chorus and orchestra. It takes

place in Sydney Opera House on 26 October this year

and is repeated two days later. David Porcelijn

conducts the Sydney Philharmonia and Choir, with

William Barton the irrepressible soloist.

‘Elegy’ for viola and stringsThe 17-minute Elegy for viola and strings was

premiered in Sydney on 17 June 2006 by Francis

Kefford with the Sydney Youth Orchestra and Ronald

Prussing. It was then taken on tour to Spain and France

by the same forces. Future plans include a performance

b the Tasmanian SO.

Featured Composer at Four Winds FestivalSculthorpe was Featured Composer at the Four Winds

Festival in Cuttagee (New South Wales) in April this year.

Highlights included performances of String Quartets Nos

12 and 14 (with William Barton on didjeridu), and Diana

Doherty and Ian Munro playing Sydney Singing for oboe

and piano.

Barton goes stateside with SculthorpeWilliam Barton travelled to the USA in April and May 2006

for performances of Sculthorpe’s music with the Boulder

PO and Fresno PO, all under Theodore Kuchar: WOrks

performed included Kakadu, Earth Cry and Quamby.

Other didjeridu players are now starting to folow

Barton’s example. In Leipzig, Eckart Wiegrabe was

didjeridu soloist in Earth Cry with the

MDR–Sinfonieorchester and Roger Epple on 25 June.

Ninth Quartet premiered with didjeriduMeanwhile, Barton was back in Australia to premiere the

new version for didjeridu and quartet of Sculthorpe’s

String Quartet No 9 on 30 June. It was part of the

Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville,

curated by Theodore Kuchar.

An Influential Australian!Sculthorpe has been named as one of the ‘100 Most

Influential Australians of all time’ by The Bulletin

magazine. Along with Eugene Goossens he was the

only classical musician on the list. The criteria for

selection was “would the way we live today, the way we

think and feel,or the way our surroundings look,be any

different today if he/she had not existed?’

17

SelectedForthcomingPerformances

Small Town23-28.8.06, Sydney OperaHouse, Australia: Sydney SO/Alexander Briger

Sun Music III20.9.06, Federation ConcertHall, Hobart, Tasmania,Australia: Tasmanian SO/Kenneth Young

Kakadu12-14.10.06, Perth ConcertHall, Australia: William Barton(didjeridu)/West Australian SO/Pietan Inkinen

Requiem26 & 28.10.06, Sydney OperaHouse, Australia: SydneyWilliam Barton (didjeridu)/Philharmonia Choir &Orchestra/David Porcelijn

String QuartetNo 86.11.06, Perth Concert Hall,Australia: Australian StringQuartetalso perfs 8.11 (Adelaide);13.11 (Melbourne); 16.11(Sydney); 18.11 (PortMacquarie, NSW); 21.11(Brisbane)

Peter SculthorpeMichael Daugherty

Benjamin Britten

18

SelectedForthcomingPerformances

Curlew River22.8.06, Southwark Cathedral,London, UK: Mahogany Operaalso perf 24.8 (Long Melford);26 & 27.8 (Burnham Thorpe)(Netherlands tour by Hollands Diep)2-4 & 10.11.06, Dordrecht;11.11.06, Deventer; 17.11.06,Utrecht; 18 & 25.11.06,Amsterdam; 1.12.06, Alkmaar;2.12.06, Leiden17 & 19.11.06, Jesuit UrbanCenter, Boston, MA, USA:Intermezzo - New EnglandChamber Opera Series

Phaedra22.8.06, EdinburghInternational Festival: ScottishEnsemble

String QuartetNo 3 & ThreeDivertimenti25.8.06, Presteigne Festival,UK: Vertavo Quartet

Canticle IV25.8.06, Presteigne Festival,UK: Patrick Craig/AndrewCarwood/Michael Bundy/AlexSoddy

Canticle V27.8.06, Presteigne Festival,UK: Andrew Carwood/SallyPryce

Suite for Harp29.8.06, Presteigne Festival,UK: Sally Pryce

Young Apollo10.10.06, Southampton, UK:Steven Osborne/London MozartPlayers/Alexander Shelley

Death in Venice23 & 25.11.06, QueenElizabeth Hall, London, UK:Various soloists/PhilharmoniaOrchestra/Richard Hickox

“BenjaminBritten – InMemoriam”(December2006, WigmoreHall, London)String Quartet No 3Three Divertimenti2.12, Belcea QuartetCanticles IV & V; Whoare these Children? &Songs and Proverbs ofWilliam Blake3.12., Iestyn Davies/John MarkAinsley/Christopher Maltman/Simon Keenlyside/Roger Vignoles/Lucy Wakeford/Graham JohnsonPhaedra4.12., Catherine Wyn Rogers/Nash Ensemble/Edward Gardner

Cabaret Songs3.2.07, ‘Festival of Britten’, TheLighthouse, Poole, UK: Kokoro

New ‘Death in Venice’ film andperformances in London…A new film of Death in Venice is to be made by director

John Bridcutt, set to follow his earlier acclaimed film

‘Britten’s Children,’ (now a book, published by Faber &

Faber). The Death in Venice film will use as its

soundtrack a performance recorded by the

Philharmonia Orchestra at two concerts it gives in

London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall on 23 and 25 November

2006 under Richard Hickox, whose recent Chandos

recording of the opera was widely lauded.

… and GermanyIn Germany, three separate opera companies gave

performances of Death in Venice from March to June:

Oper Frankfurt gave seven performances conducted by

Keith Warner; the Vorpommersches Theater

Stralsund/Greifswald staged in eight times, and Theater

Krefeld-Mönchengladbach also gave eight

performances conducted by Graham Jackson.

‘Curlew River’ on tourIn the UK, Mahogany Opera are touring the South East

throughout August, with a new production of Curlew

River, taking in churches at Blythburgh, Long Melford

and Burnham Thorpe, in addition to a performance in

London’s Southwark Cathedral.

‘Plymouth Town’ at AspenThe US premiere of the early ballet, Plymouth Town

took place at the Aspen Festival on 14 July, when

Nicholas McGegan conducted the Aspen Chamber

Symphony.

‘… contains an abundance of musical ideas and some of the musicalgestures we know from Britten’s more mature works: the pedal tone thatseems one step off, certain harmonic turns.’

The Aspen Times (Harvey Steiman), 18 July 2006

Britten series at Wigmore Hall marks anniversaryTo mark the 30th anniversary of Britten’s death,

London’s Wigmore Hall will mount a series of chamber

concerts entitled ‘Benjamin Britten – In Memoriam.’

Running from 2 to 4 December, it features some of

the UK’s finest singers and instrumentalists such as the

Belcea Quartet, John Mark Ainsley, Simon Keenlyside,

Christopher Maltman, Iestyn Davies, Roger Vignoles,

Lucy Wakeford and Graham Johnson. Highlights

include the five Canticles, and Catherine Wyn Rogers

singing the late masterpiece, Phaedra, with the Nash

Ensemble and Edward Gardner.

‘Sophie’s Choice’ comes to the USAFor US audiences the wait is almost over. On 21

September Maw’s opera Sophie’s Choice reaches their

shores with a production by Washington National

Opera opens in his, and their, home town. A co-

production wth Volksoper Wien and Deutscher Oper

Berlin, it runs for six performances. At the helm will be

Marin Alsop (who conducted the Concert Suite as part

of her Cabrillo Festival on 13 August). The production

is directed by Markus Bothe, with Angelika

Kirchschlager once again taking the lead role, Rod

Gilfry as Nathan, Gordon Gietz as Stingo and Dale

Duesing as the Narrator..

Nash tribute at Wigmore HallMaw was in the UK in May this year to attend a 70th

birthday concert on 10 May in the Wigmore Hall. The

Nash Ensemble programme included his Roman

Canticle for mezzo and ensemble, and Night Thoughts

for solo flute. Maw gave an introductory talk to a

hugely appreciative audience.

Emersons premiere Fourth QuartetMaw’s name is perhaps closest associated with

orchestral writing, especially in recent years. However,

his oeuvre of chamber music is equally impressive, not

least his string quartets. The latest of these, String

Quartet No 4, was commissioned for the world-

renowned Emerson Quartet who, following a series of

perfomances on the East Coast in February, brought it

to California on 19 May with a performance in Walt

Disney Hall, Los Angeles, as part of the LA Phil’s

‘Beethoven Unbound’ festival:

‘… a 22fi-minute single movement packed with lush, dissonant yet non-intimidating textures, big thrummed chords and a grand symphonic climax.’

The Los Angeles Times (Richard S Ginell), 22 May 2006

Lincoln Center residencyMaw has been made Featured Composer for the 2006-7

of the illustrious Chamber Music Society of Lincoln

Center. There are to be several performances, including

a specially- commissioned string sextet, Angelika

Kirchschlager in Roman Canticle and a performance of

String Quartet No 3.

Selected Forthcoming Performances

Stanza21.9.06, Alice Tully Hall, New York, NY, USA: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Sophie’s Choice(US premiere)21.9-9.10.06 (6 perfs), Washington DC, USA: Washington National Opera/Marin Alsop

String Quartet No 31.2.07, Rose Studio, 165 West 65th St, New York, NY, USA: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Music of Memory10.3.07, Baltimore, MD, USA: Baltimore Classical Guitar Society

Nicholas Maw

TUNING IN

BBC Proms focusses on MatthewsRecipient of many BBC commissions and performances

over the years, Colin Matthews is honoured by the BBC

Proms in this, his 60th year by no less than five works

featured during the season.The most important of these is undoubtedly the

Horn Concerto,which was given on 17 July in the RoyalAlbert Hall,by Richard Watkins with the Hallé Orchestra(with whom Matthews is Composer-in-Association) and Mark Elder:

‘From all points of the compass under the Albert Hall’s great dome theysounded: golden horns, echoing and re-echoing in the haunting homageto their species that is Colin Matthews’s Horn Concerto… the audience sat rapt.The music began before anyone had realised. Four offstage horns baying,in a droll, nostalgic caricature of everything that it is to be a horn: forestmurmurs, hunting halloos and rustles of spring. Then a dark drone in theorchestra – and as though from nowhere, the conductor appears… hemagicked Matthews’s shifting horizons of sound from his fine Halléplayers, and conjured up the soloist himself, who appeared from the left ofthe stage, exhaling his melancholy melody with its dying fall…Not only is Matthews’s score dappled with tantalising sounds from mutedstrings and woodwind, vibraphone, marimba, harp and the like; but younever know where the peripatetic orchestral horns are going to appearnext. Suddenly there they were, in the centre of the hall, under the royalbox, and a calming close weave of orchestral writing revealed Watkins thesoloist, now on the right of the stage, and singing his heart out. Finally, he and the conductor creep offstage, leaving the music to vanish into the ether.’

The Times (Hilary Finch), 19 July 2006

‘… one of his most striking pieces. It’s an exploration of the horn’sromantic affiliations, shaped into a giant nocturne interrupted by scurrying,spectral interludes and bucolic interjections from the orchestral horns, whomove around the auditorium while the soloist progresses from one side ofthe stage to the other in the course of the work. Those spatial effects work

wonderfully, and Watkins, for whom the concerto was written, showed howidiomatic every bar of the solo part is.’

The Guardian (Andrew Clements), 19 July 2006

Later that evening, Matthews’s Mozart-inspired ToCompose Without the Least Knowledge of Music wasperformed as part of a late-night wind music concert,given by London Winds and Michael Collins.

The season also includes two world premieres,commissioned by the BBC. Luminoso and Scorrevole arefor viola and piano and have been designed tocomplement two earlier such pieces,Calmo and Oscuro.Lawrence Power and Simon Crawford-Phililps give thefirst performance on 28 August at one of the PromsChamber Music Series concerts in the Cadogan Hall.

Matthews’s cycle of orchestrations of the DebussyPréludes nears completion. The Proms mark this

important contribution to orchestral literature by aperformance by the Berlin Philharmoniker and SirSimon Rattle on 1 September that includes three ofthese – Ce qu’a vu le Vent d’Ouest, Feux d’artifice andFeuilles mortes.

Finally, there will be a first for Matthews on 9September, when his bustling orchestral Vivo featuresin the programme for the Last Night of the Proms. MarkElder will conduct the BBC SO in a performance thatwill bring Matthews’s music to a global audience.

‘Turning Point’ – ConcertgebouwcommissionMarkus Stenz and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

premiere Turning Point, an 18-minute commission for

orchestra on 18 and 19 January 2007, in Amsterdam’s

hallowed concert hall. The following week the same

forces present the Netherlands premiere of four of

Matthews’s orchestrations of Debussy’s Préludes.

Aldeburgh FestivalMatthews has a long and happy association with

Aldeburgh and its celebrated festival. It was fitting,

then, that his music should be featured at the Festival in

his 60th anniversary year. The Endellion Quartet

performed his String Quartet No 3 in Snape Maltings,

whilst on 20 June a Colin Matthews Cabaret in

Aldeburgh’s Jubilee Hall, given by The Composers

Ensemble, includes a number of works, arrangements

and tributes by Matthews and his composer friends.On 24 June there was the public premiere of his

horn trio Time stands still (written for Sir SimonRattle’s 50th birthday). Performers were RichardWatkins (horn), David Alberman (violin) and JuliusDrake (piano).

Debussy preludes on the moveIn addition to exposure at the BBC Proms and in

Amsterdam, Matthews’s orchestrations of Debussy’s

Préludes are gaining admirers the world over. In March

this year the Munich PO performed three of these,whilst

the Hallé have begun to record them for future

release on their own label. They premiere

the final set (thus completing all 24) on 6

May 2007 in Manchester and repeat the

programme in Nottingham on 18 May.

The preludes to be performed are La

terrasse des audiences du clair de lune,

Bruyères,Voiles,La Cathédrale engloutie

and Les collines d’Anacapri.

Matthews is also composing an

additional postlude of his

own to be premiered at

the same time.

19

SelectedForthcomingPerformances

Animato;Scorrevole;Calmo & Oscuro(world premiere of Animato &Scorrevole)28.8.06, BBC Proms ChamberMusic Series, Cadogan Hall,London, UK: LawrencePower/Simon Crawford-Philips

Debussy:Feuilles mortes;Ce qu’a vu leVent d’Ouest &Feux d’artifice1.9.06, BBC Proms, RoyalAlbert Hall, London, UK: BerlinPO/Sir Simon Rattle

Vivo9.9.06, Last Night of the BBCProms, Royal Albert Hall,London, UK: BBC SO/Mark Elder

Debussy: Feuxd’artifice & LaDanse de Puck(perfs by Cambridge PO & TimRedmond)14.10.06, West Road ConcertHall, Cambridge, UK; 28.1.06,Rudolfinium, Prague, CzechRepublic

… through the glass21.10.06, CBSO Centre,Birmingham, UK: BCMG/OliverKnussen

Pluto theRenewer &Debussy: Feuxd’artifice & LaDanse de Puck18.11.06, Cambridge Festival,UK: Cambridge PO/TimRedmond

Chaconne withChorale & MotoPerpetuo23.11.06, BMIC’s The CuttingEdge series, The Warehouse,London, UK: AlexandraWood/Huw Watkins

Turning Point(world premiere)18 & 19.1.07, Concertgebouw,Amsterdam, The Netherlands:Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Markus Stenz

Debussy: Ce qu’a vu leVent d’Ouest;Minstrels; Lapuerta del vino;La danse de Puck(Netherlands premieres)24-26.1.07, Concertgebouw,Amsterdam, The Netherlands:Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Markus Stenz

Colin Matthews

PHOTO: MAURICE FOXALL

NEW WORKS FROM THE PERFORMANCE DEPARTMENT

20

Stage WorksCARL DAVISThe Count (2005)

Silent film score for 16 players. Producer/Director/Screenplay: Charles Chaplin. Duration 24minutes. 1(=picc).1(=ca).2.1 – 2110 – perc(1): drum kit: ped BD/SD/TD/tom-t/2 susp.cym/siz.cym/splash cym/hi-hat/cyms/finger cyms/tgl/tamb/guiro/swanee whistle/gun shot/BD – pno –strings (11111). FP: 14.7.06, Lichfield Festival, Lichfield Cathedral, UK: CBSO/Carl Davis

OrchestralTHOMAS ADÈSThree Studies from Couperin (2006)

Chamber orchestra. Duration 12 minutes. 2 I=afl, II=bass fl).0.1.1 – 2.1.0.0 – perc (1): bassmar/2 small metal bars (enchîmes/anvils)/BD/5 rototoms/3 timp(large-small)– 2 string orchestras(c 65442 each). Commissioned by the Paul Sacher Foundation in association with the SiemensFoundation for Kammerorchester Basel. FP: 21.4.06: Martinskirche, Basel, Switzerland:Kammerorchester Basel/Thomas Adès

DEREK BERMELElixir (2006)

Orchestra. Duration 8 minutes. 3.1.ca.1.bcl.1.cbsn – 4.2.2.btrbn.1 – perc(3/4) – 2 harps –theremin – elec bass – strings. Commissioned for the American Composers Orchestra by theesteemed music patron Betty Freeman, and co-commissioned by the Westchester Philharmonic,Paul Lustig Dunkel, music director. FP: 3.5.06, Carnegie Hall, New York, USA: American ComposersOrchestra/Steven Sloane

DEREK BERMELTurning Variations (2006)

Piano and orchestra. Duration 10 minutes. 2(II=picc).2(II=ca).2(II=Ebcl).2(II=cbsn) – 2221 – timp (4 drums) – perc(2) – harp – strings. FP: 21.4.06, American Pianists AssociationNational Conference, Indianapolis, IN, USA: Christopher Taylor/Indianapolis SO/George Hanson

TANSY DAVIESSpiral House (2004)

Trumpet and orchestra. Duration 22 minutes. picc.2.2.ca.cl.2bcl.bsn.2cbsn – 432.btrb.1 – perc(3):3 BD/6 cowbells/bongos/4 car wheels/3 hi-hat cymbal/3 snare drum (small/large/piccolo)/3small/med log drum/taiko drum/metal dustbin/6 wdbl/tam-t/xyl/7 tin can/rototom – strings.Commissioned by the BBC. FP: 4.3.06: Glasgow City Hall, Glasgow: Mark O’Keeffe/BBC ScottishSO/ Zsolt Nagy

TANSY DAVIESTilting (2005)

Orchestra. Duration 7 minutes. picc.2.3(III=ca).3(III=bcl).2.cbsn – 4231 – perc(3) 3 cowbells/3 log drums/large metal dustbin/tin can/large BD/hi-hat/susp.cym/splash.cym/siz.cym/vib/tam-t –harp – cel – strings. Commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra. FP: 14.6.05, BarbicanHall, London, UK: London Symphony Orchestra/Christophe Mangou

MATTHEW HINDSONFlash Madness (2006)

Orchestra. Duration 5 minutes. picc.1.1.ca.2.2 – 4231 – timp – perc(2): crash cym/tamb/cowbell/whistle/mark tree or windchimes/SD/2 bongo/floor tom/BD – harp – strings.Commissioned by Symphony Australia, as part of a Composer Attachment with The QueenslandOrchestra, with assistance from the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its artsfunding and advisory body. FP: 22 & 23.8.06, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane,Australia: The Queensland Orchestra/Nicholas Milton

THOMAS MORLEY/ARR C MATTHEWSGaliarda (2006)

Chamber orchestra. Duration 4 minutes. afl.ob.cl.bcl.cbsn – 1110 – perc(1): BD – harp – pno –strings. FP: 26.4.06, London, UK: London Contemporary Music Group

PETER SCULTHORPEElegy (2006)

Viola and strings. Duration 181/2 minutes. Commissioned by Father Arthur Bridge A.M. for ArsMusica Australis. FP: 17.6.06, City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney, Australia: Francis Kefford/Sydney YO/Ronald Prussing

Chamber/Instrumental

JS BACH/ARR BRAHMS/ARR C MATTHEWSChaconne (arr 2006)

Chamber ensemble of 5 players. Duration 12 minutes. Arrgt of Brahms’s 1879 transcription forpiano (LH) of the Chaconne from Bach’s Second Partita for solo violin. FP: 20.6.06, AldeburghFestival, Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh, UK: Composers Ensemble

GEORGE BENJAMINPiano Figures (2004)

10 pieces for solo piano. Duration 14 minutes. FP: 18.5.06: Philharmonie, Luxembourg: Pierre-Laurent Aimard

TANSY DAVIESIris (2004)

Soprano saxophone and chamber ensemble of 15 players. Duration 14 minutes. Created throughthe London Sinfonietta’s Blue Touch Paper scheme, supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation. FP:4.7.04, Cheltenham Festival, Cheltenham Town Hall, UK: Simon Haram/London Sinfonietta/Pierre-André Valade. 1111 - 1110 - perc(1): 2 large log drums/BD/pedal BD/5 cowbells/bongos/largetom-t/African rattle/SD/hi-hat/high wdbl/trash instruments/thundersheet/5 tin cans/pedalbin/reversible sticks- harp - pno - strings (2111)

TANSY DAVIESneon (2004)

Chamber ensemble of 7 players. Duration 10 minutes. Written for the Composers Ensemble. FP:26.5.04: Dockyard Church, Chatham: Composers Ensemble/Richard Baker. bcl(withamplification).ssax - perc (1): mar/trash metal/BD/pedal BD/hi-hat/jingles/SD/large logdrum/bongos/wdbl/tenor drum - elec keyboard - vln/vlc/db (all with amplification)

JONATHAN HARVEYAt a Cloud Gathering (2006)

Solo percussion and live electronics. Duration 35 minutes. Commissioned by the Ministère duCulture (France) and Fondation Royaumont for performance by the Compagnie Susan Buirge. It wasprepared with the invaluable collaboration of Gilbert Nouno (electronics) and Jean-Paul Bernard(percussionist). The electronics were realized under the auspices of CIRM, centre nationale decreation musicale, Nice. The sound recording forming part of this work was realized in the studios ofCIRM. Musical assistant: Gilbert Nouno. FP: 9.3.06: ‘Musique en Scene’, Toboggan de Decines,Lyons, France: Jean-Paul Bernard/ch. Susan Buirge

JONATHAN HARVEYOther Presences (2006)

Solo trumpet and electronics. Duration 9-10 minutes. Commissioned by the CheltenhamInternational Festival, supported by the Cheltenham Festival Society. FP: FP: 6.7.06: CheltenhamInternational Festival, Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham: Markus Stockhausen

MATTHEW HINDSONComin’ Right Atcha (2002/6)

Chamber ensemble of 14 players. Duration 12 minutes. picc.ob.cl.bsn – 1110 – pno – perc(1):drum kit – 11111. FP: 5.5.06, Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Australia: NewMusic Now Programme of the Australian YO/Kevin Field

MATTHEW HINDSONSpirit Song (2003/6)

Chamber ensemble of 5 players. Arrangement of the 2nd movt of A Symphony of Modern Objects.Duration 10 minutes. shakuhachi – pno – perc(1): vib/glsp or crot/susp.cym/tgl or sml bell –vln.vlc. FP: 5.7.06, Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Townsville, Queensland, Australia: RileyLee/Claire Edwardes/Ami Hakuno/Christopher Latham/Peter Rejto

CARL VINEThe Anne Landa Preludes (2006)

Piano. Duration 22 minutes. Commissioned by John Sharpe in loving memory of Anne Landa. FP:4.9.06, Eugene Goossens Hall, Sydney, Australia: various pianists

Choral/VocalJULIAN ANDERSONHeaven is Shy of Earth (2006)

Mezzo-soprano, SATB chorus and orchestra. Duration 32 minutes. Text: Latin Mass/Emily Dickinson(Lat/Eng). 4(III & IV = picc, III= fl. detuned 1/4 tone).3(III=ca).4(III = Ecl & cl in A detuned 1/4-tone, IV=bcl).3(III=cbsn) – 4.3(I=flugelhorn, III=tpt detuned 1/4-tone).3.1 – perc(4): I:tubular bells.II: vib/ bongos (2 pairs very high, high, medium, low), large chinese.cym, v large bamboo chimes.III:glsp/2 tgl(very small, small)/2 high wdbl/sleigh bells (med)/large tam-t.IV: marimba/crot/large BD - hp -pno(=cel) – keyboard – strings. Commissioned by the BBC for the BBC Proms. FP: 6.8.06: BBC Proms,Royal Albert Hall, London: Angelika Kirchschlager/BBC SO/Sir Andrew Davis

DEREK BERMELA Child’s War (2005)

Children’s chorus and piano. Duration 12 minutes. Text: Albert Bermel (Eng). Commissioned by TheYoung People’s Chorus of New York City. FP: 29.4.06, The Society for Ethical Culture, New York City,NY, USA: The Young Poeple’s Chorus of New York City/Francisco Nunez

OLIVER KNUSSENRequiem – Songs for Sue Op 33 (2005-6)

Soprano and ensemble of 16 players. Duration 12 minutes. Text: extracts from: WH Auden, ‘If Icould tell you I would let you know’, Rilke ‘Requiem for a Friend’, Antonio Machado: ‘Los Ojos’,self-assembled sequence of 7 Emily Dickinson poems (Eng/Spa/Ger). Commissioned for MusicNOW,the new music chamber series of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. FP: 3.4.06: MusicNOW,Chicago, IL: Claire Booth/members of Chicago SO/Oliver Knussen

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMSThe Wasps (1909)

Performing edition for male speaker/singer, 3 male soloists (small roles), male chorus andorchestra. Durations: c.80 minutes (music alone); c.95 minutes (music and narration). 1121 –2100 – timp – perc(2/3) – harp – strings. Text by Aristophanes (in transliteration of originalGreek). English singing translation and narration by David Pountney. Recorded on the Hallé Live CDlabel by Henry Goodman (narrator)/The Hallé Orchestra/Mark Elder

THOMAS ADÈS

Court Studies from ‘The Tempest’Clarinet, violin, cello and piano. Score and parts ISBN 0-571-56886-6 (fp) £14.95

THOMAS ADÈS

Piano QuintetScore. ISBN 0-571-52012-X £

GEORGE BENJAMIN

Dance FiguresOrchestra. Score ISBN 0-571-52532-6 £29.95

GEORGE BENJAMIN

OlicantusChamber ensemble. Score ISBN 0-571-52431-1 £5.95

BENJAMIN BRITTEN

String Quartet No 3 (new edition)Score ISBN 0-571-52308-0 £9.95, parts ISBN 0-571-52309-9 £24.95

MORTEN LAURIDSEN

Ave MariaUnaccompanied SATB chorus. ISBN 0-571-52636-5 £2.50

JOHN WOOLRICH

Stealing StepsViolin & viola. Playing score ISBN 0-571-56888-2 (fp) £3.95

JOHN WOOLRICH

Three Capriccios for OboePlaying score ISBN 0-571-56887-4 (fp) £3.95

JOHN WOOLRICH

WatermarkViolin & bass clarinet. Playing score ISBN 0-571-56889-0 (fp) £3.95

JULIAN ANDERSON

The Stations of the Sun; Diptych; The Crazed Moon;Khorovod; Alhambra Fantasy (premiere recordings)

BBC SO/London Sinfonietta/Oliver Knussen. Ondine ODE 1012-2

JULIAN ANDERSON & JONATHAN DOVE*

O Sing Unto the Lord; Ecce Beatam Lucem* &Into Thy Hands *

The Choir of New College, Oxford/Edward Higginbottom. Avie AV2085

FRANK BRIDGE & GUSTAV HOLST

Oration & InvocationRaphael Wallfisch/RLPO/Dickins. Nimbus NI5763

BENJAMIN BRITTEN

Nocturnal after John DowlandRob Phelps. Gasparo Galante GG 1025

BENJAMIN BRITTEN

Sacred & ProfaneThe Sixteen/Harry Christophers. Coro COR16038

BENJAMIN BRITTEN

Temporal VariationsEmily Pailthorpe/Julian Milford. Oboe Classics CC2008

CARL DAVIS

Anthem (premiere recording)Black Dyke Band/Nicholas J Childs. Reference CD24716

JONATHAN HARVEY

Missa Brevis (premiere recording)Choir of Westminster Abbey/James O’Donnell. Hyperion CDA67586

COLIN MATTHEWS & BENJAMIN BRITTEN

Five Studies & Five WalztesAnthony Goldstone. Diversions 24118

PURCELL/BRITTEN

A Miscellany of Songs & Let the Dreadful Engines

Various artists. Hyperion Dyad (re-release) CDD22058

THOMAS ROSEINGRAVE (ARR HUMPHREY SEARLE)

Three PiecesRoyal Ballet Sinfonia/Gavin Sutherland. Naxos 8.557752 (English String Miniatures Vol 5)

PETER SCULTHORPE & WILFRID MELLERS

Koori Dreaming & A Blue EpiphanyJohn Turner (recorder) & Craig Ogden (guitar) . Cameo 2051/52

ROGER SMALLEY & CARL VINE

Echo II & Inner WorldDavid Pereira. Tall Poppies TP180

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

The Wasps (premiere recording)Henry Goodman (narrator)/Hallé Orchestra/Mark Elder. Hallé Live CD HLD 7510

21

NEW PUBLICATIONS & RECORDINGS

SALES PUBLICATION NEWS

Summer 2006 has not only seen the

production of some exciting new

pop books from Faber Music

(including the new Muse album

Black Holes and Revelations and

the launch of the Authentic

Playalong series (with music by

Pink Floyd and Green Day)) but has

also been a very important season

for its educational catalogue.

In June, a revolutionary adult

piano tutor – It’s never too late to

play… piano – by the inimitable Pam

Wedgwood was published, extensively revised

and updated as a new edition.Pam,best-selling

author of many popular piano

series, uses her own friendly style to

introduce the rudiments of piano

technique and music theory in this

truly grown-up approach to learning

the piano. The book includes a

fantastic array of music including

Pam’s own jazzy pieces, plenty of

well-known classics and a

smattering of pop songs. The

accompanying CD is packed with

over 90 tracks, providing a vast

range of attractive accompaniments

as well as interactive activities to

improve general musicianship. The unique

pamwedgwood.com website contains many

extras such as the opportunity to ask Pam

questions, and includes optional teacher’s

accompaniment parts for the beginner pieces.

Two repertoire books will also be

released in the early Autumn: It’s

never to late to play… classics and

…Christmas.

August sees the launch of the

Superstart tutors – a break-through

series for beginner string players –

available for violin, viola and cello.

Superstart is full of exciting music

and fun activities from the very first

lesson to inspire and stimulate

pupils and teachers. This new

edition is a distillation of Mary

Cohen’s many years of teaching and research –

a core method now in one book. Mary is one

of Britain’s leading string tutors with a host of

highly successful and imaginative educational

publications to her name. The books all

include an accompanying CD,and many of the

pieces are compatible with the corresponding

pieces in the other books, providing an

excellent resource for group teaching.

Nicola-Jane Kemp and Heidi Pegler are both

highly respected in the UK as singing teachers,

music examiners, workshop collaborators and

professional singers. Their extensive research

on the proper introduction of foreign language

songs to young students resulted in

the phenomenal The Language of

Song series, also released in August.

The Language of Song series

provides a wealth of the classic song

repertoire, carefully selected and

presented to develop the vital skills

required to sing in a foreign

language. An invaluable resource for

all singing students and teachers,

each song gives both a literal and

poetic translation of the text, with a

detailed pronunciation guide using

the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and

background information on the song in

question. The accompanying CD provides the

text for each song spoken by a native speaker –

expert language consultants who

specialise in coaching singers – as

well as a recording of each song

accompaniment by international

pianist John Lenehan. Available in

editions for both high and low

voices, the elementary collection

focuses on songs in Italian and

German, with some French; the

intermediate collection focuses on

songs in Italian, German and French,

with some Spanish.

All the music mentioned

above, along with the entire Faber Music

printed music catalogue, is now available

for purchase through their website

www.expressprintmusic.com.

22

Simon LaceySimon has been engaged to create a number of Mahler

arrangements for the feature film Good, based on the

play by C.P.Taylor that explores the confrontation and

interplay of good and evil in the context of a Nazi

concentration camp. The arrangements, of songs from

the Songs of a Wayfarer and other works, will be

recorded prior to filming, which starts next year, and

will be ‘performed’ in the film by the camp orchestra.

The film will be directed by Vicente Amorim and is

produced by Miriam Segal.

In the world of television, Simon recently wrote the

theme and other music for a comedy pilot written for

the BBC by the prolific Simon Nye – provisionally

entitled Fire! Fire! (and set in a fire station). This the

latest of many Simon Nye-scripted shows on which

Simon has worked,others being Carlton’s 2000 re-make

of The Railway Children, and the Talkback Thames

comedies Beauty, Tunnel of Love and Open Wide.

Stephen Warbeck

Faber Music’s film/TV arm Rights Worldwide Ltd

controls all rights in Stephen’s score for the feature film

Alpha Male, released across the UK on August 11 by

Verve Pictures. A story of family life – of bad parenting,

family politics,repressed emotions, love and loss – Alpha

Male was produced by Trudie Styler’s production

company Xingu Films and directed by Dan Wilde. Alpha

Male is the latest credit by this Oscar-winning

composer,whose earlier films include Mrs Brown,Proof

(with Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins), Quills,

Charlotte Gray, Billy Elliot and Shakespeare in Love.

Dan JonesSince recording his score for the BBC

film Four Last Songs at the beginning

of the year,Dan has taken a break from

film scoring to work in a rather more

rarefied medium – creating music and

sound design for art installations. He

and the artist Luke Jerram attracted

considerable media attention in June for the latest

outing of their Sky Orchestra concept, in an event

commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company as

part of their Complete Works Festival. At dawn on 23

June the residents of Stratford-upon-Avon awoke to find

a flotilla of hot air balloons drifting over their roofs

serenading them with ambient music by Dan mixed

with readings, by actors Janet Suzman and Patrick

Stewart, from The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s

Dream. The event was closely followed on BBC

national radio, including the ‘Today’ programme, and

attracted full-page articles in The Daily Telegraph and

elsewhere. Previous Sky Orchestra outings have taken

place in Bristol, as part of the city’s annual Balloon

Festival, and Birmingham.

Dan was also chosen earlier this year as the

composer for Listening Posts, a permanent installation

in the city of Cork in Ireland. In a concept devised by

the artists Daphne Wright and Johnny Hanrahan, as a

memorial to Irish emigrants, Dan’s ambient music can

be heard emanating from a series of posts positioned

around Cork harbour.

Adrian LeeThe Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2005 production of

The Canterbury Tales was notable for its considerable

and featured use of commissioned music by Adrian.

There is a second chance to see the production, and

hear Adrian’s music, when it transfer’s to London’s

Gielgud Theatre this September.

Meanwhile Adrian continues his highly productive

relationship with Icon Films in Bristol, scoring their 50-

minute documentary Gir Lions - The Last Lions of India.

This production for BBC Natural World and Animal Planet

tells the story of the only remaining Asiatic Lions in the

wild, living in Gir National Park, India.

Simon RogersAt the time of going to press Simon was working on a 2

x 60-minute instalment of the BBC’s popular and long-

running detective series Dalziel & Pascoe, entitled ‘The

Cave Woman.’ And while in detective mode, he

continues to work on further episodes of Scottish

Television’s Rebus, based on Ian Rankin’s novels.

MEDIA SPOTLIGHT

23

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FABER MUSIC EXHIB IT ION

One of the main talking-points throughout the 2006 Aldeburgh Festival was the unique exhibition in

the Snape Maltings Concert Hall Gallery – a celebration of 40 years of score covers produced by Faber

Music Ltd, entitled “Reflections on Sound.”

The introduction to the exhibition read thus:

Most of the great publishing houses of the 19th and

20th centuries are familiar to music-lovers the world

over through the individual appearances of their

printed editions – from the distinctive pale-green

livery of a Peters Edition and the blue of Henle to the

classic yellow of Eulenberg, or the khaki and green of

Boosey & Hawkes.

The subject of this exhibition, is however, covers of

publications by Faber Music – the publisher Benjamin

Britten founded with Donald Mitchell in 1965. Faber

Music began with a totally different, somewhat anti-

corporate approach. In design terms these were

publications that put the composer and artist first. It

was this ethos that Britten established in the early days

at Faber Music, and it has been an ethos continued to

this day.

The striking typography and lettering of Berthold

Wolpe (1905-1989) who joined Faber & Faber in 1941

had already made its mark in over 1500 book jackets,

and the first collaboration with Britten for Faber Music,

produced most significantly the three Church Parables

(1969). Reynolds Stone was another important

designer and wood engraver associated with Faber &

Faber, who also produced work for that company’s

younger sister; and John Piper and Sidney Nolan were

other illustrious figures brought in whose images

enhanced Faber covers. Overseeing almost all of the

covers, and designing most herself was Shirley Tucker,

originally from Penguin Books (itself the subject of an

important London exhibition of covers at the Victoria

and Albert Museum last year). Her passion for lettering

evident in characteristic bold typography, and the

judicious and sensitive use of fonts, left its imprint on

virtually all the covers from Faber Music’s beginnings

until her retirement in 2001.

Featuring especially composers with an Aldeburgh

connection, this exhibition aims to pull together the

various threads and themes seen through the covers of

their distinctive music scores. It also illustrates how the

use of photography and, latterly, even computer digital

techniques can supplement more traditional images to

create an even more diverse and interesting dialogue

between a composer’s musical vision and its visual

representation.

The exhibition was curated by Elaine Gould and

Martin Kingsbury, with special thanks to Sally Cavender

and Ron Howell.