Milton Keynes Sinfonia concert
21 March 2013
The viola is
the often the poor relation amongst orchestral instruments, the butt of many
jokes, the unglamorous middle of the string section. So it was interesting,
last Saturday, to take part in a concert that positively celebrated the musical
possibilities of the viola. I was playing with Milton Keynes Sinfonia in a
programme which began and ended with fine viola solos by the orchestra’s
principal viola player, Julian Pentz, in Elgar’s ‘In The South’ and Vaughan
Williams’ ‘Symphony No 2 (A London Symphony)’. The filling in this viola
sandwich was William Walton’s ‘Viola Concerto’ – a wonderful but fiendishly
difficult work, impressively performed by Emma Sheppard (who was, until last
year, the principal viola for English National Ballet). It was a lovely
programme and a very enjoyable concert, with some great playing throughout the
orchestra and a host of exquisite solos by a variety of players – but this time
the limelight belonged to the viola.Labels: Concerts, Music
'How Music Works' by David Byrne
15 March 2013
In 1985 a
school friend lent me his copy of the Talking Heads LP ‘Little Creatures’ – the
album that contains ‘Road to Nowhere’ and ‘And She Was’. I listened to the
record a couple of times and quickly returned it, saying I thought there were a
couple of good songs but I didn’t like the singer’s voice. Ah, the foolishness
of youth! A year later I went to see David Byrne’s charmingly quirky film ‘True
Stories’, bought the ‘True Stories’ Talking Heads album and was completely
hooked. Since then, the music of David Byrne has become an essential part of
the soundtrack of my life. I was blown away by his 1989 Latin album ‘Rei Momo’,
and his 2001 masterpiece ‘Look into the Eyeball’ is one of my all-time favourite
records – though only narrowly beating its 2004 successor ‘Grown Backwards’. So
I had been very much looking forward to reading David Byrne’s new book, ‘How
Music Works’ (which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book,
narrated by Andrew Garman). ‘How Music Works’ is part memoir – reminiscing about
the early years of Talking Heads, the recording of most of Byrne’s studio
albums and the experience of particular live shows – and part Reith Lecture. He
looks at how the buildings in which music is performed have influenced
compositional style, the process of musical collaboration, the economic models
of the music business and the earliest human origins of music. I was
particularly interested in his description of the process of developing his disco
song cycle about the life of Imelda Marcos, ‘Here Lies Love’ (a collaboration
with Fatboy Slim, reviewed here in April 2010). He talks about music education,
citing our mutual Brazilian friends AfroReggae, El Sistema in Venezuela and the
work of Youth Music in the UK. He also provides a fascinating encyclopaedic
history of recording technologies and their effect on the writing, performance
and consumption of music. Then, just when I thought it couldn’t get any better,
David Byrne devotes a whole chapter to amateurs. He says:
“The act of making
music, art, clothes, or even food, has a very different and possibly more
beneficial effect on us than simply consuming those things. And yet, for a very
long time, the attitude of the state toward teaching and funding the arts has
been in direct opposition to fostering creativity among the general population.
It can often seem that those in power don’t want us to enjoy making things for
ourselves. They’d prefer to establish a cultural hierarchy that devalues our
amateur efforts and encourages consumption rather than creation.”
He goes on to
suggest that:
“by encouraging the creativity of amateurs, rather than telling
them that they should passively accept the creativity of designated masters, we
help build a social and cultural network that will have profound repercussions”.
‘How Music Works’ is a little rambling at times, undoubtedly idiosyncratic and
very much in David Byrne’s unique voice, but it’s a brilliant book – highly
recommended. Labels: Books, Music
Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert
8 March 2013
The
Northampton Symphony Orchestra was back in the magnificent auditorium of the
Derngate in Northampton last Saturday for an evening of ballet music, compered
by Angela Rippon. We played an extensive range of ballet excerpts including
popular favourites (Tchaikovsky’s suite from ‘Swan Lake’, the ‘Adagio of
Spartacus and Phrygia’ from ‘Spartacus’ by Khachaturian and the ‘Clog Dance’
from ‘La fille mal gardée’ by Ferdinand Hérold) and the achingly beautiful
ending of Prokofiev’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. We finished the concert with the
suite from ‘The Firebird’ by Stravinsky – a challenge for any orchestra but one
which I think we rose to. Towards the end of the suite there is a moment, after
the violence of the famous ‘Infernal Dance’ has subsided and the haunting bassoon
melody of the ‘Berceuse’ has died away, when sparse string chords fade away to
silence. Then, out of nothing, comes the horn solo that ushers in the finale.
It’s a beautiful moment but I can now tell you from personal experience that it
is incredibly nerve-wracking being the horn player waiting for what seems like
an age to play that solo. It’s not a particularly difficult phrase (there were
much more difficult solos earlier in the concert including those performed
wonderfully by Kathy Roberts on oboe, Nick Bunker on trumpet and an amazingly
beautiful harp cadenza) but, coming at the end of the most difficult piece at
the end of a long concert was a bit like stepping up to take a penalty after
playing extra time. I am relieved to say I didn’t blast the ball over the bar –
it seemed to go okay and the concert ended on a high. Labels: Concerts, Music
'The Beginners Goodbye' by Anne Tyler
1 March 2013
It's always a pleasure to get your hands on a new novel by Anne Tyler - one of my favourite authors. Her gentle, amusing and moving Baltimore tales of ordinary people flirting with live-changing events wear their cleverness lightly and manage to be both enjoyable and thought-provoking. I've just finished reading Anne Tyler's latest novel 'The Beginners Goodbye' (which I read as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Kirby Heybourne). 'The Beginners Goodbye' is familiar Anne Tyler territory - suburban Baltimore life, polite but strained family relationships and a quirky small business - but it's a very sad book dealing with grief at the loss of a spouse. As with Anne Tyler's previous novel 'Noah's Compass' (reviewed here in May 2010) I got the impression she was rewriting 'The Accidental Tourist'. There are some strong parallels between the two books with the male narrator left alone, moving back to his family home with eccentric sibling(s) and making his living from publishing a series of guidebooks. As with 'Noah's Compass', 'The Beginners Goodbye' feels like a more mature work than 'The Accidental Tourist' but this time I yearned for more light-relief. There is humour and the usual lightness of touch but I missed the comic set pieces of some of her earlier novels.Labels: Books
