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Maja S K Ratkje – Crepuscular Hour (UK Première)

Posted on April 19, 2014 by 5:4 in Lent Series | Leave a comment

Today is the final day of Lent, so it’s time to draw my series focussing on music by women composers to a close. As it’s Easter Eve, the time associated with the great late-night vigil, i can’t think of a more appropriate piece with which to end the Lent Series than Crepuscular Hour by the Norwegian composer Maja S K Ratkje. Originally completed in 2010, the work—which, as the name suggests, lasts a full hour—is intended to be performed in … →

Liza Lim – Invisibility

Posted on April 17, 2014 by 5:4 in Lent Series | Leave a comment

i was surprised to realise recently that, apart from a CD review last year, the penultimate composer in my Lent Series, Liza Lim, has not yet been featured on 5:4. That’s a pretty serious omission, one that i hope will be mitigated by celebrating her 2009 work for solo cello, Invisibility. Too many discussions about new music get distracted by the shedloads of technical tomfoolery encasing the music (frequently as a substitute for content, activity masquerading as achievement). In the … →

Misato Mochizuki – Musubi (UK Première)

Posted on April 14, 2014 by 5:4 in Lent Series | Leave a comment

Back to the Lent Series, & a work by the Japanese composer Misato Mochizuki. Mochizuki’s compositional outlook encompasses both east & west, perhaps a by-product of periods of study in Tokyo & Paris (at IRCAM, where she studied with Tristan Murail). For the last five years, Mochizuki has taught at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo, but her work continues to be performed regularly in France. She’s a bit of an unknown quantity in the UK, but that situation may improve … →

Hope without hope: Mark-Anthony Turnage – L’espoir (from Speranza, World Première)

Posted on April 8, 2014 by 5:4 in Comment, Premières | Leave a comment

There’s an interesting small addendum to be made to my article a couple of days ago, reviewing recent CDs. i commented that LSO Live has released the world première performance of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s large-scale orchestral work Speranza, but what the disc doesn’t contain is the entirety of the piece as heard on that first occasion. Anyone in the concert hall or who (like me) heard the live broadcast may be forgiven for feeling some dismay at discovering one of the … →

CD roundup (ripieno)

Posted on April 6, 2014 by 5:4 in CD reviews | 1 Comment

Alongside the collection of impressive soloistic new releases i recently reviewed, several new CDs of orchestral & ensemble music have emerged lately. One of the most surprising, from an aesthetic perspective, is the latest disc of Mark-Anthony Turnage‘s music released by LSO Live. The surprise is encapsulated in the titles of the two works on the CD, Speranza & From the Wreckage, both titles that are inherently optimistic in outlook. For a composer who has hitherto created countless works from … →

Brigitta Muntendorf – Sweetheart, Goodbye!

Posted on April 2, 2014 by 5:4 in Lent Series | Leave a comment

The next piece in my Lent Series is by German composer Brigitta Muntendorf, based in Cologne. Muntendorf’s work is heavily characterised by overt theatricality; three years ago, in Salzburg, Muntendorf premièred her first music theatre work Wer zum Teufel ist Gerty (YouTube), followed last year by Endlich Opfer, more substantial but nonetheless described by the composer as a “pocket opera”. In between the two, Muntendorf composed a remarkable electroacoustic piece for voice, mono loudspeaker & ensemble of eight players titled … →

Mystery Mix Tape #3

Posted on April 1, 2014 by 5:4 in Mix Tapes | Leave a comment

It’s been two years since we’ve had one of these, so the new 5:4 mix tape is another of the mystery variety. Once again, no hints whatsoever about the music contained herein—although regular readers really ought to know a few of the tracks—but if anyone sufficiently bright & sparky knows all 28 of them, i’ll gladly dish out some CDs as a prize. & before you fire it up, Shazam really won’t help you very much. Enjoy! [1:29:57 | 146Mb]