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  • Patrons
  • The Lists
    • List of compositions reviewed on 5:4
    • List of albums and EPs reviewed on 5:4
    • Festivals reviewed on 5:4
    • Best Albums of the Years
    • The Proms premières – Poll results
    • Complete list of ratings
  • Mixtapes, etc.
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5:4
Category:

Premières

  • Lent SeriesPremières

    Evelin Seppar – Seesama meri (World Première)

    by 5:4 March 1, 2021 • 05:00
    March 1, 2021 • 05:00

    The next piece i’m exploring in this year’s nature-themed Lent Series is a vocal work by Estonian composer Evelin Seppar. Pretty much all of my experience with Seppar’s music thus far has been vocal: Поля ли мои, поля (Fields, Oh My Fields) made a strong impression at the 2017 Estonian…

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  • Lent SeriesPremières

    Joanna Bailie – To Be Beside the Seaside (World Première)

    by 5:4 February 25, 2021 • 05:00
    February 25, 2021 • 05:00

    For reasons geographical and pandemical, it’s quite a long while since i’ve had the chance to be by the sea. To a limited extent, i’ve been able to do this vicariously through the opening movement of To Be Beside the Seaside, the first orchestral work by English composer Joanna Bailie.…

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  • CommentFestivalsPremières

    Proms 2020: the premières – how you voted

    by 5:4 October 12, 2020 • 12:03
    October 12, 2020 • 12:03

    Many thanks to those of you who voted in this year’s Proms première polls. Not surprisingly, given the circumstances, the turnout was considerably lower than usual, with just under 200 votes cast. Considering that the polls were only open for four weeks this year (instead of the usual 10), and…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Estonian Music Days 2020 (Part 2)

    by 5:4 September 30, 2020 • 05:00
    September 30, 2020 • 05:00

    In addition to purely electronic music, this year’s Estonian Music Days once again featured many works melding instrumental and electronic elements. The most potent collision of old and new technology came at the Arvo Pärt Centre on Saturday afternoon, where Anna-Liisa Eller’s kannel (the traditional Estonian instrument, a form of…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Estonian Music Days 2020 (Part 1)

    by 5:4 September 25, 2020 • 14:11
    September 25, 2020 • 14:11

    The last couple of years have been unusual for the Estonian Music Days. In 2019 the festival was bloated beyond all recognition and sense due to its assimilation into the World Music Days, making for a horribly hectic and exhausting experience. In 2020, for reasons pandemical, it was the opposite,…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Proms 2020

    by 5:4 September 13, 2020 • 16:43
    September 13, 2020 • 16:43

    Like most of this year’s festivals the 2020 Proms was cancelled due to the pandemic, with the BBC offering a selection of ‘greatest hits’ from their Proms archive. That itself was pretty interesting, inasmuch as (just like with their broadcasts of Choral Evensong) it revealed how one year’s festival is…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Forum Wallis 2020 (Part 2)

    by 5:4 August 24, 2020 • 16:37
    August 24, 2020 • 16:37

    As was the case at last year’s festival, most of the concerts at Forum Wallis 2020 focused on works for ensemble. However, while in 2019 the majority of performances involved larger numbers of players, due to the pandemic almost all of the pieces this year were for small chamber groupings,…

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  • Lent SeriesPremières

    John Tavener – Flood of Beauty (World Première)

    by 5:4 April 9, 2020 • 05:00
    April 9, 2020 • 05:00

    i’m bringing this year’s Lent Series to an end with the last large-scale work by one of Britain’s most strange and singular composers, John Tavener. Tavener died in November 2013, and in some respects it would be hard to go out with a bigger bang than with Flood of Beauty…

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  • Lent SeriesPremières

    Harrison Birtwistle – Semper Dowland, semper dolens (World Première)

    by 5:4 March 26, 2020 • 05:00
    March 26, 2020 • 05:00

    Last autumn, when i began thinking about this Lent Series, one of the first works i intended to include was by Harrison Birtwistle, his opera The Last Supper. However, in light of the events that have transpired in the last couple of months, and which now overshadow everything, i’m instead…

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  • Lent SeriesPremières

    Rebecca Saunders – Yes (UK Première)

    by 5:4 March 8, 2020 • 05:00
    March 8, 2020 • 05:00

    One of the foci of this year’s Lent Series exploring larger-scale works is where time and material become convoluted. In the case of the next work i’m exploring, this kind of convolution applies not only to the music but also to the text that inspired it. Yes by Rebecca Saunders…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Dark Music Days 2020 (Part 2)

    by 5:4 February 9, 2020 • 08:01
    February 9, 2020 • 08:01

    As i mentioned previously, allusions to or evocations of nature were few and far between at this year’s Dark Music Days, indicating the strength and diversity of Iceland’s more searching, abstract approach to composition. This seemed to be precisely the point of Sigurður Árni Jónsson’s Illusion of Explanatory Depth, premièred…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Dark Music Days 2020 (Part 1)

    by 5:4 February 5, 2020 • 06:00
    February 5, 2020 • 06:00

    It no doubt goes without saying that Iceland’s Dark Music Days festival is primarily named for the fact that it takes place in January, when the amount of daylight the country receives is minimal. In a less literal sense, though, musically speaking there’s a lot to be said for listening…

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  • AnniversariesPremières

    Éliane Radigue – Occam Delta XV (UK Première)

    by 5:4 January 26, 2020 • 06:00
    January 26, 2020 • 06:00

    To conclude my Éliane Radigue birthday weekend, i’m returning to a work in the Occam series that i’ve briefly written about previously, Occam Delta XV. The piece dates from 2018 and results from a collaboration between Radigue and Quatuor Bozzini. In a way that i hope isn’t too fanciful, the overall…

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  • AnniversariesPremières

    Éliane Radigue – Occam River XV (World Première)

    by 5:4 January 24, 2020 • 11:30
    January 24, 2020 • 11:30

    A composer whose work i return to more often than most – and find the experience completely different every time i do – is Éliane Radigue. Today is the grande dame’s 88th birthday – joyeux anniversaire! – so, as i did a few years ago, i’m going to devote another…

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  • Advent & ChristmasPremièresThematic series

    Karen Tanaka – Sleep Deeply

    by 5:4 December 23, 2019 • 05:00
    December 23, 2019 • 05:00

    While i can take or leave most Christmas music, i have a real soft spot for lullaby works setting texts that either allude to or directly address the sleeping infant Jesus. It’s a nice counterpoint to the shouty-shouty zeal that permeates a great deal of festive musical fare, but more…

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  • PremièresThematic series

    Maria Kõrvits – Darkness and Deeper Dark (World Première)

    by 5:4 December 22, 2019 • 05:00
    December 22, 2019 • 05:00

    This morning (at 4:19am to be precise) saw the winter solstice, making this the northern hemisphere’s shortest day and the start of not only the season of winter but also a host of traditional festive periods. Being the day when we’re dominated most by night, it’s an ideal moment to…

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  • PremièresThematic series

    Age Veeroos – Külmking (World Première)

    by 5:4 December 20, 2019 • 05:00
    December 20, 2019 • 05:00

    It’s nice, sometimes, when a composition isn’t concerned with layers of complexity and subtext, but instead focuses on a single idea. So as the days grow increasingly cold (here in the UK, at least), it seems an ideal time to explore one of Age Veeroos‘ latest works, the title of…

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  • Advent & ChristmasPremièresThematic series

    Tõnis Kaumann – Ave maris stella (World Première)

    by 5:4 December 19, 2019 • 05:00
    December 19, 2019 • 05:00

    During my week-long journey into winter, i’ll be veering back and forth between sacred and secular music. When i first heard Tõnis Kaumann‘s setting of the Marian hymn Ave maris stella at the World Music Days earlier this year, i have to admit it didn’t make a huge impression on…

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  • ConcertsPremières

    CBSO Centre, Birmingham: BCMG – Migrating Sounds

    by 5:4 December 16, 2019 • 11:45
    December 16, 2019 • 11:45

    i’m going to start with an observation, a complaint and a plea. Yesterday evening’s concert given by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group featured four pieces of music that together lasted one hour and two minutes. The actual concert lasted more than double that length. It continues a trend that appears to…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    HCMF 2019 (Part 2)

    by 5:4 November 28, 2019 • 15:53
    November 28, 2019 • 15:53

    It’s many, many years since i spent meaningful time in the company of music by Can, so i went to founder member Irmin Schmidt‘s HCMF piano recital last Thursday with precisely no expectations. What transpired was one of the most mesmerising, understated performances that i’ve ever witnessed in St Paul’s…

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Nils Henrik Asheim: Lydkilder Sound and Image: Aesthetics and Practices Music Beyond Airports: appraising ambient music Simon Cummings | 間 Studies vol. 6

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