This evening’s Proms première came from the pen of one of England’s most intriguing and engaging composers, Simon Holt. Holt’s music betrays little of the generic English sound that plagues so many of the ‘established’ (i.e. published) composers in this land—there’s no trace of the anodyne ‘Faber sound’ here. On the contrary, Holt’s inspirations and method of execution are cosmopolitan, highly eclectic and invariably utterly unpredictable, as is the case with tonight’s piece, a table of noises.
It’s a work that brings together such incongruous ideas as Peruvian box drums—from which the title of the piece is derived, being a translation of ‘mesa de ruidos’, one of assorted names for such drums—and Holt’s great uncle Ash (picture below), a significant figure in his childhood, up in the north of England (Lancashire, to be precise). a table of noises is a percussion concerto, and while percussion continues to be the most hackneyed group of instruments in contemporary instrumental composition, what Holt does with it is strikingly original. 
The orchestra comprises a selection of wind and brass, colouring the material with a slight abrasiveness that is entirely in sympathy with the atmospheric and often very sprightly solo percussion part. At around 30 minutes’ duration, a table of noises passes through no fewer than ten movements, that explore an exceptionally wide range of both timbres and performing techniques (so much so that George Crumb springs to mind). Above all, Holt clearly relishes the assortment of sounds with which he presents us, allowing them the freedom to speak almost relentlessly rather than resorting to mere novelty (the usual crime perpetrated against percussion). Soloist Colin Currie’s élan takes the work to even greater heights of exuberance; it’s just such a shame that a plethora of loudly-coughing invalids peppers the performance with their own noisome contribution—including just after the final note, a capital offence in my book. Before the performance is a brief interview with Currie and the composer himself. i’ve included with the recording a copy of the programme note from the official Proms guide.
As a bonus, here also is a recording of the world première of the piece, which took place a couple of years ago in Birmingham; Colin Currie is again at the helm. This recording also has interviews with Currie and Holt, each slightly more in-depth than this evening’s interview. Despite being a world première, the performance is still extremely tight, lacking some of the exciting ambience that permeates all Proms concerts, but attended by a much more healthy and therefore quiet audience.
The audio has been removed as a commercial recording is now available.
