Proms 2019: John Luther Adams – In the Name of the Earth (European Première); Louis Andriessen – The Only One (UK Première); Freya Waley-Cohen – Naiad (World Première)
Despite the protestations of his many, many influential advocates (e.g. the Pulitzer Prize Board), I’ve never been able to rid myself of the worry that J.L. Adams might be nothing more than a charlatan, using environmentalism as a pretext for reheating the Cagean “happenings” of his student days. After listening to ITNOTE on BBC Sounds at lunchtime…erm…the jury’s still out: parts of it I found myself kind of liking despite myself. But your review reassures me that, should I ever give way fully to the aforementioned fear, I won’t be on my own.
UPDATE: I’ve decided to stop worrying about whether Adams is a charlatan and just think of his music as expensively-produced* ambient, which is how I’ve frequently effectively treated it anyway. And which is sooooo not how one is supposed to regard it (it’s meant to be a vehicle for deep contemplation of matters environmental, yadda yadda), but you can’t dictate how your audiences listen, John (and, for the record, you’d be preaching to the converted when it came to the environment anyway).
Of course, this leaves open the question of whether the effect justifies the cost – I’m not convinced that much the same musical result couldn’t be achieved in someone’s bedroom using a laptop – but, like I said, I’ve decided to stop worrying, given that it’s “for a good cause”, etc.
I just did not enjoy listening to this piece of music. In fact I managed about 15 minutes the first go and I gave up after 3 minutes on the second attempt. After that I decided to flit around at random points in the performance and set myself the task of listening for 10 seconds or so to see (hear) if I could find interesting sounds (timbral, harmonic juxtapositions) but each time nothing interesting and, unlike Becoming Ocean- the only other work I know by JLA- not even pleasant.
I enjoyed listening to Becoming Ocean (whilst half in and out of sleep on a 3 hour flight- oh the shame!) but I agree with Chris L it was effective as ambient music in this situation. I think I’d be somewhat bored listening to Becoming Ocean in concert whilst, initially at least, fully awake!
(concerning “The Only One” by Louis Andriessen)
Now this is more like it! I voted “Loved it” but that might be a bit generous; probably a reaction to the negative comments I gave to the other, much, oh much, longer piece at the same concert. I think Simon’s review is spot on, particularly the comment about the “prosaic yet deeply personal” nature of the text that, for me, was engaging yet slightly disorientating. Disorientating, in a good way, as were the accompanying music elements. The brief BBC 3 commentary at the end of the FLAC recording that comments on the visual component to the performance helped my understanding of the work.
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Despite the protestations of his many, many influential advocates (e.g. the Pulitzer Prize Board), I’ve never been able to rid myself of the worry that J.L. Adams might be nothing more than a charlatan, using environmentalism as a pretext for reheating the Cagean “happenings” of his student days. After listening to ITNOTE on BBC Sounds at lunchtime…erm…the jury’s still out: parts of it I found myself kind of liking despite myself. But your review reassures me that, should I ever give way fully to the aforementioned fear, I won’t be on my own.
UPDATE: I’ve decided to stop worrying about whether Adams is a charlatan and just think of his music as expensively-produced* ambient, which is how I’ve frequently effectively treated it anyway. And which is sooooo not how one is supposed to regard it (it’s meant to be a vehicle for deep contemplation of matters environmental, yadda yadda), but you can’t dictate how your audiences listen, John (and, for the record, you’d be preaching to the converted when it came to the environment anyway).
Of course, this leaves open the question of whether the effect justifies the cost – I’m not convinced that much the same musical result couldn’t be achieved in someone’s bedroom using a laptop – but, like I said, I’ve decided to stop worrying, given that it’s “for a good cause”, etc.
I just did not enjoy listening to this piece of music. In fact I managed about 15 minutes the first go and I gave up after 3 minutes on the second attempt. After that I decided to flit around at random points in the performance and set myself the task of listening for 10 seconds or so to see (hear) if I could find interesting sounds (timbral, harmonic juxtapositions) but each time nothing interesting and, unlike Becoming Ocean- the only other work I know by JLA- not even pleasant.
I enjoyed listening to Becoming Ocean (whilst half in and out of sleep on a 3 hour flight- oh the shame!) but I agree with Chris L it was effective as ambient music in this situation. I think I’d be somewhat bored listening to Becoming Ocean in concert whilst, initially at least, fully awake!
(concerning “The Only One” by Louis Andriessen)
Now this is more like it! I voted “Loved it” but that might be a bit generous; probably a reaction to the negative comments I gave to the other, much, oh much, longer piece at the same concert. I think Simon’s review is spot on, particularly the comment about the “prosaic yet deeply personal” nature of the text that, for me, was engaging yet slightly disorientating. Disorientating, in a good way, as were the accompanying music elements. The brief BBC 3 commentary at the end of the FLAC recording that comments on the visual component to the performance helped my understanding of the work.