Thank you for this account. My copy arrived yesterday and I was – in a much more general, considerably less musicianly listening than you evoke – blown away. Often enough, I hear stuff and think “yeah, yeah, that’s neat” (at best). Rebecca Saunders’ stuff stops me in my tracks and reminds me why I love the very idea of music.
Juliet
2 years ago
In fact, the HCMF performance of ‘Skin’ was given in St Paul’s Hall in the standard voice+ensemble formation. ‘Yes’ was a spatialised performance in the Town Hall, in 2019, which is perhaps the one you have in mind!
The string quartet, Unbreathed, has been performed extensively across Europe and further afield, by Quatuor Diotima. There were 7 commissioners, so after the première in Wigmore Hall, the piece was presented at the following: Festival ECLAT, Stuttgart; Library of Congress, Washington DC; Klangspuren Schwaz; Musica Strasbourg; November Music, Den Bosch; and Philharmonie Luxembourg. These, plus a performance in Orléans, were all in 2018. The following year the piece was performed in Paris, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Aberdeen (SOUND), Copenhagen, Nijmegen and Stockholm. And since then, despite the lockdown periods in 2020 & ’21, there have been c.10 further performances, the most recent at Wien Modern last month. Of Rebecca’s recent works, it’s the most regularly programmed.
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Thank you for this account. My copy arrived yesterday and I was – in a much more general, considerably less musicianly listening than you evoke – blown away. Often enough, I hear stuff and think “yeah, yeah, that’s neat” (at best). Rebecca Saunders’ stuff stops me in my tracks and reminds me why I love the very idea of music.
In fact, the HCMF performance of ‘Skin’ was given in St Paul’s Hall in the standard voice+ensemble formation. ‘Yes’ was a spatialised performance in the Town Hall, in 2019, which is perhaps the one you have in mind!
Oh dear, you’re right, I’m getting my Saunders performances confused! I will amend the text forthwith – thanks Juliet!
Thanks for highlighting the NMC disc.
A couple of updates:
The concertos, Still and Alba, along with the bass clarinet duo Aether, are now available, on BR Klassik: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8815638–rebecca-saunders-still-aether-alba
The string quartet, Unbreathed, has been performed extensively across Europe and further afield, by Quatuor Diotima. There were 7 commissioners, so after the première in Wigmore Hall, the piece was presented at the following: Festival ECLAT, Stuttgart; Library of Congress, Washington DC; Klangspuren Schwaz; Musica Strasbourg; November Music, Den Bosch; and Philharmonie Luxembourg. These, plus a performance in Orléans, were all in 2018. The following year the piece was performed in Paris, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Aberdeen (SOUND), Copenhagen, Nijmegen and Stockholm. And since then, despite the lockdown periods in 2020 & ’21, there have been c.10 further performances, the most recent at Wien Modern last month. Of Rebecca’s recent works, it’s the most regularly programmed.
Hi Graham, thanks for this comment. I wrote about the BR Klassik disc in my Best Albums of 2020 roundup; it’s a fantastic album.
Great to hear how much Unbreathed has been performed; I’ve clearly just been in the wrong place at the wrong time since hearing the première!