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Festivals

  • FestivalsPremières

    Proms 2021: Augusta Read Thomas – Dance Foldings (World Première)

    by 5:4 August 9, 2021 • 14:04
    August 9, 2021 • 14:04

    Yesterday evening’s Prom concert included the third world première of the season, Augusta Read Thomas‘ orchestral work Dance Foldings. In her very detailed responses to my pre-première questions, Thomas discussed the science-related inspiration for the piece (which formed part of the commission brief) – specifically the “biological ‘ballet’ of proteins…

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  • FestivalsInterviews

    Proms 2021: pre-première questions with Britta Byström

    by 5:4 August 9, 2021 • 05:00
    August 9, 2021 • 05:00

    In tomorrow evening’s Prom the BBC Philharmonic will be exploring works by Sibelius and Schumann after opening the concert with the world première of Parallel Universes by Swedish composer Britta Byström. In anticipation of that, here are her answers to my pre-première questions, along with the programme note for the…

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  • FestivalsInterviews

    Proms 2021: pre-première questions with Augusta Read Thomas

    by 5:4 August 7, 2021 • 05:00
    August 7, 2021 • 05:00

    Tomorrow evening’s Prom concert given by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, in addition to music by Dvořák and Ives, includes the world première of Dance Foldings by US composer Augusta Read Thomas. As preparation for that, here are her answers to my pre-première questions, together with her programme note…

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  • Festivals

    Proms 2021: Thomas Adès – The Exterminating Angel Symphony

    by 5:4 August 6, 2021 • 13:53
    August 6, 2021 • 13:53

    Last night’s Proms performance of Thomas Adès‘ The Exterminating Angel Symphony wasn’t a première (a so-called “London première” is not a première!) so i’m not technically including it as part of my annual survey of the season’s new works, but there’s a couple of good reasons to say a little…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Proms 2021: Elizabeth Ogonek – Cloudline (World Première)

    by 5:4 August 3, 2021 • 15:19
    August 3, 2021 • 15:19

    Yesterday evening’s Prom featured the second world première of the season, Cloudline by US composer Elizabeth Ogonek (whose answers to my pre-première questions you can read here). The title of her piece is interesting as it contains two opposite implications: ‘cloud’ indicates mutability and a concomitant uncertainty of shape, while…

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  • FestivalsInterviews

    Proms 2021: pre-première questions with Elizabeth Ogonek

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

    Tomorrow evening’s Prom concert features the first performance of Cloudline, a new orchestral work by US composer Elizabeth Ogonek. In anticipation of that, here are her answers to my pre-première questions. Many thanks to Elizabeth for her responses.

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Proms 2021: James MacMillan – When Soft Voices Die (World Première)

    by 5:4 July 31, 2021 • 12:53
    July 31, 2021 • 12:53

    Last night the 2021 Proms season began, featuring – as has been the custom for many years – the world première of a new piece. When Soft Voices Die is a choral work by Scottish composer James MacMillan that brings together two texts by Shelley, Mutability (also known as ‘The…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Baltic Music Days 2021, Estonia (Part 2)

    by 5:4 June 2, 2021 • 05:00
    June 2, 2021 • 05:00

    Despite its name, it’s important to note that not everything performed at this year’s inaugural Baltic Music Days originated in the Baltic (though all of the performers did). Among the most striking of the international pieces was Spur by Austrian composer Beat Furrer. Composed in 1998, it was especially interesting…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Baltic Music Days 2021, Estonia (Part 1)

    by 5:4 May 30, 2021 • 05:00
    May 30, 2021 • 05:00

    Does the phrase “Baltic music” mean anything? Is it something that has a discrete, tangible identity? i found myself considering this question during pretty much every concert of this year’s first ever Baltic Music Days. A festival that’s been in the offing for a number of years, bringing together composers…

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  • AnnouncementsFestivals

    Gigs, gigs, gigs: Proms 2021

    by 5:4 May 28, 2021 • 16:23
    May 28, 2021 • 16:23

    This year’s Proms programme has begun, tentatively, to be unveiled. At present there remains a number of concerts where the content has not yet been announced – plus several ‘Mystery Proms’ – so there will be more to come, but thus far there are a few contemporary items to start…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Borealis 2021 (Part 2)

    by 5:4 April 9, 2021 • 11:32
    April 9, 2021 • 11:32

    In addition to the various multimedia / audiovisual events at Borealis 2021, the festival included a number of more conventional concerts. Violinist Ricardo Odriozola’s recital featured a mix of Norwegian, British and US works, two of which, Dániel Péter Biró‘s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Moshe Went Up and Tim Hodgkinson‘s The Landscape Theory…

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Borealis 2021 (Part 1)

    by 5:4 April 7, 2021 • 14:19
    April 7, 2021 • 14:19

    Norway’s annual Borealis festival is more than just a conventional sequence of concerts primarily concerned with the way music sounds. Its aim is evidently toward a more holistic experience, one in which words and visuals are just as important – often, more so – than what we’re hearing. As such,…

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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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  • ConcertsFestivalsPremières

    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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  • ConcertsFestivalsPremières

    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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  • ConcertsFestivalsPremières

    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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  • ConcertsFestivals

    Forum Wallis 2020 (Part 1)

    by 5:4 August 20, 2020 • 14:19
    August 20, 2020 • 14:19

    i’ve often likened going to a music festival to an act of pilgrimage, and that feels especially true of Forum Wallis. The two-and-a-half hour train journey from Geneva, edging round the lake before passing by Montreux and on into the heart of the Swiss Alps, feels akin to leaving behind…

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  • ConcertsFestivalsPremières

    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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  • ArtFestivals

    Dark Music Days 2020 (Interlude)

    by 5:4 February 7, 2020 • 06:00
    February 7, 2020 • 06:00

    As an interlude to my coverage of the 2020 Dark Music Days, I have to say something about two artworks that weren’t part of the festival but which contributed significantly to my time in Reykjavík. First is CAT 192, the product of a collaboration in 2013 by composer Hlynur Aðils…

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