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Retrospectives

  • PremièresRetrospectives

    The 10 Symphonies of Erkki-Sven Tüür – Part 4: Symphony No. 10 ‘ÆRIS’

    by 5:4 October 16, 2022 • 05:00
    October 16, 2022 • 05:00

    This text is an expanded version of the article originally published (in Estonian translation) by Sirp, 16 September 2022. Looking back through Erkki-Sven Tüür’s first nine symphonies, they exhibit a great deal of consistency, primarily with regard to the use of contrasting musical ideas, often presented as bold juxtapositions, sometimes …

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  • Retrospectives

    The 10 Symphonies of Erkki-Sven Tüür – Part 3: Symphonies Nos. 6-9

    by 5:4 October 13, 2022 • 05:00
    October 13, 2022 • 05:00

    This text is an expanded version of the article originally published (in Estonian translation) by Sirp, 16 September 2022. Having featured them prominently in his Fourth and Fifth symphonies, Erkki-Sven Tüür does away with soloists in Symphony No. 6 (2007), but he continues the more nuanced approach to juxtaposition heard …

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  • Retrospectives

    The 10 Symphonies of Erkki-Sven Tüür – Part 2: Symphonies Nos. 2-5

    by 5:4 October 10, 2022 • 10:56
    October 10, 2022 • 10:56

    This text is an expanded version of the article originally published (in Estonian translation) by Sirp, 16 September 2022. An extreme example of disorientation caused by juxtaposition – first glimpsed in Erkki-Sven Tüür‘s Symphony No. 1 (in both its original and revised versions) – occurs in the opening part of …

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  • PremièresRetrospectives

    The 10 Symphonies of Erkki-Sven Tüür – Part 1: Symphony No. 1

    by 5:4 October 7, 2022 • 05:00
    October 7, 2022 • 05:00

    This text is an expanded version of the article originally published (in Estonian translation) by Sirp, 16 September 2022. It’s surely true that no composers today – and very few composers historically – would give any credence whatever to the so-called “curse of the ninth”, the absurd superstition that, having …

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  • CD/Digital releasesRetrospectives

    Paul Dolden – Golden Dolden Box Set

    by 5:4 February 23, 2022 • 20:57
    February 23, 2022 • 20:57

    i feel like i’m emerging from a bomb shelter. For the last two days i’ve been immersed in the Golden Dolden Box Set, a huge self-released compilation by Canadian composer Paul Dolden. Usually, the task of retrospective falls to curators and writers, but in the case of this box set, …

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  • AnniversariesCD/Digital releasesRetrospectives

    Four aspects of Erkki-Sven Tüür: Spectrums

    by 5:4 October 18, 2019 • 19:11
    October 18, 2019 • 19:11

    Birthdays and anniversaries provide an excellent opportunity to stop and look back, and contemplate everything that’s happened along the path of time that leads to here and now. This week – on Wednesday, in fact – marked the 60th birthday of Estonia’s most unconventional and irrepressible composer, Erkki-Sven Tüür. i’ve …

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  • Retrospectives

    Björk – Crave (Odd Duck Mix); Hearts & Bones; Undone

    by 5:4 October 11, 2018 • 12:41
    October 11, 2018 • 12:41

    In my most recent mixtape, exploring the noble art of the remix, i included a track by Björk – ‘Crave (Odd Duck Mix)’ – that i mentioned had been made available as a download back in 2001, but which was no longer available. There were in fact four tracks that Björk …

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  • CD/Digital releasesRetrospectives

    Michael Finnissy at 70: A Metier Retrospective – Part 3. Piano music

    by 5:4 March 14, 2017 • 14:41
    March 14, 2017 • 14:41

    It’s only a few days until Michael Finnissy‘s 70th birthday year comes to an end, so in the nick of time, here’s the final part of my retrospective of his music released by his most loyal label, Metier. In turning to the piano music, i’m conscious that, to some extent, i’m …

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  • CD/Digital releasesRetrospectives

    Michael Finnissy at 70: A Metier Retrospective – Part 2. Chamber music

    by 5:4 December 23, 2016 • 14:45
    December 23, 2016 • 14:45

    As with his vocal works, Michael Finnissy‘s chamber music is represented on four Metier discs, comprising around twenty pieces composed across three decades, from 1977 to 2007. This is only a miniscule proportion of Finnissy’s vast quantity of chamber music, but it nonetheless provides a valuable demonstration of various aspects of his …

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  • CD/Digital releasesRetrospectives

    Michael Finnissy at 70: A Metier Retrospective – Part 1. Vocal music

    by 5:4 August 19, 2016 • 11:57
    August 19, 2016 • 11:57

    Composers habitually form relationships with performers and ensembles, but less often with record labels. And while various labels have put out one or two releases featuring the music of Michael Finnissy, only one, Metier, part of the multi-faceted Divine Art Recordings Group, has shown substantial long-term commitment to his output. To date, Metier …

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  • 20th CenturyRetrospectives

    30 years on: Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Welcome to the Pleasuredome

    by 5:4 October 29, 2014 • 07:44
    October 29, 2014 • 07:44

    For reasons as much to do with priorities as anything stylistic or aesthetic, pop music doesn’t get featured on 5:4 very often. But it would be remiss of me not to make some mention of today’s 30th anniversary of one of the most exhilarating debut albums ever made, Frankie Goes …

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  • CD/Digital releasesRetrospectives

    Kraftwerk: a remastered retrospective

    by 5:4 November 8, 2009 • 01:40
    November 8, 2009 • 01:40

    Of all words associated with the digital era, there’s one that is ubiquitous like no other: ‘remastered’. It has become tantamount to a religious dogma, that the works we have known and loved from our analogue heritage are holy treasures, deserving nothing less than to be preserved in æternum, and …

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  • Retrospectives

    Respectable anarchy: Operator Please

    by 5:4 September 3, 2008 • 17:26
    September 3, 2008 • 17:26

    Ok, let’s get things going again with a band i’ve been meaning to write about for a long while. i’m assuming Operator Please will be well-known to many, but i’m not sure that would have been the case, say, 9 months ago, as their profile seems to have increased significantly …

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  • Retrospectives

    Bitter and strong: the legacy of Dubstar

    by 5:4 June 18, 2008 • 22:55
    June 18, 2008 • 22:55

    A few months back, the announcement was made that Dubstar were at work on a fourth album, due for release this year. This came from Steve Hillier, brains of the outfit, who has, in the intervening years since Dubstar’s departure from the music scene, continued to maintain webpages connected with …

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  • Retrospectives

    Ryoji Ikeda – a retrospective

    by 5:4 April 2, 2008 • 23:31
    April 2, 2008 • 23:31

    It doesn’t seem to matter what medium they turn their hand to – film, fashion, theatre, literature, photography or, indeed, music – Japanese culture always seems to combine an intensity and honesty of expression with a forthright, futuristic vision. By contrast, we in the West – particularly here in England, …

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Eesti Muusika Paevad / Estonian Music Days 2025 World New Music Days 2025 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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5:4
  • About
    • Other writings
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  • The Lists
    • Listening History
    • Complete List of Ratings
    • Compositions explored on 5:4
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    • The Proms premières – Poll results
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