brass

For much of its life, Gérard Grisey‘s Mégalithes has languished in obscurity. A work for 15 brass instruments composed in 1969 when Grisey was 23, the work was essentially forgotten, perhaps due to a lack of interest on Grisey’s part (due to his subsequent focus on spectralism) and short memories …

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 …

i wrote in Part 1 about the warm, inviting and relaxing atmosphere that pervaded each of the concerts at Borealis 2022. Establishing this kind of environment for audiences is vital, for two important reasons. First, because any festival that claims itself to be, as Borealis explicitly does, “for experimental music” …

For the next work in this year’s Lent Series, i’m turning to the uniquely haunting melancholy sound of the brass band. In 2014, i wrote about Gavin Higgins‘ Three Broken Love Songs, and his more recent work Sadly Now the Throstle Sings explores the same subject matter. The title comes …