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England

  • Best of the Year

    Best Albums of 2024 (Part 2)

    by 5:4 December 31, 2024 • 00:00
    December 31, 2024 • 00:00

    And finally we reach the zenith, the apex of this year’s best albums, each and every one of them a bewilderment of shock, awe and wonder.

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  • 20th CenturyAdvent Calendar

    Hugh Wood – Variations for Orchestra

    by 5:4 December 25, 2024 • 05:00
    December 25, 2024 • 05:00

    HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Behind the final door on this year’s Advent Calendar is a short but exciting work by one of England’s more curiously neglected composers, Hugh Wood. The Variations for Orchestra began life 30 years ago, apparently composed over a three-year period from 1994 to 1997. That seems a surprisingly …

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  • Advent Calendar

    Michael Finnissy – Two Motets

    by 5:4 December 8, 2024 • 06:00
    December 8, 2024 • 06:00

    British composer Michael Finnissy has so often turned to extant music in his own compositions that it’s practically one of the defining features of his work. Today’s Advent Calendar piece is one of his most blissful responses to earlier music, rethinking material by Byrd and Ockeghem as Two Motets for …

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  • Premières

    HCMF revisited: Michael Cutting – I AM A STRANGE LOOP V (World Première)

    by 5:4 November 13, 2017 • 17:00
    November 13, 2017 • 17:00

    In just five days’ time, this year’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival gets going. That’s a big deal anyway, but this is its 40th edition, so there’s even more cause than usual for celebration. As a warm-up, i’m going to spend this week revisiting a few of the more memorable pieces …

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  • CD/Digital releases

    Monty Adkins – Shadows and Reflections

    by 5:4 November 4, 2017 • 13:31
    November 4, 2017 • 13:31

    An interesting aspect of what i’ve been calling ‘steady statism‘ is the relationship it has with the idea of stasis. What is a musical stasis? Considering that music unfolds in time, isn’t it an oxymoronic idea? Furthermore, is such a hypothetical stasis intentional (objective) or perceptional (subjective) – or both? …

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  • CD/Digital releases

    Haunted but undaunted, fading yet indefatigable: The Caretaker – Everywhere at the end of time – Stages 2 & 3

    by 5:4 October 31, 2017 • 12:49
    October 31, 2017 • 12:49

    Appropriately enough, considering this evening is Hallowe’en, i began today being haunted by ghosts. To explain: in the early hours, not sufficiently drowsy to return to sleep yet too somnolent even to begin contemplating getting out of bed, i grabbed my headphones and groped blearily on my device for something …

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  • CD/Digital releases

    Altered (steady) states: Kenneth Kirschner – September 27, 2016 / November 17, 2016; Markus Reuter – Falling for Ascension; Formuls – entryiseasierthantheexit_exit

    by 5:4 October 3, 2017 • 13:57
    October 3, 2017 • 13:57

    A few years ago, when writing an extensive monograph on the music of Kenneth Kirschner, i used the term ‘steady state’ to indicate the particular way in many of his works that material is deployed and juxtaposed over extended periods of time. This latter aspect, extended time, is vital: both …

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Proms 2017: Julian Anderson – The Imaginary Museum (World Première)

    by 5:4 July 28, 2017 • 14:09
    July 28, 2017 • 14:09

    Last autumn, at the Royal Musical Association’s annual conference, composer Julian Anderson presented a paper addressing what he described as “the problem of professionals involved in modern music denigrating and otherwise attempting to devalue the music they are supposed to support”. The paper – which unfortunately i’ve not yet been able …

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  • FestivalsPremières

    Proms 2017: Roderick Williams – Là ci darem la mano (World Première)

    by 5:4 July 21, 2017 • 16:35
    July 21, 2017 • 16:35

    As i noted in my introduction to his answers to my pre-première questions, until the announcement was made about this year’s Proms in April, it had passed me by completely that Roderick Williams, as well as being one of Britain’s most well-known singers, is also a composer. Unsurprisingly focused on …

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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
  • Patrons
  • The Lists
    • Listening History
    • Complete List of Ratings
    • Compositions explored on 5:4
    • Albums and EPs reviewed on 5:4
    • Festivals reviewed on 5:4
    • Best Albums of the Years
    • The Proms premières – Poll results
  • The Dialogues
  • Mixtapes
    • Mixtapes
    • The Isolation Mixtapes
    • Mystery Mixtapes
    • Podcasts
  • Contact
    • Contact Form
    • Submission Contact Form