• 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
5:4
Tag:

Rebecca Saunders

  • FestivalsPremières

    Musica Nova 2025 (Part 5)

    by 5:4 March 28, 2025 • 12:06
    March 28, 2025 • 12:06

    One of the most fascinating events at this year’s Musica Nova festival was LOKS – four concerts at once. Not so much a performance as a film juxtaposing and compositing four separate performances, it featured music by four composers whose initials form the title: Lauri Supponen, Oene val Geel, Krists …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • FestivalsPremières

    HCMF 2023 (Part 2)

    by 5:4 November 30, 2023 • 13:44
    November 30, 2023 • 13:44

    Ambient modes of expression, and listening, were brought to bear on two large-scale works during my long weekend at HCMF, both by Lithuanian composers. The less successful of the two was Hadal Zone by Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, which sought to be an hour-long sonic descent into the most abyssal oceanic depths. …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • FestivalsPremières

    HCMF 2023 (Part 1)

    by 5:4 November 28, 2023 • 11:12
    November 28, 2023 • 11:12

    Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Music. There were times during my long weekend at this year’s HCMF when i had to keep reminding myself of this word. Performance art, and works incorporating dramatic and theatrical elements, are not just a staple of new music festivals, they’ve become in many cases tentpole …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • FestivalsPremières

    AFEKT 2023 (Part 2)

    by 5:4 November 10, 2023 • 06:00
    November 10, 2023 • 06:00

    Borders are places of confusion, uncertainty and, often, danger, and in this context concerts such as the ones previously discussed at AFEKT 2023 – where most works had strong similarities while one or two were markedly different – raised related questions. Is such similarity attractive and important because it suggests …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • Best of the YearMixtapes

    Mixtape #67 : Best Albums of 2022

    by 5:4 January 1, 2023 • 05:00
    January 1, 2023 • 05:00

    HAPPY NEW YEAR! i want to give a loud shout out of thanks to all of you who have supported 5:4 during the last year, especially my most excellent posse of Patrons. As always, i’m starting the new year with a look back at the best albums of 2022, in …

    Read more
    1 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • Best of the Year

    Best Albums of 2022 (Part 2)

    by 5:4 December 31, 2022 • 00:00
    December 31, 2022 • 00:00

    So here they are, crowning this year’s 5:4 Best Albums list, the most imaginative, extraordinary and downright amazing releases of 2022.

    Read more
    1 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • FestivalsPremières

    HCMF 2022 (Part 1)

    by 5:4 November 30, 2022 • 14:27
    November 30, 2022 • 14:27

    People doing interesting things to objects doesn’t necessarily create interesting music. Can we agree on that? i don’t think that’s a particularly outrageous thing to say, though there were a number of times during my six days at this year’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival when i found myself wondering otherwise. …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • CD/Digital releases

    Rebecca Saunders – Skin

    by 5:4 November 17, 2022 • 10:46
    November 17, 2022 • 10:46

    In 2018, when exploring the music of Rebecca Saunders in that year’s Lent Series, i made the following remark regarding recordings of her music: The fact that i’ve explored Rebecca Saunders’ recorded output over four articles suggests that she’s well represented by recordings of her work. But almost half of …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • Advent CalendarPremières

    Rebecca Saunders – Study For Metal Bottle Necks (UK Première)

    by 5:4 December 19, 2021 • 05:00
    December 19, 2021 • 05:00

    It’s Rebecca Saunders‘ birthday, so behind today’s Advent Calendar door is a short work of hers investigating slide guitar techniques. Composed in 2018, Study For Metal Bottle Necks comes across as rather different in tone from the majority of Saunders’ work. The usual liminal balance between abstraction and emotional heft …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • ConcertsPremières

    CBSO Centre, Birmingham: BCMG – Mark-Anthony Turnage Concertino

    by 5:4 September 15, 2021 • 14:09
    September 15, 2021 • 14:09

    The last time i wrote about a Birmingham Contemporary Music Group concert, i began the article with an observation, a complaint and a plea; this time, i’m starting with a shock and a nice surprise. The shock comes from the realisation that that previous concert took place no fewer than …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • CD/Digital releases

    Listening, isolated: solo music by Brian Ferneyhough, Sam Hayden, Olga Neuwirth, Rebecca Saunders and Salvatore Sciarrino

    by 5:4 May 4, 2021 • 16:19
    May 4, 2021 • 16:19

    Considering that most of us have been spending the last 12 months in varying forms of isolation, it seems a fitting time to focus on music for solo instruments. German label Kairos clearly feels the same way, as they’ve recently brought out a short series of five albums, each titled …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • Best of the YearMixtapes

    Mixtape #59 : Best Albums of 2020

    by 5:4 January 1, 2021 • 07:45
    January 1, 2021 • 07:45

    A very Happy New Year to you all! As always, i want to begin 2021 by thanking all of you around the world who have followed and supported 5:4 during the last year, most especially and above all to my growing number of esteemed and beloved Patrons. i don’t think …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • Best of the Year

    Best Albums of 2020 (Part 2)

    by 5:4 December 31, 2020 • 00:00
    December 31, 2020 • 00:00

    It’s something of a relief knowing that this year, finally, is poised to become a memory, consigned to history. But before it does, here’s the second part of my 40 Best Albums of 2020, each of which has wonderfully demonstrated that this year has had a lot more going for …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • 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, …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • Lent SeriesPremières

    Rebecca Saunders – Yes (UK Première)

    by 5:4 March 8, 2020 • 05:00
    March 8, 2020 • 05:00

    One of the foci of this year’s Lent Series exploring larger-scale works is where time and material become convoluted. In the case of the next work i’m exploring, this kind of convolution applies not only to the music but also to the text that inspired it. Yes by Rebecca Saunders …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • ConcertsPremières

    CBSO Centre, Birmingham: BCMG – Migrating Sounds

    by 5:4 December 16, 2019 • 11:45
    December 16, 2019 • 11:45

    i’m going to start with an observation, a complaint and a plea. Yesterday evening’s concert given by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group featured four pieces of music that together lasted one hour and two minutes. The actual concert lasted more than double that length. It continues a trend that appears to …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • ConcertsPremières

    CBSO Centre, Birmingham: BCMG – Celebrating Sir Harrison Birtwistle at 85

    by 5:4 September 25, 2019 • 12:54
    September 25, 2019 • 12:54

    The latest concert given by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, last Sunday, was an extended celebration for the 85th birthday of Britain’s most radical musical octogenarian, Harrison Birtwistle. In fact, the occasion was marked by not one but two back-to-back concerts, the first of which gave prominence to performers taking part …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • ConcertsPremières

    CBSO Centre, Birmingham: BCMG – Murmurs

    by 5:4 March 24, 2019 • 06:00
    March 24, 2019 • 06:00

    Since the appointment of Stephan Meier as artistic director in 2016, it’s been good to see Birmingham Contemporary Music Group starting to move beyond the relative safety that typified its mainstream-centric vision in preceding years. The group’s most recent concert, last Thursday, featured two British works alongside music by composers …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • ConcertsFestivalsPremières

    HCMF 2018: Ensemble Musikfabrik, Christian Marclay: Investigations

    by 5:4 November 19, 2018 • 00:27
    November 19, 2018 • 00:27

    It’s not unusual, considering HCMF’s openness to stepping outside the bounds of convention, for a new work at the festival to have to overcome how extraordinary it is. That was certainly the case in Huddersfield Town Hall yesterday afternoon, where Christian Marclay‘s Investigations received its world première. It wasn’t just …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • ConcertsFestivalsPremières

    HCMF 2018: Ensemble Musikfabrik, Christian Marclay: To be continued

    by 5:4 November 17, 2018 • 19:47
    November 17, 2018 • 19:47

    On the opening night of last year’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, i remember pondering about the shift in tactic regarding the festival’s opening gambit. In 2017, there was a move away from the full-throttle shock and awe that has often typified HCMF’s opening nights, but the first concert of the …

    Read more
    0 FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditEmail
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

Subscribe to 5:4

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

  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • Rss
  • Mixcloud
Footer Logo

© Simon Cummings

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