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Contemporary music

 
6 April, 2010
 

Terminal

Tomorrow night I shall be attending an interesting recital of sorts at The Hospital Club in Covent Garden. The contemporary Cellist Peter Gregson will be showcasing his new album "Terminal" in a live performance of electronic cello (and maybe acoustic). The evening will be the starting point for a series of monthly performances by Gregson entitled "alt-classical", at the Hospital Club to coincide with his appointment as 2010 Creative in Resident in Music. The Title "alt-classical" speaks for itself as a different kind of classical music. And that really is Gregson to a tee, utilising technology to give his music a bit of an edge.

I'm looking forward to this event, it will be interesting to see how all the technical jiggery-pokery aspects of the album will be adapted to fit in a live session. I remain intrigued and will report back my findings.

ps Peter's album Terminal is available to buy now via Bowers and Wilkins.

Update:

Here's a helpful hint about travelling in London: Leave earlier than you think you will need to. Unfortunately for me I got snarled up in a "person under a train" AND a fire evacuation tube line closure. Due to these mishaps I have not been able to attend "Terminals" public unveiling tonight. What I did get instead was a proper workout walking up a tube stations emergency stairwell (not recommended, if you're not prepared for seemingly endless stairs!).

Filed under  //   London   contemporary music  

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17 March, 2010
 

Contemporary Classical Music - Adès and Chilcott

Over the past couple of weeks I have seen two concerts featuring new works by Thomas Adès and Bob Chilcott, at the Barbican (5/3/10) and Cadogan Hall (16/3/10) respectively. It seems I'm entering new territory here, for contemporary classical music has been up until now something I have not sought out. I can honestly say that the music I have recently heard has changed that. Though the pieces I had were in essence very different including scope, Adès delivering a more abstract, modernist piece and Chilcott taking Beethoven as his inspiration, both have shown me that the perception of classical music being a dying art, is very wide of the mark. 

I have to admit Chilcott's work stands out more for me, it was truly sublime, sweeping you along with the music, largely thanks to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Oxford Bach Choir. Adès piece was more of what I would call a thinking persons piece, technically brilliant yet requiring some thought to appreciate fully, I enjoyed it immensely, Emanuel Ax, the Pianist on the night really brought this work home.

Needless to say my somewhat reluctance towards contemporary classical music has been replaced by a need to explore more modern works; some I will like others not, but the fun is in finding the gems, and potentially feeling what listening to Bach, Beethoven and Mozart for the first time must have been like. The fun of being the first to listen to something and finally appreciating that if we do not support contemporary composers, the only modern classical music left will be left for film scores, not for audiences.

Filed under  //   Contemporary music   London   concerts  

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