Hoddinott's Variants for Orchestra Op 47 is the second of today's concert. It is pretty rare to hear any Hoddinott on Radio 3 these days, despite the prestige in which he is held, especially, of course, in his native Wales, where a hall has been named after him.
These Variants were composed in 1966, belonging to a period during which the composer was extending his formal preoccupations to take on board certain limited aleatoric procedures. My opinion on first hearing this work, possibly at its premiere, was that his music benefitted thereby. Hoddinott's music of that time might best be described as a sort of halfway house idiomatically between Berg and Walton, assuming some of the harmonic signatures of the latter in his later years (Second Symphony) while continuing in the heavy, overwhelming and at times claustrophobic atmosphere deriving in spirit to some extent from the former. Dramatic, vivid in colours and textures, however dense the latter, it is not music for the faint-hearted, but offers its own rewards if you're of an Expressionistic bent (like me!). The other "contemporary" works are by Guto Puw (on as I write, and v. much in the spirit of 1960s constructivism), Mark Bowden and Michael Berkeley. Possibly Bonis - a new name to me. Berlioz's Harold en Italie takes us to Stravinsky's final ballet score Agon. Some great, asdventurous programming here, for which those responsible are to be congratulated.
These Variants were composed in 1966, belonging to a period during which the composer was extending his formal preoccupations to take on board certain limited aleatoric procedures. My opinion on first hearing this work, possibly at its premiere, was that his music benefitted thereby. Hoddinott's music of that time might best be described as a sort of halfway house idiomatically between Berg and Walton, assuming some of the harmonic signatures of the latter in his later years (Second Symphony) while continuing in the heavy, overwhelming and at times claustrophobic atmosphere deriving in spirit to some extent from the former. Dramatic, vivid in colours and textures, however dense the latter, it is not music for the faint-hearted, but offers its own rewards if you're of an Expressionistic bent (like me!). The other "contemporary" works are by Guto Puw (on as I write, and v. much in the spirit of 1960s constructivism), Mark Bowden and Michael Berkeley. Possibly Bonis - a new name to me. Berlioz's Harold en Italie takes us to Stravinsky's final ballet score Agon. Some great, asdventurous programming here, for which those responsible are to be congratulated.
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