New Year New Music

[Beef Oven!]

They were in the programme, Beef Oven. Phone the BBC; ask them to send a taxi round.

I'll make do with some plimsolls!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I'm surprised no one has commented on the genuine abundance of listenable broadcasting on today.
I can't remember when last I had the radio close to hand for everything,

I agree - I've listened to more "Live" R3 (as opposed to i-Player ketchup) in the first three days of 2016 than in the whole of December.

starting with Robert Saxton talking to two student composers about them and their music, illustrated by works by people other than himself that he felt useful models for the budding composer of today. One comment said a lot, to me - namely when Saxton said words to the effect that it is no longer style which concerns him or her, since there no longer exists any orthodoxy to be adhered to, but putting down notes in the right places. It had me thinking: yes, but the results in much so-called "new music" seem to have come to mean an over-emphasis on safety, whereas in the days when serialism was presented as one orthodoxy to be at least taken on board, the results were more challenging to listener expectations and came up with new expressive means which probably wouldn't have happened otherwise, habits of thought being what they are.

Yes - I think that Sebastian Blanck in particular would benefit from a year's close study of working with Serial (and "Neo-Serial") methods of thinking and writing. It's unfair to comment on pre-postgraduate (!) student compositions, but, for all the young man's waxing about "expressive" Music, his own wasn't particularly expressive of original thought or feeling. (Decent enough - but sounding like a "performing elaboration" of some recently-discovered sketches that Britten made in around 1970.) And a shame that we were only given a tantalising extract from Cydonie Banting's Reflections - with the Saariaho flute pieces fresh in mind from Record Review, there was an intriguing sense of connection, here.

As to the purpose of the programme, I didn't hear any connection(s) between the three pieces chosen by Saxton and the work of the two students involved (aside from "modality" which is so vast a field that it could almost mean any way of pitch organization). And it was a rather disspiriting comment on "university" composition courses if the topics - which can be done at "A"-level standard - are representative of what goes on. I suspect - and damn well hope - that they were chosen to illustrate to a non-specialist audience what is done at a (much) more sophisticated level in studies.

In drawing the discussion to a close Saxton commented on the limited academic openings for composition studies today, given the fees and costs involved, and this was most timely.

[Daniel]

I enjoyed what I heard of [Gerald] Barry's Piano quartet on the Tansy Davies show today.

I also enjoyed, and found very poignant, the brief Caprice no.2 by Sciarrino that followed. Tansy Davies' introductions are intelligent and illuminating, it's very invigorating to have programmes like this in the schedules, and I'm very much looking forward to hearing the rest of this and other New Year New Music offerings.

.. As to the purpose of the programme, I didn't hear any connection(s) between the three pieces chosen by Saxton and the work of the two students involved (aside from "modality" which is so vast a field that it could almost mean any way of pitch organization) ..

It was rather generalised, but I think the point was that, as he mentioned, he discussed processes rather than style with students, and each of the Taverner, Debussy and Part demonstrated different 'premises/rules/processes' those composers appeared to have set themselves (Debussy goal-directed structure, fibonacci qualities, etc) .. at one point he suggested I think, that the flute and clarinet in Cydonie Banting's piece might be operating as a cantus firmus (cf. Taverner) but she didn't sound too convinced. I agree with your other comments about the two younger composers.

I would just like to reiterate it's great having programmes like this to listen to, whatever the virtues or otherwise of any particular one.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I would just like to reiterate it's great having programmes like this to listen to, whatever the virtues or otherwise of any particular one.

[Serial_Apologist]

Today's programme was a definite improvement; the Worby offered one or two explanations on Stockhausen's compositional methods and their underlying principles, which are as interesting as the outcomes themselves - and with help from interview material with the composer ostensibly recorded by Worby's team. (I wish I'd caught that interview at the time!) But there was still altogether too much shunting between different stages, when there's enough recorded music to allow for the chronological outlining of the evolution which, imv, would aid ones understanding and appreciation. One thing which was apparent, for me at any rate, is that, for all that the history tells us of starting from Year Zero, like Webern, Stockhausen was prepared to take occasional steps back, accommodating earlier kinds of expression even at the same time as moving forwards, as the very acessible piece "Formel" illustrated.

[eighthobstruction]

I agree - I've listened to more "Live" R3 (as opposed to i-Player ketchup) in the first three days of 2016 than in the whole of December.

plus S-A << the genuine abundance of listenable broadcasting on today.
I can't remember when last I had the radio close to hand for everything,>>>

....right at this moment (MacMillan on Aon3) making it hard to find a time to walk the dogs....surely In Tune will be an opportunity....surely