Georg Friedrich Haas - In Vain (2000) London Premier
London Sinfonietta, Conducted by Emilio Pomarico. Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre, London. 8.00pm, 06/12/13
A recommendation from MrGongGong, and not just a plug for his mates in the London Sinfionetta (many thanks MrGG for the most excellent steer
)
A 70 minute work (performed in 62 minutes this time) where 20 minutes of it are played in complete darkness. The QEH even had its exit signs and 'green men' signposts removed in order to effect total darkness. How the LS managed to play for 20 minutes in total darkness is amazing.
Haas was prompted to compose the piece by the rise of the far-right in Austria, but stresses that the work is not programmatic, as such.
The programme notes quite accurately describe the music as sounding in parts like Ligeti, the kind of scurrying figurations of the violin concerto "as though there are a hundred of Alice's rabbits in Wonderland, disappearing down holes. Some of it sounds maybe like a little bit of Ligeti's Atmospheres, with extraordinary intergalactic stillness. But most of it sounds simply like nothing else at all. If you imagined a kind of Rothko painting in music, you might get close, because the piece, like these paintings, seems to throb and glow. One of the things about the paintings is, the longer you look, the more dynamic they seem to be. This is very true of this piece also".
Following on from an opening flurry of sounds, 'like a snowstorm', the longer notes become audible as the 'snowstorm' dies down, and simultaneously the lights are dimmed down until suddenly the audience and players are plunged into total darkness. Here the music is primordial, "and this is where the music sounds as though it comes out of some kind of primeval swamp, as though it's struggling to be born".
The second, longer period of total darkness comes in the last third of the piece, and to quote the programme notes again, "what you realise is that you are hearing somehow areal, new harmony being born. The players play in complete darkness, they have little modules they have to memorise, but to memorise ten minutes of music is a really extraordinary achievement".
All in all, it was an exhilarating experience, and it was pleasing to see that it was all sold out, with a fair queue of people waiting for any returned tickets.
London Sinfonietta, Conducted by Emilio Pomarico. Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre, London. 8.00pm, 06/12/13
A recommendation from MrGongGong, and not just a plug for his mates in the London Sinfionetta (many thanks MrGG for the most excellent steer
)A 70 minute work (performed in 62 minutes this time) where 20 minutes of it are played in complete darkness. The QEH even had its exit signs and 'green men' signposts removed in order to effect total darkness. How the LS managed to play for 20 minutes in total darkness is amazing.
Haas was prompted to compose the piece by the rise of the far-right in Austria, but stresses that the work is not programmatic, as such.
The programme notes quite accurately describe the music as sounding in parts like Ligeti, the kind of scurrying figurations of the violin concerto "as though there are a hundred of Alice's rabbits in Wonderland, disappearing down holes. Some of it sounds maybe like a little bit of Ligeti's Atmospheres, with extraordinary intergalactic stillness. But most of it sounds simply like nothing else at all. If you imagined a kind of Rothko painting in music, you might get close, because the piece, like these paintings, seems to throb and glow. One of the things about the paintings is, the longer you look, the more dynamic they seem to be. This is very true of this piece also".
Following on from an opening flurry of sounds, 'like a snowstorm', the longer notes become audible as the 'snowstorm' dies down, and simultaneously the lights are dimmed down until suddenly the audience and players are plunged into total darkness. Here the music is primordial, "and this is where the music sounds as though it comes out of some kind of primeval swamp, as though it's struggling to be born".
The second, longer period of total darkness comes in the last third of the piece, and to quote the programme notes again, "what you realise is that you are hearing somehow areal, new harmony being born. The players play in complete darkness, they have little modules they have to memorise, but to memorise ten minutes of music is a really extraordinary achievement".
All in all, it was an exhilarating experience, and it was pleasing to see that it was all sold out, with a fair queue of people waiting for any returned tickets.
Any evidence of microphones to suggest a possible future broadcast?
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