Hear & Now : Howard Skempton, etc 04.10.2014

[jayne lee wilson]

Great to see you back, Ed - god how I've missed you! Especially during the Proms.. here's to you...

Haven't heard this broadcast, but I have to say I was very taken with Lento when I first heard it in the 1990s, taping it off-air and playing it often. For me it belongs in a mini-tradition of intense miniatures, such as Arvo Part's Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten or Panufnik's Landscape. They're like atoms of minimalism, slowed and stretched out, musical micro-organisms enlarged and projected onto a giant screen...

[Beef Oven!]

These were almost exactly my thoughts the last time "Lento" came up on the Forum; I got into a lot of trouble for it with a regular contributer with whom I am normally in general agreement on matters aesthetic, and the post-Cardew school in particular, but haven't altered my views from when I heard the work's broadcast premiere; so It feels good to have some unintended back-up.

Oh, and welcome back from me too, edashtav.

People not sharing your view on music does not 'get you into trouble' - peer reinforcement is not necessarily a good thing, even on things as lofty as 'matters aesthetic' and the post-Cardew school.

And I don't think that edashtav 'backs you up', whatever that might mean.

[Beef Oven!]

Almost a quarter of a century from its composition Lento seems dated, a failed experiment by Skempton in using limited, consonant harmony. Nothing wrong with the conceit but the execution and invention lacks a personal idiom and originality.

I'll take your word on this.

But on a different level, it's an absolutely marvellous listen. Emotional and visceral - its flawlessness and consummate appeal is almost ineffable. A veritable a desert island piece.

[Quarky]

Agreed entirely.

Strange thing - as recorded on iPlayer, sound quality and volume seemed much higher than the usual H&N recording. Discrimination in favour of Consonance?

[Serial_Apologist]

I heard only two works: Skempton's The Light Fantastic for Chamber Orchestra and his "classic" Lento for Symphony Orchestra composed, perhaps, a year earlier. I was disappointed by both. Almost a quarter of a century from its composition Lento seems dated, a failed experiment by Skempton in using limited, consonant harmony. Nothing wrong with the conceit but the execution and invention lacks a personal idiom and originality. The performance was good.

This was the first time that I'd encountered The Light Fantastic and found the performance lacking both lightness of touch and fantasy - it remained episodic and earthbound. I had anticipated a fresher, more dance-driven interpretation. As with Lento, I found my mind wandering to influences. The pizzicato section, for instance, took me back to Frank Martin's Etudes of fifty years earlier.

Small beer - even Then & There in the early 1990s, and far too insubstantial, faded and passe for "Hear and Now"?

I find Skempton works best in tiny doses. I recall with wry amusement undermining a House Music Competition in the the school where I taught Chemistry by teaching a 100 "volunteers" to play one of his micro piano pieces - as there were points to be earned for every entry, "my" House won before a note was played, or before the Judges walked like zombies out of the Hall where they'd heard so little played so often.

These were almost exactly my thoughts the last time "Lento" came up on the Forum; I got into a lot of trouble for it with a regular contributer with whom I am normally in general agreement on matters aesthetic, and the post-Cardew school in particular, but haven't altered my views from when I heard the work's broadcast premiere; so It feels good to have some unintended back-up.

Oh, and welcome back from me too, edashtav.

Great to see you back among us edashtav, and posting an interesting thread too. Long may it last

[edashtav]

I heard only two works: Skempton's The Light Fantastic for Chamber Orchestra and his "classic" Lento for Symphony Orchestra composed, perhaps, a year earlier. I was disappointed by both. Almost a quarter of a century from its composition Lento seems dated, a failed experiment by Skempton in using limited, consonant harmony. Nothing wrong with the conceit but the execution and invention lacks a personal idiom and originality. The performance was good.

This was the first time that I'd encountered The Light Fantastic and found the performance lacking both lightness of touch and fantasy - it remained episodic and earthbound. I had anticipated a fresher, more dance-driven interpretation. As with Lento, I found my mind wandering to influences. The pizzicato section, for instance, took me back to Frank Martin's Etudes of fifty years earlier.

Small beer - even Then & There in the early 1990s, and far too insubstantial, faded and passe for "Hear and Now"?

I find Skempton works best in tiny doses. I recall with wry amusement undermining a House Music Competition in the the school where I taught Chemistry by teaching a 100 "volunteers" to play one of his micro piano pieces - as there were points to be earned for every entry, "my" House won before a note was played, or before the Judges walked like zombies out of the Hall where they'd heard so little played so often.