Hannah Kendall; H&N; Sat 22/10/16; 10:00pm

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Hannah Kendall (b 1984) featured in one of last year's CotW specials in celebration of International Women's Day. Her first opera, The Knife of Dawn, is the chief feature of Saturday's Hear & Now. The libretto - by Tessa McWatt - uses five poems by the Guyanese poet and activist, Martin Carter (1927 - 97; the protagonist of the opera),weaved into the text. Not as much information on the Music on the Beeb website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0801hl6

... more information might be available on the composer's own website, but my computer warns me of terrible calumnies associated with the site and won't let me access it!!!!


"Plus Music by Daniel Kidane (b 1987; "part of a new wave of British composers bringing fresh ears and raw talent to the contemporary classical scene" - oh, goody! https://soundcloud.com/daniel-kidane-1 ), Samantha Fernando (b 1984; http://www.samanthafernando.com/), and Shiva Feshareki" (b 1987; https://soundcloud.com/shivafeshareki ).

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Hmm. Well, some interesting and attractive use of texture for the three female voices ... otherwise ... Well, I felt (as I had done on the Simpson and In Parenthesis operas in different ways) that the central character' part was just too concerned with making the text audible, and the Musical interest suffered for me as a result - just not fascinating enough. Kendall's comments after the broadcast of the opera rang all the right bells - but I didn't think that the Music was exceptional enough to achieve what she set out to achieve (other than making the words clear, and prompting at least this listener to seek out more of Martin Carter's poetry). Had this been the work of a 23-year-old, I might have borne her name in mind as someone whose career might be worth following - for an established 32-year-old composer, I found it pretty thin in interest.


I found the selection of pieces which followed the Opera slightly more engaging - but nothing slapped my preconceptions around the head and demanded I get on the i-Player to listen again (let alone "and again").

And somebody should have really brought Samantha Fernendes' attention to this work before she started composing her 4 Illusions (the best piece on the programme for me):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4HRhQ4yabw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbY0k2tpiWQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYoV-N1lKtQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWAUqJ6ceyk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rScggrGzgxw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwHSoofwd4Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltScDVyBC7k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUVG3qmi3-k

(the work is split over the 8 videos )

[Richard Barrett]

What I often find difficult to fathom is why so many young composers write music as if according to unwritten rules about form, material, expression etc., as if none of the liberations of these (and other) aspects of music in the 20th century had never happened, let alone as if studying and learning from the work of an original and enlightening composer like Sciarrino had never occurred to them. I found everything in this programme disappointing and insipid; and these are the people who'll no doubt soon be teaching the next generation.

[Serial_Apologist]

What I often find difficult to fathom is why so many young composers write music as if according to unwritten rules about form, material, expression etc., as if none of the liberations of these (and other) aspects of music in the 20th century had never happened, let alone as if studying and learning from the work of an original and enlightening composer like Sciarrino had never occurred to them. I found everything in this programme disappointing and insipid; and these are the people who'll no doubt soon be teaching the next generation.

"We know that our lives can be broken and dislocated and we also know Jesus is the ultimate fixer":

https://www.threadsuk.com/hannah-kendall-composer

I wonder if one of the problems consists in a paucity of milieus conducive to critical thinking in today's academic environment; one feels grateful in some senses for having lived through the era that brought us works such as Nono's "intolleranza".

[Richard Barrett]

I wonder if one of the problems consists in a paucity of milieus conducive to critical thinking in today's academic environment; one feels grateful in some senses for having lived through the era that brought us works such as Nono's "intolleranza".

And in today's cultural environment more generally. Grateful in a sense, yes, but quite often angry that so many of those progressive ideas are being abandoned and/or forgotten.