In the last edition of Hear & Now devoted to selections from last (!) year's Huddersfield Festival of Contemporary Music*, Sara Mohr-Pietsche and Robert Worby introduce works by Aaron Cassidy (b1972) and Liza Lim (b1967), performed in a concert from St Paul's Hall on St Cecilia's Day by Australian ensemble Elision, conducted by Carl Rosman. This was one of the highlights of the concerts I attended, and I've been waiting eagerly for this broadcast - I won't say too much about the Cassidy piece (The wreck of former boundaries, a concertante work for two trumpets), as it really divided the audience into those of us who thought it fantastic, and those feebler souls and minds who detested it vocally at every possible opportunity. In the name of balance and fairness, I shall refrain from giving any hint of my own opinion of this spectacular work and allow listeners to judge for themselves what an invigorating and visceral piece the work is - quite unlike all the other Cassidy works that I know, in spite of the title and the opening three-or-four minutes. Liza Lim (who gave a pre-concert discussion of her work, How Forests Think with SM-P, parts of which I hope will be featured in the programme - very worth hearing, she is an engaging and informative communicator of her thoughts on Music and its importance in contemporary thinking) managed to "follow that" with a work of great distinction whose subtlety and invention provided a wonderful contrast to Cassidy. The marvellous Sheng playing of Wu Wei is perfectly integrated into the score, which I found the most immediately convincing of her larger-scale works.
And there's a final work from this year's featured composer Georg Friedrich Haas; Ein Schattenspiel for prepared piano and electronics, played by Richard Utley, and snippets from Bodyopera, by Polish composer Wojtek Blecharz (b1981) (whose name is misspelt on the H&N website).
* - but more from the Festival will feature in programmes later in the year: Colin Stetson's Sorrow - a reimagining of Gorecki's 3rd Symphony is due to be broadcast on 11th March, and Michael Finnissy's Anderson-Liederkreis was also recorded for future broadcast.
And there's a final work from this year's featured composer Georg Friedrich Haas; Ein Schattenspiel for prepared piano and electronics, played by Richard Utley, and snippets from Bodyopera, by Polish composer Wojtek Blecharz (b1981) (whose name is misspelt on the H&N website).
* - but more from the Festival will feature in programmes later in the year: Colin Stetson's Sorrow - a reimagining of Gorecki's 3rd Symphony is due to be broadcast on 11th March, and Michael Finnissy's Anderson-Liederkreis was also recorded for future broadcast.