HCMF 2019, Episode 3; NMS Sat, 7/12/19, 10:00pm

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Presented by Tom Sevice, a miscellany of pieces featured at last month's Huddersfield Festival of Contemporary Music:

John Burton("Leafcutter John" - b1978): Line Crossing [World Premiere, performed by the Composer in Bates Motel on Thursday, 21/11/19]
Hanna Hartman (b1961): Termite territory (UK Premiere, performed by ensemble We Spoke in Phipps Hall also on Thurs 21/11/19)
Charmaine Lee(b1991): Smoke, airs (World premiere, performed by ensemble Wet Ink in Phipps Hall on Weds 20/11/19)
Rodrigo Constanzo(b1976): solo percussion improvisation (performed in the Bayes Motel event on 21st)
Ann Cleare(b1983): On magnetic fields (performed by The Riot Ensemble in Huddersfield Town Hall on Fri 15/11/19)
Ivan Fedele(b1953): Breath and break (UK Premiere performed by Ensemble Contrechamps in St Paul's Hall on Fri 22/11/19)

... plus Ondes Martenot player discusses the instrument.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000c2s3

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

With this programme, all the works featured in the Riot Ensemble's Ann Cleare potrait concert will have been broadcast over the past 3 editions of the NMS. Normally, I dislike this sort of "chopping & changing" of performers' programmes by R3, but on this occasion, I think it's done Cleare a favour: heard one-immediately-after-the-other, the works revealed a certain "samey-ness". Spread out like this their individual characteristics can be heard to better effect, I feel.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The Cleare work was the only one I attended - but here (and I hope he doesn't object to this unauthorized citing) is Forumista 5:4's take on the Leafcutter John piece:

Leafcutter John‘s new work Line Crossing used a live-generated computer score derived from, and interacting with, John’s live performance. As such, the piece acted as a clear-cut duet, the score indicating passages where the two played simultaneously or where one or other would continue alone. While John’s utilisation of assorted percussion instruments was somewhat unimaginative and lacklustre, the nature of the man-machine dialogue and the work’s overall structure – longer episodes at each end, with more convoluted, shorter sections around its centre – was hugely satisfying.

... the whole review is here:

http://5against4.com/2019/11/27/hcmf-2019-part-1/#more-37277

[Quarky]

Well, an episode jam-packed with interesting items. Composers were were given adequate time to explain their works.

Freeness seems to follow on quite naturally.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Freeness seems to follow on quite naturally.

The broadcast of Cleare's On Magnetic Fields confirmed the impression it made on me at the concert, suggesting, more than the other works featured, that this is a composer whose career it will be worth following.

[Serial_Apologist]

Not having felt particularly in "listening mode" last night, I must give this programme another listen, though I can say I did enjoy the item of Ondes Martenot, particularly Zeena Parkins's atmospheric piece, and learned a lot that I hadn't known previously.