Proms at ... Bold Tendencies Multi-Storey Car Park, Peckham - 26.08.17

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

12:00 (not broadcast) & 15:00 Saturday 26 August 2017
Bold Tendencies Multi-Storey Car Park, Peckham

Johann Sebastian Bach: Chorale Prelude 'Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme', BWV 645 (orch. Granville Bantock)
Kate Whitley: I am I say
John Adams : Harmonielehre

Ruby Hughes soprano
Michael Sumuel bass-baritone
The Multi-Story Youth Choir
The Multi-Story Orchestra
Christopher Stark conductor

Following the success last year of their Proms debut on their home turf in Peckham, Christopher Stark and The Multi-Story Orchestra return for a programme that picks up two of the threads running through this year's Proms, and continues our showcase for talented young musicians.
The classical symphony gets an appropriately urban, contemporary makeover in the pulsing rhythms and metallic glitter of John Adams's Harmonielehre, while Kate Whitley's I am I say, written for local schoolchildren to perform, is inspired by nature but also firmly rooted in the sounds and communities of the city.
The concert opens with Bach's 'Wachet auf' (Sleepers, Awake) in Granville Bantock's unexpectedly rich orchestration.

Following the success last year of their Proms debut on their home turf in Peckham, Christopher Stark and The Multi-Story Orchestra return for a programme that picks up two of the threads running through this year's Proms, and continues our showcase for talented young musicians.
The classical symphony gets an appropriately urban, contemporary makeover in the pulsing rhythms and metallic glitter of John Adams's Harmonielehre, while Kate Whitley's I am I say, written for local schoolchildren to perform, is inspired by nature but also firmly rooted in the sounds and communities of the city.
The concert opens with Bach's 'Wachet auf' (Sleepers, Awake) in Granville Bantock's unexpectedly rich orchestration.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The concert opens with Bach's 'Wachet auf' (Sleepers, Awake) in Granville Bantock's unexpectedly rich orchestration.

I just want everyone to know that I don't write this guff.

[Serial_Apologist]

I just want everyone to know that I don't write this guff.

You're doing a wonderful job of drawing these concerts to everybody's attention, using the BBC's commentariat, just as I do for the weekly jazz broadcasts, EA.

[french frank]

You're doing a wonderful job of drawing these concerts to everybody's attention, using the BBC's commentariat, just as I do for the weekly jazz broadcasts, EA.

Hear, hear!!! And a lot of work has already gone into all the preparation weeks before the concerts begin

[Beef Oven!]

You're doing a wonderful job of drawing these concerts to everybody's attention, using the BBC's commentariat, just as I do for the weekly jazz broadcasts, EA.

<<Bump!>>

Just wanna say that it's so easy to take for granted what you guys do in flagging up these programs/events for this community.

You provide such a valuable service for us. Really appreciated, even if we never say!

And S_A, please don't stop with those fabulous thread title/descriptions - great stuff!!

[Serial_Apologist]

<<Bump!>>

Just wanna say that it's so easy to take for granted what you guys do in flagging up these programs/events for this community.

You provide such a valuable service for us. Really appreciated, even if we never say!

And S_A, please don't stop with those fabulous thread title/descriptions - great stuff!!

Most kind of you to say so, Beef Oven!(!)

[Constantbee]

<<Bump!>>

Just wanna say that it's so easy to take for granted what you guys do in flagging up these programs/events for this community.

You provide such a valuable service for us. Really appreciated, even if we never say:

I agree. Easier to navigate through the forum than the main site imho. Once you latch onto the numbering sequence.

[antongould]

<<Bump!>>

Just wanna say that it's so easy to take for granted what you guys do in flagging up these programs/events for this community.

You provide such a valuable service for us. Really appreciated, even if we never say!

And S_A, please don't stop with those fabulous thread title/descriptions - great stuff!!

Well said Beefo......

[Pulcinella]

I just want everyone to know that I don't write this guff.

But you gave it to us twice, presumably once for the earlier performance that is one of those mysterious proms that can't really exist, since every prom gets broadcast, so we are told, and told again, and again, and again......

Just adding my thanks for all the hard work done, too.

[BBMmk2]

EA & SA, what indefatigable people you guys are! Please keep up your fabulous work. Much appreciated. Not forgetting ER with the footie results service he provides!

[Serial_Apologist]

EA & SA, what indefatigable people you guys are! Please keep up your fabulous work. Much appreciated. Not forgetting ER with the footie results service he provides!

I think I'll have a lie down.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

But you gave it to us twice, presumably once for the earlier performance that is one of those mysterious proms that can't really exist, since every prom gets broadcast, so we are told, and told again, and again, and again......
.

[bluestateprommer]

TS just spoke with 3 of the kids in the choir now. While TS rather oversold the choir beforehand, they did very well, given that today marks their first public performances. So no pressure at all when the choir's 2nd public performance ever is broadcast on the radio . Had never heard KW's piece, so my first impressions were dabs of Philip Glass, mixed with much more of John Adams, but more 'relaxed' in feel than either composer. Very audience-friendly in idiom, and KW sets the words well. Ruby Hughes and Michael Sumuel did well in their relatively brief solos. The main debit was that the balance of the choir felt a bit recessed, IMHO, so not all the words came through clearly.

The orchestra did a fine job in the Bantock orchestration of the JSB at the start. On now to John Coolidge Adams.....

[bluestateprommer]

Regarding the John Coolidge Adams: the Multi-Story Orchestra did a terrific job with Harmonielehre. Well worth visiting, or re-visiting, on iPlayer if anyone hasn't already yet done so. Yes, you have to put up with TS' presentation, but the performances are what really count. No fears there.

Where I did have fears was not about the musicianship, but from seeing pictures of the orchestra and conductor Christopher Stark in action, rather about the orchestra musicians' ears and long-term damage to them, because of what looked like quite low ceilings in the "auditorium". This is a parking lot (sorry for the Americanism), after all. The Guardian review from Flora Willson actually captured my unease for the musicians' welfare:

"There is nonetheless a reason why most concerts (of any kind) don’t take place in multi-storey car parks: the acoustic properties of a low-ceilinged, open-sided space made of concrete can be challenging. The last and longest piece on the programme, John Adams’s hypnotically vibrant Harmonielehre, was served up with rhythmic details firing on all cylinders, thrillingly nasty lower-brass intrusions and majestic, euphoric climaxes. But at times the performance was simply too loud in such a hard acoustic: for those sat at close quarters, Adams’s instrumental kaleidoscope was in danger of blurring to brown."

Because sound obviously travels up (not sideways, at least not w/o being reflected first), when you factor in a low ceiling, and a hard surface like concrete at that, the reflections at close range can be really scary to contemplate. Earplugs might be a necessity there, at the risk of compromising the ability to hear each other clearly (which is a risk in such a venue anyway at full-throttle moments). I really wonder if Kate Whitley and Christopher Stark realized the long-term risks to the musicians of sustained playing in such a venue, without suitable ear protection. For smaller ensembles that aren't as massive in volume, it's less of an issue, but for a full orchestra at full cry, watch out.

Obviously it's a wonderful venture here to think outside the concert hall box in bringing classical / concert hall music to new audiences. But in this particular instance, the R3 audiences at home might have had the better, not to mention safer, sound balance experience, even if it's generally better to hear such music live.

(For the record, yes, there was some audience applause between the movements.)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Because sound obviously travels up

???!