All Posts

Between 2011 and 2019 I wrote regularly for Composition:Today. This is an archive of my posts from that site.

Preview of 2020

Whilst 2020 is likely to be dominated by Beethoven’s 250th, there are also several living composers who have significant birthdays in 2020. These include the

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Review of 2019

Another year of political turmoil, the deaths of André Previn and Michel Legrand, awards, premieres and festivals. Here’s C:T’s exclusive look back at another year

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Sound Festival

Sound Festival (23 October – 3 November) takes place in venues across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Scotland.  This year the festival focuses on the oboe, with

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Roger Boutry (1932–2019)

The death has been announced of French pianist, conductor and composer Roger Boutry. He was 87. Boutry studied at the Conservatoire de Paris where his

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Ivo Malec (1925–2019)

It has been reported that French composer Ivo Malec died on 14th August. He was 94. Malec was born in Zaghreb, Croatia. He received a

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Julien Gauthier

Tragic news, with the death of French composer Julien Gauthier, who was attacked and killed by a bear whilst on a field recording expedition in the remote

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Anna Korotkina (1962—2019)

Belarusian composer and organist Anna Korotkina has died. She was just 57. Korotkina graduated from the Minsk Institute of Culture and the State Academy of

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2019 BBC Proms Premieres

The Proms programme always raises debate. This year the focus has been on the number of female composers represented—whilst there is a better male/female balance,

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Cheltenham Music Festival Preview

Cheltenham Music Festival (5th–14th July, venues in Cheltenham, UK), this year celebrating its 75th birthday, remains one of the UK’s most imaginative not to mention prestigious

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Ib Nørholm (1931–2019)

More sad news with the death of Danish composer and organist Ib Nørholm, who died on Monday aged 88. Nørholm was born in Søberg, Denmark.

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Mark Grey Interview

I talk to U.S. composer Mark Grey. Hot from the world premiere of his grand opera Frankenstein in La Monnaie, Brussels, he is now working

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Derek Holman (1931–2019)

The death has been reported of British-Canadian composer Derek Holman.  Born in Cornwall he was educated at Truro School, the Royal Academy and the University

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Three June Festivals

The Holland Festival (29th May–June 23rd) The Holland Festival explores cutting edge dance, film, music, opera, theatre, visual arts and multidisciplinary collaborations. This year Stockhausen is

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Martin Böttcher (1927–2019)

German composer, arranger and conductor Martin Böttcher died on 19th April. He was 91. His early years were dominated by the war; a period in the Luftwaffe

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May Festivals and Premiere Picks

The Tectonics Festival takes place over the weekend of 4th–5th May in Glasgow. On the first day harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani will perform recent works by Anahita Abbasi,

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NotePerformer 3

Sibelius has just released version 2019.4, with new playback features and enhancements to Review mode. Their upgrade email also offers a 40% discount on the NotePerformer sound

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NMC’s Anne Rushton

Anna Rushton, NMC NMC Recordings, a label whose mission is to bring music by British composers to the widest possible audience, will this month celebrate

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Ami Maayani (1936–2019)

Israeli composer Ami Maayani died on 16th February. He was 83. Born near Tel-Aviv, Maayani studied conducting, violin and viola playing at the Academy of

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Michel Legrand (1932–2019)

French singer, pianist and composer Michel Legrand died in Paris on 26th January. He was 86. Legrand’s early training suggested the path of a classical

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Article 13

Brexit is not the only European issue that British composers should be thinking about right now. You may have seen, especially from platforms such as

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John Joubert (1927–2019)

British-South African composer John Joubert died on 7th January. He was 91. Joubert was born in Cape Town, South Africa and educated in the Anglican

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Bushra El-Turk Interview

Bushra El-Turk I talk to composer Bushra El-Turk, whose work ‘Mosaic’ will be performed by the Pro Youth Philharmonia as part of a series of

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Preview of 2019

From the point of view of a UK citizen, it is hard not to look forward to the coming weeks and months without a sense

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2018 British Composer Award Winners

Congratulations to this year’s British Composer Award winners, who were announced in a ceremony at the British Museum last night. There were twelve categories, with the winners

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Philip Venables Interview

Philip Venables, photo Harald Hoffman I talk to composer Philip Venables. One of the most exciting voices of his generation, his works fearlessly confront issues

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Spitalfields Music Festival Preview

This years’s Spitalfields Music Festival (1st–9th Dec) will examine the connections that span many centuries and genres of English music, seeking out connections between old and new. 

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Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival

This year’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (16th–25th November) will feature 15 world premieres, including works by Scott McLaughlin, Nicole Lizée, Christopher Fox, Anna Meredith, Catherine Kontz, Monty

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Transit Festival Review

Leuven’s Transit Festival came to a close last night with Jessie Marino’s bewilderingly Nice Guys Win Twice. Blurring the line between music, theatre and visual art one was left

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John Tyrrell (1942–2018)

Normally at C:T I reserve obituaries for composers. Today I want to spend a moment remembering a musicologist. I wish to do so partly because

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Who is Betsy Jolas?

If you are an ageing composer whose heart was warmed by the news that Simon Rattle has ‘discovered’ nonagenarian Betsy Jolas, you should probably moderate your enthusiasm.

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Maarten Beirens Interview

Maarten Beirens You’ve been at the festival since 2015? Let me try to do the maths…I think so. This is my fourth edition. Could you

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Leuven Festival 20/21

It’s gratifying to find a new music festival on one’s doorstep, so I make special mention today of  Festival 20/21, which runs from 24th September to

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Kemal Yusuf Interview

Kemal Yusuf I talk to composer and founder of the London Graduate Orchestra, Kemal Yusuf. With recent commissions from The Cheltenham International Music Festival, the

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BBC Proms Draw to a Close

The Proms draw to a close on Saturday with one final premiere, Songs of Darkness by Roxanna Panufnik.  This then serves as a reminder to catch-up on

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Brexit News

The excellent politics.co.uk, edited by the even more excellent Ian Dunt, posted an article on 3rd September pointing out how Brexit, whilst being a cry against metropolitan elites,

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Noam Sheriff (1935–2018)

Israeli composer, conductor and teacher Noam Sheriff died on 25th August. He was 83. As a composer Sheriff fused elements of Eastern and Western music

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Borough New Music

Described by The Wire Magazine as “a welcome addition to London’s already blossoming contemporary composition scene”, Borough New Music has announced its next season of concerts, from Series

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Why Womad Matters

If British musicians’ Brexit frustrations have sometimes lacked focus, the furore surrounding this year’s Womad Festival has clarified matters a great deal. As mentioned in

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Kenneth Hesketh at 50

Kenneth Hesketh (photo: E.Thornton) You crowned 2017 with a British Composer Award for your wind ensemble piece In Ictu Oculi. Now that work will form

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Oliver Knussen 1952–2018

The musical world today mourns the loss of one of the outstanding figures in contemporary British music, composer and conductor Oliver Knussen, CBE. He was

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Recent CD Releases: Roundup

In addition to the excellent new Andrew Hamilton disc, NMC, in association with the PRS Foundation, has released two more recordings in its New Music Biennial

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Andrew Hamilton: Music for People

Andrew Hamilton‘s Music for People, a new album on NMC, contains three works by the composer: music for people who like art, for voice and ensemble; To the People for

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Edward Gregson Interview

Edward Gregson When we first started communicating by email you told me you ‘had you head down orchestrating.’ Would you like to let us know

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Other June Festivals

St. Magnus International Music Festival The St. Magnus International Festival runs from 22–28th June, with its usual mix of classical music, theatre, dance, poetry, bands, visual art,

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Glenn Branca (1948-2018)

US composer and guitarist Glenn Branca died on May 13th. He was 69. Branca studied theatre at Emerson College, Boston. After spending time in the

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Matt Marks (1980-2018)

New York-based composer Matt Marks died on May 11th. He was just 38.  Not just a composer but also a mean arranger, singer and horn

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Moritz Eggert Interview

Moritz Eggert – photo Katharina Dubno I talk to German composer Moritz Eggert about his life, motivations and new CD Musica Viva 30, which has

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May Concert Diary

The Techtonics Festival (5–6th) at City Halls, Glasgow prides itself on being being international, this year being no exception, with performers and composers from Japan, Lithuania, France,

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Samuel Adler at 90

A belated ‘happy birthday’ to Samuel Adler, who celebrated his 90th birthday on 4th March. Some composers will know him best from his widely used

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Other March CD Picks

Other than the Venables album (see last post) NMC have just released a programme of music by Brian Ferneyhough performed by Exaudi and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

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Sadie Harrison Interview

Sadie Harrisonm – Bella West © 2013 I talk to composer Sadie Harrison, whose work has been performed internationally and widely recorded. She is also known

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Milko Kelemen (1924–2018)

Croatian composer, conductor and teacher Milko Kelemen died on 8th March in Stuttgart. He was 93. Kelemen was a composition pupil of Stjepan Šulek, later

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March Festival Highlights

The interface between music, engineering and the life sciences is an ongoing area of research at Plymouth University’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research (ICCMR).

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Major music awards announced

Kaija Saariaho has been announced as the winner of the 10th edition of the BBVA Foundation Contemporary Music Award. The prize is $500,000.  From the BBVA

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László Melis (1953–2018)

Hungarian composer László Melis died on 12th February. He was 65.  Melis studied the violin at the Liszt Academy, Budapest, before performing extensively as a

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Composer Competitions: Caveat Emptor

After updating C:T’s opportunity page today, I came across this article by Norman Lebrecht over at Slipped Disk. It describes how this week’s Singapore Violin Competition has

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Nigel Osborne Interview

I talk to composer Nigel Osborne, who was recently been awarded the British Composer Award for Inspiration in recognition of his human rights work. Your

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Geraldine Mucha (1917–2012)

Geraldine Mucha in the 1980s. Image: geraldinemucha.org Whilst last year marked the centenary of the birth of Scottish composer Geraldine Mucha, 2018 will see further celebrations of

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February Concert and Festival Picks

This year Radio France’s Festival Présences (6th–11th February) celebrates the music of composer, organist and improvisor Thierry Escaich. As well as performances of existing works,

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Preview of 2018

After writing the C:T review of 2017, I found myself reflecting on the things that were predicted to happen in 2017 but didn’t. Chief among

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November CD Roundup

On Nimbus Kol Nidrei: Elegy for Pamela contains string quartets commissioned to celebrate the life of chamber music educator Pamela Majaro. It opens with the Cavatina from

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Ladislav Kubík (1946—2017)

Czech-American composer Ladislav Kubík died on 27th October. He was 71. Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Ladislav Kubík studied at the Prague Academy of Music. He established

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BASCA Composer Awards

The British Academy of Songwriter, Composers and Authors (BASCA) has announced its nominees for its 2017 composer awards, which will be presented in London on

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November Concert Diary

The fortieth Huddersfield Contemporary Music festival (17th November—26th), features 31 world premieres and 103 UK premieres across 33 events. One of the first works featured will be

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Adopt a Composer Pairings

Sound and Music has announced its 2017/18 ‘Adopt a Composer’ pairings. These are: Anna Appleby with Merchant Sinfonia Max Charles Davies with Côr Crymych a’r Cylch Esmeralda Conde

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Klaus Huber (1924–2017)

Swiss composer Klaus Huber died in Perugia, Italy on October 2nd. He was 92. Born in 1924, Huber attended the Zürich Conservatory, studying the violin

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Borough New Music

Borough New Music was founded in January of this year with the aim of celebrating the music of today and of living composers. Following its first

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October Concert Highlights

Julian Anderson is the subject of A BBC Total Immersion Day on 21st October. It begins at 1pm at Milton Concert Hall with Guildhall musicians performing

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Madeleine Mitchell Interview

Madeleine Mitchell. Photo by Rama Knight Christian Morris talks to Madeleine Mitchell, who will be giving the world premiere of a newly discovered work by

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In Damascus and other album releases

The title work Jonathan Dove’s new Signum disk, In Damascus, is the composer’s response to contemporary events in Syria. Written for tenor and string quartet it is a haunting

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Idagio Interview

Till Janczukowicz Christian Morris talks to Till Janczukowicz, the CEO and founder of Idagio, a new music-streaming app dedicated to classical music that has some intriguing

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Pierre Henry (1927–2017)

French composer Pierre Henry died on Wednesday at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Paris. He was 89.  Henry was known as one of the pioneers of noise

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July CD Roundup

NMC is taking preorders for its New Music Biennial Subscription in association with the PRS Music Foundation. The programme builds upon two earlier NMC programmes,

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July Festivals

Trying to summarise concerts at this, the busiest time of year, is a fool’s errand. What follows, then, is the merest scratch of the surface

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Composer’s Sketchpad

This iOS app from independent developer Alexei Baboulevitch won a Children’s Technology Review award, which suggests that it might not be much use for creative

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June Festivals and Concerts

Several big festivals to look forward to next month. In Amsterdam the Holland Festival (3–25 June) contains a mixture of theatre, dance, music, visual arts and film.

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Album Releases

As well as the Rhona Clarke (see my previous blog post, below) other recent releases include, on Wergo, Tun Tu, a disk of electroacoustic music by

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Hermann Meier

 Hermann Meier, 1945 The IMS conference ended a few days ago. I meant to mention a few of the final papers at the time, but

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IMS 2017

I am currently spending a few days as an observer at the International Musicological Society’s 20th Annual Congress (19th–23rd March) in Tokyo, partly to provide

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Murail, IMS and April Events

A belated happy birthday to Tristan Murail, who turned 70 on 11th March. At a time when composer birthdays are marked with endless retrospectives and

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Promoting Women Composers

  Susanna Eastburn, Chief Executive of Sound and Music Today is International Women’s Day, which celebrates the ‘social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women’

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Rare Shostakovich Premiere

On 25th March at The Barbican is the chance to hear Shostakovich’s piano score New Babylon, which will accompany a screening of the film. This is

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Philip Sawyers Interview

Ashwood Photography London Christian Morris talks to Philip Sawyers, whose Symphony No. 3 will be premiered by the English Symphony Orchestra on 28th February at

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Preview of 2017

© Nick Seluk theawkwardyeti.com Even after my roundup of a tumultuous year, 2016 had more bad news in store. December saw the deaths of George Michael and actress

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CD Releases

James Weeks: SIGNS OF OCCUPATION, msv 28559 (Spotify, Apple Music) Actually released way back in September, I only came across this today and was attracted by

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Stravinsky ‘World Premiere’

On December 2nd Valery Gergiev will give the ‘world premiere’ of Stravinky’s Funeral Song.The piece, which was performed just once before being lost, was decribed by

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Spitalfields Winter Festival

December is not traditionally known for its music festivals, which makes the Spitalfields Winter Festival, which this year runs from 4th–11th, a welcome anomaly. There are

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Dorico

On 19th October Steinberg released the first version of its scorewriting software Dorico. This is an event of huge significance, since it promises to give

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November Concert Diary

I have already posted summaries of two major festivals in November: the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Wien Modern. Another worth checking is the Cambridge Music Festival in the UK

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Steve Reich at 80

A happy birthday to Steve Reich, who turned 80 yesterday. For those wishing to get to know or revisit some of his key works, take

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Venice Biennale and other October Events

From 7—16th October Venice Biennale’s International Festival of Contemporary Music marks its sixtieth anniversary with a programme of 26 events that feature 45 world premieres, 27 Italian

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Chaya Czernowin The Quiet

Chaya Czernowin was born and raised in Israel but has subsequently lived in Germany, Austria, Japan and now the US. Given such a peripatetic lifestyle

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The Terrorism of Atonality

Norman Lebrecht recently drew attention to comments made by Jacques Attali: Je crois personnellement que la musique atonale est une impasse, elle ne correspond pas à la

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Varia and CD Roundup

It was fascinating reading the responses of UK composers to Brexit on 16th July. So much so that I was inspired to write down my

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The Norway Option

No, not a follow-up to my Brexit post—though I could easily wax lyrical about its advantages in that context—but, rather, a recent CD from Norwegian record

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Proms Premieres

I mentioned before that there is no definitive list of all the premieres available at the BBC Proms on the BBC website. So, after a

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CD Review: Jonathan Harvey, Deo

Choir of St. John’s College Cambridge, Edward Picton-Turbevill (organ), Andrew Nethsingha (conductor). Signum Classics (SIGCD456). If Jonathan Harvey was always considered to be a modernist,

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Dan Goren Interview

Dan Goren Christian Morris talks to Dan Goren, composer and founder of Composers Edition, about his project to launch a new contemporary music magazine in

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Is there really a crisis at ENO?

The shenanigans at English National Opera would seem to be an obvious vindication of Micawber’s advice regarding fiscal contentedness. We are entitled to ask, however: to what

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February Concert Diary

A very happy birthday to Henri Dutilleux, that other great post-war French composer, who would have been 100 on Friday. If you are in Paris

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Pierre Boulez (1925–2016)

The death of Pierre Boulez marks the end of a remarkable, and often controversial, era in Western music. The last, and arguably greatest, composer of

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Preview of 2016

The Shadows of Time, Le temps l’horloge, Mystère de l’instant. Henri Dutillleux was a composer always interested in the concept of time. And, as I write this

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Other December CDs

A recent release on Harmonia Mundi contains two important Dutilleux works for cello, the diminutive but weightily-argued, Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher, for solo cello and Tout un

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Michel Pascal Interview

Michel Pascal. Photography © Luc Henri Fage Christian Morris talks to French composer Michel Pascal, whose ‘Requins’ and ‘Never Die’ are premiering at the 2015

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Elements and October CD Roundup

Congratulations to Ludovico Einaudi, whose album Elements debuted at number 12 in the popular music charts this week, the most successful classical composer since Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony

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Sonorama

Björk’s Biophilia in 2011 was a watershed moment for me. A cross-disciplinary project that married music, artwork, games, animation and wider environmental themes, it provided a compelling

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Nice

After a wet Pembrokeshire summer I find myself in Nice, capital of the French Riviera. My reasons for being here aren’t entirely (or even partly)

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Objects at an Exhibition

As planned, I tuned in for the broadcast première of Max Richter’s Sleep on Saturday. I’d initially thought that the 8 hour work, which is designed to be

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September CD Picks

On DG there are new recordings of Witold Lutosławski’s Piano Concerto and Symphony No. 2 conducted by the Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle.  NMC is celebrating the

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Max Richter: Sleep

Max Richter’s new album on DG, the 8 hour Sleep is a gigantic set of variations that explore the way music can interact with states of consciousness.

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Why We Should Hate Music

One of my favourite radio shows at the moment is Radio 5 Live’s Film Review Programme, dubbed Wittertainment by its devoted army of listeners (‘Hello to Jason

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SaM Commissioning Survey 2015

Members may remember Sound and Music’s commissioning survey from last year, which received a fair amount of gloomy press coverage. My own reaction was a little more positive, though maybe

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Apple Music vs. Spotify

There have been many how-to’s and reviews written about Apple Music, very few of which have focused on classical, let alone contemporary classical, music. Perhaps

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BBC Proms Premieres

If you want to find premieres at the 2015 BBC Proms you have a couple of options. On the Proms website, there is a list of

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June CD Roundup

As well as Boris Pigovat’s Requiem (see below), Naxos have release two solo disks, one of guitar works by Sofia Gubaidulina, including the substantial Repentance and Sotto Voce; and a three-disk selection of

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Apple Music

Exciting times in the world of music streaming. Last night Apple announced the not-very-imaginatively-titled Apple Music, their response to dwindling iTunes sales and the streaming threat

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Judith Weir: Storm

Storm is Signum Classics’ new disc of Judith Weir vocal music performed by the BBC Singers under David Hill. It consists of All the Ends of the Earth, for chorus,

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May CD Hustings

Time to dismantle the hustings, take off rosettes and breathe a sigh of relief that the UK election, possibly the most tedious campaign I can

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May Festivals

I was sorely tempted to head from Basel to Prague in May: a month in a beautiful (and relatively cheap) European city with a major

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April CD Releases

There’s a trio of contrasting discs on Signum Classics this month. Flight is a collection of works by Oliver David (b. 1972) performed by violinist Kerenza Peacock with the

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Composed

Whilst flicking between record label websites this afternoon, I came across the Composed app, a collaboration between Classic FM, Decca and Deutsche Grammophon that presents a curated

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John Palmer: Conversations

Conversations is John Palmer’s new book published by Composer’s Edition in partnership with Palmer’s own enterprise, Vision Edition. It contains 20 conversations with major figures in contemporary music: 13

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Between Worlds: April Concerts

A concert last night by students of the Hochschule für Musik revealed much about standards in Swiss higher education. The ambitious programme contained Cage’s First Construction

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Close Encounters at Orfordness

DG have just reissued Boulez’s Le Domaine Musical collection, which can be added to my earlier guideto the composer’s recordings. It features performances from the seminal Paris concerts between 1956

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Back in Basel

Despite waxing lyrical about the joys of being on the road, the comfort of a Pembrokeshire Christmas almost persuaded me to give up my nomadic

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Beyond the River God

Harpsichord Music by Graham Lynch and François Couperin. Assi Karttunen (harpsichord). Divine Art dda25120. Alex Ross describes Graham Lynch’s style as puzzling ‘over the classic

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March Pick of the Premières

If you’ve not already been, Christian Marclay’s solo exhibition continues throughout March at the White Cube Bermondsey. It features his new video installation Pub Crawl in which he

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Between the (Y)ears

From March 19th–22nd the biennial London Ear Festival of Contemporary Music is holding a small series of events to keep the spirit of the festival going in its fallow

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February CD Roundup

There are three new albums on Naxos worth exploring this month: wind band music by Salvador Brotons that includes his Symphony No. 6 and Symphonic Movement No.

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February Premières

UK premières begin next month with a new work by Ben Comeau, winner of the Cambridge University Composers’ Workshop, which will be playedby the Britten Sinfonia

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Biomusic in Plymouth

The Peninsula Arts Contemporary Music Festival (27th February–1st March) celebrates its 10th anniversary at the end of February. The theme this year, is ‘Biomusic’. Professor Eduardo Miranda,

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January CD Roundup

Also on Wergo (see my previous post) is Japanese composer Keiko Harada’s recent disk, F-fragmentsfeaturing solo piano, accordion and duet of the same. F-Fragments, the work that

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Christopher Hogwood

Though especially associated with early music, I cannot let today pass without lamenting the loss of Christopher Hogwood, one of our finest conductors.  For me

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October Festivals

If you are in Scotland today and are suffering from post referendum exhaustion you can cheer yourself up with the thought of the imminent arrival

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September CD Roundup

To the Sun and Stars is a new album on Bridge of vocal music by Louis Karchin. The works – American Visions, To the Sun, To the

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September Concerts

September sees 80th birthday celebrations for Peter Maxwell Davies and Harrison Birtwistle at the BBC Proms. On 6th Septemberthe Birmingham Contemporary Music Group under Oliver Knussen

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August CD Roundup

If July’s CD releases were on the parsimonious side the same can not be said of this month, with a deluge that will probably only

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Summer Festivals

The BBC Proms get going today. You can see my July picks in an earlier blog post. Looking further ahead, August concerts include the London première

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Felix Meyer Interview

Felix Meyer We’re here to talk about the Paul Sacher Stiftung, but it would be nice to know a little about Paul Sacher the man

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July Festivals

You have to work a little to find the contemporary music amongst the long list of composers represented at the 2014 BBC Proms (18th July – 13th

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Three June Festivals

Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic have big plans for their inaugural contemporary music festival, which has just got underway in New York: “We

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>reinhören

Over the last week I have watched with fascination this odd-looking structure taking form outside the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel: Today it finally became

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May Concert Diary

Harrison Birtwistle turns 80 in July, with birthday concerts starting in earnest this month. One of the best places to enjoy the celebrations is at

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John Palmer Interview

John Palmer Christian Morris talks to John Palmer, a composer of both acoustic and electroacoustic music whose wide influences include Jungian psychology, Buddhism and mythology.

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Penderecki Works and April CD Roundup

Penderecki Works: Polymorphia, Analasis, Fluorescenes, Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, Intermezzo, Kosmogonia (Antoni Wit) Naxos NAC-LP002-03 Written in 1959/60, Anaklasis, for 42 string instruments and percussion

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March Concert Diary

The London Ear Festival of Contemporary Music, run by composers Gwyn Pritchard and Andrea Cavallari, is now in its second year. Over four days, from 27th–30th

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February CD Roundup

Electrifying Oboe on Métier is a disc of experimental works for oboe (and sister instruments) by Roger Redgate, David Gorton, Christopher Fox, Edwin Roxburgh, Michael Young

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Alasdair Nicolson Interview

Alasdair Nicolson Christian Morris talks to Alasdair Nicolson, composer, Artistic Director of the St. Magnus International Festival and Director of its Composers’ Course. Tell us

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February Concert Diary

Peter Maxwell Davies described in a recent BBC interview how close he came to being struck with ‘the curse of the ninth’, having being diagnosed with leukemia

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Claudio Abbado (1933-2014)

It was with great sadness that I learnt of Claudio Abbado’s death on Monday. He is perhaps best known for being appointed as chief conductor

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Popularity Stats

Using their extensive concert database, the people at Bachtrack have put together a fascinating analysis of classical concerts during 2013. Unlike CT, their listings do not concentrate

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Happy New Year!

Christmas, for me, has been a time for reflection, for planning ahead and hatching plans for the year to come: compose more, travel more, get

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December Concert Diary

There are a few contemporary music treats to enjoy before the classical music world dissolves into a frenzy of yuletide bonhomie.  On Friday 6th December there

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John Tavener 1944-2013

John Tavener, who died yesterday aged 69, was one of contemporary music’s most remarkable figures: his ability, especially, to write works that connected with ordinary

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November Concert Diary

Time to enjoy 2013’s last gasp of contemporary concerting before the festive season kicks in… November sees the climax of the Britten centenary celebrations, with

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October CD Roundup

NMC’s new disk dedicated to the music of Philip Cashian spans some ten years of his output. It includes his Tableaux for small orchestra, Cello Concerto, Dark Flight for six cellos, The

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October Concerts and Festivals

Following their success with the 2011 International Flute Event, Arcomis (Arts Commissioning) have followed-up with a festival dedicated to brass music. The Arcomis International Brass Event takes place from

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Kickstarter

Do you have a piece of music languishing in a bottom drawer? You are rightly convinced of its merits, but do not have the financial

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September CD Roundup – Métier

I often write about Naxos and, more obviously (it’s dedicated to contemporary music, after all), NMC in these roundups. Métier, now absorbed by Divine Art Recordings

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August CD Releases

August sees another round of centenary releases, many of which revisit older recordings, either in the form of new collections or remasters. Decca’s seminal 1963

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Music in the Cloud

From my teens until my twenties I was an avid collector of CDs. A few of my friends in school were the same. Hardly a

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June CD Roundup

Decca doesn’t appear to have made new recordings this month, but, based around its extensive catalogue of works by Britten, conducted by Britten, it has

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May Festivals

As well as many interesting individual concerts of contemporary music, May sees the earnest beginnings of festival season. The Vale of Glamorgan Festival runs from 9th–18th May in various venues

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Anda Anastasescu Interview

Anda Anastasescu Christian Morris talks to Anda Anastasescu, pianist, founder of the London Schubert Players, champion of Romanian contemporary music and creator of the European

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The Joy of Next

I’m a pretty ordinary music lover and a very conflicted composer. As a music lover I am just as likely to listen to Monteverdi, Purcell,

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February Concert Listing

There are several events worth highlighting in February’s (newly updated) concert listings. Total Immersion has been an enormously successful project over recent years, giving audiences a

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Did Britten Die from Syphilis?

A retelling of Benjamin Britten’s last years in yesterday’s Telegraph brought a tragic note to his centenary celebrations. The article was an extract from Paul Kildea’s new

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January CD Roundup

The Britten centenary is marked this month by a couple of new discs of his cello music. Around Britten on Signum Classics features cellist Matthew Barley and includes

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On Moving to Mac

My home office setup. The computer is that elegant little box to the right of my main monitor. Many composers I talk to, even if

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Preview of 2013

Happy New Year to you all! If you’re feeling over-indulged on ample sufficiencies of turkey, Christmas pud and mince pies, here’s a repast of a

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Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco

Mortuos plango, I mourn the dead. Though annus horribilis is, perhaps, an exaggeration, the grim reaper has done his work unusually well in 2012. This

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November CD Roundup

If you like your music cerebral and challenging then you should check-out Richard Barrett’s bewitching new CD Dark Matter. It features the ensembles ELISION and CIKADA

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Self-publishing

That the internet has revolutionized the consumption of recorded music is a truism.  Artists can self-publish via their own websites or they may circumvent record

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Retorica Interview

Photo: Retorica Christian Morris talks to Harriet Mackenzie and Philippa Mo, who have just released their debut-disk ‘English Violin Duos’ on NMC. Tell us a

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November Concert Diary

I’ve just updated CT’s concert diary for November. A few things, however, deserve special mention. The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the UK’s largest specialising in this genre, runs

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NMC Music Map

For a bit of Friday fun why not take a look at NMC’s Music Map , an interactive application that explores links between composers? It launches with

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September CD Releases

Apart from the excellent Retorica disk reviewed in my last post, there are a number of other new recordings worth checking out this month. There

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Retorica: English Violin Duos

If a programme of music for two violins does not sound like a very appealing prospect, Retorica’s debut disk, just released on NMC, might change your

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September Concert Diary

There are several festivals that feature new music in September. I’ve included a selection of concerts from them in my monthly round-up on CT’s concert page.

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Varia

Okay, I admit it: hosting the Olympics was not such a bad idea after all. As I’ve watched I have found myself whooping, shouting, crying

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August Concert Diary

Whilst I’ve just updated CT’s concert listings for August, there is such a range of concerts this month that I would also recommend checking out individual

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July CD Releases

A quiet month. Only Naxos – as usual – has produced new albums of recent music. Three of these are in its American Classics series.

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UK Sibelius Office to Close

On July 2nd, Avid Technology, the company who recently acquired Sibelius Software, announced a major restructuring. This included the shedding of 350 jobs and the sell-off of

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June CD Roundup

A relatively quiet month in terms of CD releases, but one nevertheless marked by some interesting finds.  Naxos, as ever, has released a clutch of

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Guardian Guide to Contemporary Music

Helmut Lachenmann. The latest composer to feature in Tom Service’s guide to contemporary music. I recommend checking out Tom Service’s excellent and evolving guide to contemporary music on

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June Festivals

I did – just – manage to update CT’s concert directory in time for June a few days ago. However, I also wanted to point out a

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May CD Roundup

I’ve spent the last few days listening to a couple of new CDs. The first involves violinist Hilary Hahn, whose recording of Ives violin sonatas I

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Bring on the Bunting

A summer of flag waving begins in a week with the official celebrations of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on 2-5th June, followed, on July 27th,

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BBC Proms 2012 Preview

Now here’s a funny thing. Last year the BBC Proms website had an excellent guide to the new music that was to appear during the

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April CD Roundup

KAGEL, M.: Das Konzert/ Phantasiestuck / Pan (M. Faust, Alvares, Ensemble Contrasts, R. HP Platz, Sinfonia Finlandia Jyvaskyla, P. Gallois). Naxos 8.572635 The more I

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April Concert Listings

A little belatedly, perhaps, I’ve just updated the CT concert diary for April. As ever, the list is not exhaustive, and members are encouraged to

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March Concert Diary

Bregenz Staging of Judith Weir’s Miss Fortune As promised last month, my monthly roundup of concerts has now been moved to CT’s own concert diary page.

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March CD Roundup

After a crazy couple of weeks, including a PhD viva and the presentation of a paper at the Sacher Perspectives Conference in Cardiff (same day as the

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March Concerts and Festivals

I’ve just augmented CT’s concert listings with my own summary of concerts that I have found hither and thither. As usual, however, I’ve not listed individual concerts

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Judith Weir Interview

Photo:Judith Weir Christian Morris talks to Judith Weir, whose new opera Miss Fortune will receive its UK première on 12th March at the Royal Opera

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Composers and Computers

‘He fiddles with the keyboard, commanding the computer to play an aria for mezzo-soprano and orchestra…In meekly peeping tones, the computer sings a sinuous, long-breathed

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February Concert Diary

A slightly different look to the concert round-up this month. Some will notice that the information here is presented in a very similar way to CT’s own concert

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January CD Releases

Recording of the month: Charles Ives Four Violin Sonatas, Hilary Hahn (violin) and Valentina Lisitsa (piano). Deutsche Grammophon. Charles Ives expressed ambivalence in later life towards

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Preview of 2012

Happy New Year to all! Here’s a little preview of what 2012 holds for contemporary music, minus December (for my thoughts on that, see here). I

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Park Avenue Armory

Some while back I wrote about my experience of visiting the Guggenheim in Bilbao. What I especially found striking was how many people were prepared to visit

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CD Roundup

There were fewer new CDs this month than usual, so rather than a full review, here’s a quick roundup.  On Naxos there are new recordings

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Helen Grime Interview

Photo:Helen Grime Christian Morris talks to the composer Helen Grime who, amongst many other things, has just started as Associate Composer with the Hallé Orchestra.

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Lancino Requiem CD Review

Since, as a youngster, watching Mozart feveredly dictating passages of his last work to the dastardly Salieri in Peter Schaffer’s Amadeus I have been a fan

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November Festivals and Concerts

The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (hcmf//), one of the most important of its type in Europe, runs from Friday 18thNovember–Sunday 27th November. This year there is a special

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The Sacher Foundation

With a good friend of mine, the Mexican composer Mauricio Beltrán, I have just spent a fascinating few days in the Sacher Foundation Library in Basel, Switzerland.  Paul

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October CD Review

I said in one of my earliest blog posts that I didn’t envy the job of concert reviewers. Having to make a snap judgement about

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October Festivals and Concerts

The North Wales International Music Festival begins on 24th September. The programme focuses largely on older repertoire, though there is a composer portrait concert dedicated to the music of Paul

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Björk Biophilia

Despite her international musical profile, and the praise heaped upon her by such people as John Tavener and Alex Ross, I confess that Björk’s career

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August Festivals Round-Up

Music by living composers at the BBC Proms continues in August with performances of Robin Holloway’s Fifth Concerto for Orchestra (4th Aug), Gabriel Prokofiev’s Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra (6th Aug),

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Composers’ Commission Fees

In 2004 the Office of Fair Trading asked the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) to stop providing guidance about commission fees paid to composers,

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July Concert Picks

Though I’ve already mentioned them in previous posts, I’ll start with two festivals, one already underway, another about to begin. The Cheltenham Music Festival continues until 10th

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June CD Releases

Following their well-received CD of music by Tansy Davies, Troubairitz, in March, Nonclassical (www.nonclassical.co.uk) has just issued Songspin, the debut recording of the vocal trio Juice. Known for

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Summer Festival Round-up

As the summer festival season gets going, here are my new music concert picks for June. The St. Magnus Music Festival (www.stmagnusfestival.com) runs from 17th–22nd

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BBC Proms 2011

Seventy-four concerts, thirteen world premières, six UK premières and eleven BBC commissions. It could only be the Proms. So what has ‘The World’s Greatest Classical

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Cheltenham Festival Preview

If you want two weeks of great music with some thoughtful programming, the Cheltenham Music Festival (29th June-10th July) could be just the ticket. Aficionados of new

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UK Arts Council cuts.

More evidence that the UK is living in artistically straitened times emerged yesterday from the Arts Council of England. A £100m budget cut in October

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