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 from Friday 16th-Sunday 25th November. This year’s composer in residence is Norwegian Maja S K Ratkje. You can find out more about her on her website, www.ratkje.com, via her Soundcloud feed or on Spotify. The full programme for the festival, which consists of more than fifty concerts and events, can be viewed here.
Oliver Knussen turned 60 in June and, by way of celebration, his music is to feature in a BBC Total Immersion day on 4th November at the Barbican. It starts at 1.15 and consists of three concerts: one to be given by Guildhall New Music Ensemble; another featuring Huw Watkins, Ryan Wigglesworth and Alexandra Wood; the last, at 8pm with BBC Symphony Orchestra. They will play a total of 17 works, including his Whitman Settings, Violin Concerto and Symphony No.3. The man himself will be there, including for a film and discussion about his music at 3pm. It promises to be a fascinating day.
Something that might also interest readers here is a musical retreat entitled ‘The Sun Always Moves West’, to be held at Dewsall Court, Herefordshire from Friday 9th November to Sunday 11th. It celebrates the lives of composers touched by the Great War – Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Holst and Bridge – and whose influence can still be felt today through their work as composers and teachers. There will be a concert given by tenor Stuart Jackson, violinist Ben Hancox and pianist Anna Tilbrook; an exploration of the poetry of the time; a debate entitled ‘The Psychology of Song’; and an act of Remembrance on Armistice Day. More details can be found on their website or by emailing Samantha Vaughan.