Seen and
Heard Festival Review
Huddersfield
Contemporary Music Festival 2004
reviewed by John Warnaby
The 2004 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival may
not have produced any outstanding new works, but it showed how a
number of countries are taking recent British music seriously. Ensembles
from Austria, Germany, Holland and Norway included new British music
in their programmes, while Rebecca Saunders and Richard Ayres –
both featured composers – have developed their careers in Germany
and Holland, respectively.
The first weekend opened with a concert given by Klangforum
Wien in conjunction with the China Found Music Workshop Taipei,
an ensemble of traditional Chinese instruments. Bernhard Lang’s
dw 13 - the Lotus Pond – was the most ambitious
item, but James Clarke’s Landschaft mit Glockenturm II and Tung
Chao-Ming’s X, in which the conductor, Juerg Wyttenbach, vocalised
enthusiastically, should also be mentioned.
There was also an exchange between Eastern and Western
music two days later, when the jazz singer, Dhafer Youssef, appeared
with his group of Norwegian musicians in a programme combining improvisation,
electronics and Arabic lyricism. There was the customary problem
of amplification, plus the usual assortment of electronics, but
this could have been worse, and ultimately did not detract from
Youssef’s individual approach to jazz.
Three Norwegian ensembles appeared during the first half
of the Festival, beginning within the first morning concert, given
by the Oslo Sinfonietta, conducted by Christian Eggen. The main
work was Sam Hayden’s Emergence, for solo accordion, ensemble and
electronics, which was not entirely successful, owing to a lack
of contrast between the seven sections. Perhaps a less complex setup
would enable Hayden’s personality to emerge more clearly.
The trio, Poing, comprising accordion, saxophone, double-bass
and electronics, focused on Norwegian composers. There were two
pieces by Maja Ratkje, of which Essential Extension was the more
successful. The percussion group, SISU, proved equally popular,
not least with a large number of school children, who had participated
in one of the Festival’s music education projects. However, the
repertoire was distinctly unmemorable, with the exception of Xenakis’
Okho.
The two events involving the Diotima String Quartet were
among the highlights of the 2004 Huddersfield Festival. Together
with Alan Hacker, bassett clarinet and Music Director, they carried
much of the burden of Harrison Birtwistle’s latest music theatre
creation, Io Passion, in the production by Aldeburgh Almeida Opera,
also involving five singers, besides exploring the interaction between
a man and a woman in two relationships from the ancient past and
the present. Birtwistle emphasized the extent to which routine and
ritual overlap. Both played a role in developing the intense concentration
which characterised the score.
In comparison, Nigel Osborne’s The Piano Tuner, presented
by Music Theatre Wales, was distinctly conventional, and could be
regarded as a typical well-made chamber opera. It is good that Osborne
has resumed large scale composition after many years, and The Piano
Tuner relates an intriguing tale associated with 19th
century British colonisation; but the opera was rather slow, and
the music lacked genuine originality.
The Diotima String Quartet’s other contribution was a
recital in which they focussed on repertoire usually linked with
the Arditti Quartet. They demonstrated the same technical prowess,
and a similar commitment to a modernist outlook. Hanspeter Kyburz’
String Quartet was one of his most convincing scores, while the
performance of Luigi Nono’s Fragmente - Stille, an Diotima achieved the degree of concentration
demanded by the composer.
The Smith Quartet offered a very different repertoire
in their two concerts, including three of Kevin Volans’ nine string
quartets, and two by Howard Skempton. Volans’ Second Quartet, Hunting:
Gathering, was slightly superior to the other works, but is unlikely
to rival Steve Reich’s Different Trains as a minimalist ‘classic’.
More obvious classics from the 1960’s made up the three
works of Psappha’s 70th birthday tribute to Peter Maxwell
Davies. The performances of Missa super l’Homme Armé and Vesalii
Icones captured the spirit of the original Fires of London interpretations,
though some regarded the staging of the latter as less provocative
than earlier productions. The performance of
Fantasia on a Ground and Two Pavans was not as convincing
as the Fires of London version. A selection of Maxwell Davies’ slighter
instrumental pieces were interspersed with examples of recent Japanese
music in a late-night recital by Okeanos.
The second half of the Festival was largely dominated
by ensembles from Germany, Holland and Italy. Both Ensemble Alter Ego
and Contempoartensemble from Italy featured the music of Sciarrino.
The former concentrated on shorter items, which were subsequently
scanned, with considerable subtlety by Scanner, alias Robin Rimbaud.
The latter included Sciarrino’s Aspern Suite, for soprano and ensemble,
based on the novel of Henry James, which proved one of the highlights
of the Festival.
There was a considerable emphasis on the music of the
Dutch composer, Richard Rijnvos, involving both the Ives and Asko
Ensembles. An enlarged version of the former devoted their main
concert to the British premiere of Block Beuys, Rijnvos’ magnum
opus to date, though his penchant for extended cycled may mean its
eclipse by even larger projects. Rijnvos was inspired by the installation
in the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt known as Block Beuys which
consists of about 270 objects arranged in 7 rooms of varying sizes.
The piece is a monumental construction in which the seven spaces
of Beuys’ original conception have been condensed into four movements,
each lasting about 20 minutes. The overall impression was somewhat
dour, but the last two movements were livelier than their predecessors.
Ultimately, Rijnvos’ half-hour mappamondo, presented in a late-night
concert by the Asko Ensemble, proved more approachable without sacrificing
the earlier work’s monumentality.
The Ives Ensemble also offered a varied lunchtime programme.
Laurence Crane may be regarded
as part of either the English experimental, or English eccentric
tradition. Either way, his Movement for 10 Musicians gave listeners
a glimpse of a rather unique sound-world. Yet it was no match for
Carola Bauckholt’s Treibstoff, with its characteristic humour, or
Luc Ferrari’s A la Recherche du Rhythme Perdu, calling for an improvising
pianist and percussionist.
In fact, the lunchtime concerts included some enterprising
events. The programme featuring COMA – Contemporary Music-making
for Amateurs – demonstrated a widespread interest among composers
in writing music for amateur performers. Some of the commissioned
pieces failed to materialise, suggesting that not every composer
found it easy to tailor their compositions for non-professionals,
but pieces by Diana Burrell, Michael Finnissy, Jonathan Harvey etc,
in a variety of styles, were enthusiastically played and thoroughly
appreciated. Another concert introduced the young British-Belgian
group, Plus Minus, in the world premiere of James Saunders’ latest
number piece, together with recent items from Bryn Harrison and
Richard Ayres.
The Artistic Director of Plus Minus is Joanna Bailie,
who had a new piece performed by the German Ensemble, musikFabrik.
Otherwise they concentrated on works by Rebecca Saunders and Richard
Ayres in their two programmes. The first, which was far more rewarding,
involved the whole ensemble, the second was limited to a few soloists.
Quartet, for small mixed ensemble, and dichroic 17, for
larger forces, are among Rebecca Saunders’ finest pieces, especially
when played with such authority. They proclaimed a modernist sensibility,
the uncompromising character of the music having been influenced
by living in Germany. Choler, for two pianos, appeared in the recital
by Rolf Hind and Nicolas Hodges. There was little doubt about Saunders’
creative identity, but the piece proved the least impressive of
the five items on the programme. The performance of James Dillon’s
black/nebulae enhanced its reputation, not least because it successfully
withstood a very different interpretation from an earlier Huddersfield
Festival. Michael Finnissy’s Wild Flowers moved inexorably from
a quiet opening to a rousing conclusion; while Per Norgard’s Unendlicher
Empfang and Beat Furrer’s und irgendwo fern, sehr fern … were typical
of recent additions to the two-piano repertoire.
Rebecca Saunders was also represented in the concert
by Ensemble Recherche, but neither the underside of green, nor duo
III could match Georg Friedrich Haas’ brief contribution to the
In Nomine Broken Consort Book, and especially the recent tria ex
uno, based on Josquin’s Missa l’homme armé super voces musicales.
It is also clearly related to Haas’ larger orchestral scores, such
as In Vain, or the Cello Concerto.
Richard Ayres is an enigma. He has gradually abandoned
a linear view of history, enabling him to use the entire corpus
of music which is performed in our time as a compositional resource.
Likewise, he is prepared to incorporate other sounds which appeal
to him. The results are unpredictable. The music is frequently dominated
by consonant harmony, but while tonality is suggested, the context
is usually unconventional. Yet there are exceptions, where the composer
introduces elementary functional harmony.
No. 31 (NONcerto for Trumpet) for trumpet and ensemble
was a case in point, and musikFabrik’s live performance made a greater
impact than their recording. The outer movements were essentially
humorous, with their clichés, and surprising juxtapositions of familiar
gestures. The simple elegy of Alfred Schnittke, which formed the
central section, was undoubtedly sincere, but fitted uneasily into
such a context.
It was a bold move to devote the final concert in the
Town Hall to two works by Richard Ayres, just as it had been to
present Block Beuys at the same venue. Both No. 36 (NONcerto for
horn) for horn and large ensemble, and No. 33 (Valentine Tregashian
Considers…) were more ambitious than the trumpet NONcerto, and raised
similar problems of interpretation; but neither was necessarily
as successful. On one level, Ayres’ scores could easily be characterised
as eccentric and ephemeral, yet the suspicion persists that they
may embody deeper meanings.
Neither the obvious theatricality of the horn soloist
running back and forth in an attempt to imitate an echo effect,
nor the inconsequential humour of Valentine Tregashian Considers…
could sustain either work, but there is little doubt that both scores
made a considerable impression. We know that Ayres’ creativity is
partly inspired by his disregard for the undue seriousness of new
music and the cult of originality with which it is associated; but
its power to compel and sustain attention from an audience almost
entirely unfamiliar with his unique style remains a mystery.
Further aspects of Ayres’ creative personality may be
revealed when Almeida Opera introduce his first stage work next
summer. Meanwhile, the organisers of the Huddersfield Festival are
to be applauded for their adventurous programming at a time when
many would attempt to attract a wider audience for new music by
dumbing down. As in previous years, the 2004 Huddersfield Festival
has played host to many works that would otherwise not be available
in this country. Hear and Now will ensure that many of these pieces
receive even wider coverage, and a few will eventually reach London audiences. In short, the
Huddersfield Festival plays a vital role in setting the standard
for the appreciation of new music in Great Britain, and it is the
duty of such funding organisations as the Arts Council of England
to provide the utmost support.
John Warnaby
Website: http://www.hcmf.co.uk/
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