This year, 2008,
marks the London Sinfonietta’s 40th
Anniversary. The Sinfonietta is one
of Europe’s elite specialist orchestras,
dedicated wholly to the performance
of modern music. Its commitment to
innovation is unsurpassed. Each of
its musicians is a virtuoso in his
or her own right, which is important
in new music where so much depends
on performance. Oliver Knussen, one
of the Sinfonietta’s founding lights,
is himself a composer of significance.
Technical excellence isn’t enough.
The individuality of each new work,
each new composer must be understood
and respected. That’s why the Sinfonietta
is so good. Its members respond to
things which often are so new that
no-one’s ever heard them before, and
work closely with composers whenever
possible. This creates a lively creative
dynamic, where composers and performers
inspire each other.
This recording is
a good example of the interaction
between the Sinfonietta and three
young British composers. It’s the
third in the innovative "Jerwood
Series" supported by the Jerwood
Trust to encourage new talent. All
three of these composers – Cole, Foskett
and Bedford – are fairly well established
now, but received early support from
the Sinfonietta, so it’s good to hear
this compilation. Each piece is taken
from a recording of a live concert,
so there’s a thrilling air of spontaneity
in the playing, making the music vivid.
Jonathan Cole’s Testament
spins out a long, sinuous melodic
line, where fragments of chorale appear,
briefly, especially towards the end.
It was written as a personal tribute
to Sue Knussen, who passionately loved
new music and inspired many around
her. "The eruption towards the
end", says Coler, "is a
direct expression of grief at the
way such a vibrant life was taken
from us, and throughout the piece
the notes E flat (Es in German or
S) and E underpin the musical material,
signifying S(u)E". When I first
heard this piece I hadn’t read any
notes, approaching it instead on its
own terms. For me then, it was impressionistically
lyrical. I remember feeling how "open"
it felt, as if it lived in nature,
bathed in sunlight and heard against
the sounds of leaves and birds. What
a shock it was to discover that its
first performance took place on a
summer evening in California, in the
open air! An expansive feeling of
open space suffuses the piece with
gentle lyricism, making the anguish
of the ending all the more disturbing.
Such goodness shouldn’t end, but like
life, it does.
Everyone who attends
London concerts will be familiar with
Clio Gould. She’s a remarkably distinctive
player, with unerring musical intelligence.
I’ve heard her take over the entire
orchestra in a performance (not with
the Sinfonietta), where the sheer
vastness of the symphony being played
threatened to unravel. Unperturbed,
she led the strings and the orchestra
fell into place, allowing the conductor
to regain his control and direction.
No surprise then that music has been
written specially for her. She’s the
dedicatee of Ben Foskett’s Violin
Concerto. The solo part dominates,
continually inventing and reinventing
the line, varying momentum and thrust.
The rest of the orchestra follows,
not so much elaborating on what she
does, but providing a sympathetic
spotlight, the ensemble playing with
supportive energy.
The highlight on
this disc, however, may well be Luke
Bedford’s Or Voir Tout En Aventure.
I was at the very performance at which
this recording was made. What a revelation
it proved to be! Or Voir Tout En
Aventure is based on a series
of medieval texts about music, and
the "new music" of the period.
What is it about medieval language
that so fascinates composers? Perhaps
it is the mixture of familiarity and
alienation, sparking an imaginative
response to what Bedford calls "the
sheer strangeness of the words and
their distance from us". We think
we can make out words and phrases,
yet it is a world very different from
ours. It lends itself well to music
which is strikingly new, yet universal
in its emotional impact. Indeed, these
14th century songs are about music,
and adapting to changes "when
everything is uncontrolled" (the
literal translation of "Or voir
tout en aventure").
What makes these songs work so well
is that the vocal part is written
with a real instinct for the natural
resonance of the human voice. Voice
is not a mere component of a musical
whole, for it is "more"
than just sound. Claire Booth showed
this beautifully, her rich, nuanced
expressiveness connecting directly
to an emotional depth more complex
than the text alone. She seems to
embody the feelings behind the music
itself – an abundant faith in the
power of music as communication that
goes beyond restraints of time and
place. Bedford stretches the technical
limits but not to an extent that the
natural flow is distorted: but it
is Booth’s musical instinct that colours
and warms her singing, that makes
it sensually as well as intellectually
challenging. The use of accordion
is interesting, for it, too, like
the human voice, is an instrument
that uses "lungs" to breathe
life into its sounds. Similarly, the
barrel machine creates rain-like sounds
from a deep container mainly filled
with air. Needless to say, the winds
were superb – flute and oboe in particular.
The orchestration is subtle, interspersed
with shining details on triangle and
xylophone. This is a lovely piece
of music, full of character. Since
2006, it’s received at least five
performances and is well on its way
to becoming established repertoire.
In October 2007,
Bedford was named by the Guardian
as "one of the four young stars
of classical music you need to hear".
In March 2008, he was named the first
Composer-in-Residence at the Wigmore
Hall. This is an even bigger accolade,
for the Wigmore Hall is one of the
great powerhouses of chamber music
and song in Europe. Nearly every composer
of note in the 20th century
has been performed, and even performed
himself in the Wigmore Hall, so this
is quite a significant honour. Listen
to this recording, and you’ll hear
why.
Clio Gould (violin); Claire Booth (soprano)
