8th September 2014
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom
MAXWELL DAVIES Concert Overture 'Ebb of Winter'
MAXWELL DAVIES Strathclyde Concerto No. 4
MAXWELL DAVIES An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise
Dimitri Ashkenazy (clarinet)
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Ben Gernon (conductor)
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies celebrates his 80th birthday today and there is a late night Prom for his music. I made a fuss about his music before and here is why, without being analytical about it. He writes too much about inanimate objects (e.g. shorelines, lighthouses, paintings) so whilst the music is evocative for 2 min, it gets tiring for the remaining 28. Three PMD works back-to-back after Brahms night were quite heavy. Max described the "Strathclyde Concerto No. 4" as "a long, torturous journey to F#" for the clarinet soloist, and was perhaps true for the audience as well. The last piece, "An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise," complete with bagpipes and all that, was so ridiculous that I could not stop laughing through it. It put Mozart's "A Musical Joke" and Ligeti's "Aventures" to shame. Whilst I did not appreciate his music for aesthetic reasons, it was very cool to see the composer enjoying his own music on stage (with presenter Tom Service), tapping his feet, waving his arms and banging his head to the beat. The birthday song encore was actually rather well orchestrated.
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