Post by C.Cat on Nov 3, 2008 22:09:23 GMT
Sometime last year, the Royal Northern College of Music started planning a day of Karlheinz Stockhousen's music. Stockhausen sadly passed away last December, but on this Sunday (Nov 2nd) his music was brought to life by a mix of students and proffesional musicians.The day started with Helen Wilson, an RNCM student, playing a piece by Charles Usher called Resafeh From the Air. Helen had to switch between alto flute and piccolo for this piece, which she managed with great skill. She was followed by another RNCM soloist, Paul Vowles, who played Amour by Stockhausen. Like many of his pieces, it is very difficult to play and Paul had to play with all his effort. Despite the demands it put on him, he played with great enthusiasm, swaying to the music. In the delicate, semi-silent third movement he played with great skill, and was left gasping for breath between movements!
There was then an open forum led by David,Fallows, David Horne, and another man who's name isn't in the programme. They had an interesting discussion, but towards the end an audience member pointed out that they hadn't mentioned Stockhausen's influence on popular/rock music.
The next concert was performed by the University of Manchester's experimental music group, Vaganza. They began with Migrate by Steven Pycroft, which is about the migration of snow geese. The music brought to life the perils faced by the geese, and my interest was greatly taken by a spiked instrument that was played with a bow. Next was Stockhausen's Klavierstuck, and it's distinctive opening chords instantly entranced the audience. It was a wonderful exploration of sound that raised great cheers from the audience. For the next piece, Refrain, we had Hannah Ely on piano, Keith McAlister on celesta and Alex Plim on vibraphone. The instruments were arranged close together on the stage, and their vioces merged together beautifuly. Excited trills and note clusters jumped out at the audience, and at one point an accidental chair creak joined the music! The next piece was Kreuzspiel, which again had the musicians arranged close together. Except for the oboeist - she had to sit on a high, narrow platform! The first section of this piece was infused with a dramatic tom tom beat, which was then replaced by some subtle cymbal work in the second movement as the woodwind became more prominant.
After a break, it was In Freundshaft played by Thomas Bayman and accompanied by a play - 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane. The actors were Ceri Ashe, Shereen Perera and Gabriel Freilich. It started with just the music, played in semi-darkness. This piece was written in 1977 for Suzanne Stephens and has been arranged for 13 different instruments. This version was done on cello, whick I think works particularly well. At one point, torches suddenly snapped on at either end of the room and their beams chased around the ceiling. When Thomas had finished his solo performance, the actors shuffled on like zombies. 4.48 Psychosis deals with mental health issues, and is very powerful and disturbing, especially when one of the actresses ran around the room shouting "A room full of expressionless faces, staring at my pain!" This performance was very crowded, and we wondered of people had come for the music or for the swearing.
Kontakte should have been next, but had to be cancelled.
At 8:00pm we were treated to the UK premier of Luzifer's Tanz, which was performed by the RNCM Wind orchestra. It's an amazing, unique piece, one of the things that makes it stand out is that the musicians are arranged into the shape of a face, and the different sections move in correspondance to the music. They weren't able to make the face this time, but they did to all the movements. The music was brilliantly sinister, and seeing the singer playing Lucifer staring madly out at the audience while the orchestra moved behind him is something I'll never forget. Another highlight was when the solo trumpeter was playing flat on his back. I was so inspired by him that I tried it with my coach horn as soon as I got home. As he left the stage, a piccoloist slowly spun on. She played with great expression, and carried on plaing as she slowly slipped off again.As we left the concert hall, we instantlystepped into the final piece of the day. Five trumpeters were stationed on a walkway surrounding us from above around the foyer, and they played Michaels Abschied. This piece was designed to be heared by the audience as they leave the venue, and can last for up to half an hour. The effect was amazing, and it provided an unforgettable ending to this day. If only Karlheinz Stockhausen himself could have been here.
There was then an open forum led by David,Fallows, David Horne, and another man who's name isn't in the programme. They had an interesting discussion, but towards the end an audience member pointed out that they hadn't mentioned Stockhausen's influence on popular/rock music.
The next concert was performed by the University of Manchester's experimental music group, Vaganza. They began with Migrate by Steven Pycroft, which is about the migration of snow geese. The music brought to life the perils faced by the geese, and my interest was greatly taken by a spiked instrument that was played with a bow. Next was Stockhausen's Klavierstuck, and it's distinctive opening chords instantly entranced the audience. It was a wonderful exploration of sound that raised great cheers from the audience. For the next piece, Refrain, we had Hannah Ely on piano, Keith McAlister on celesta and Alex Plim on vibraphone. The instruments were arranged close together on the stage, and their vioces merged together beautifuly. Excited trills and note clusters jumped out at the audience, and at one point an accidental chair creak joined the music! The next piece was Kreuzspiel, which again had the musicians arranged close together. Except for the oboeist - she had to sit on a high, narrow platform! The first section of this piece was infused with a dramatic tom tom beat, which was then replaced by some subtle cymbal work in the second movement as the woodwind became more prominant.
After a break, it was In Freundshaft played by Thomas Bayman and accompanied by a play - 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane. The actors were Ceri Ashe, Shereen Perera and Gabriel Freilich. It started with just the music, played in semi-darkness. This piece was written in 1977 for Suzanne Stephens and has been arranged for 13 different instruments. This version was done on cello, whick I think works particularly well. At one point, torches suddenly snapped on at either end of the room and their beams chased around the ceiling. When Thomas had finished his solo performance, the actors shuffled on like zombies. 4.48 Psychosis deals with mental health issues, and is very powerful and disturbing, especially when one of the actresses ran around the room shouting "A room full of expressionless faces, staring at my pain!" This performance was very crowded, and we wondered of people had come for the music or for the swearing.
Kontakte should have been next, but had to be cancelled.
At 8:00pm we were treated to the UK premier of Luzifer's Tanz, which was performed by the RNCM Wind orchestra. It's an amazing, unique piece, one of the things that makes it stand out is that the musicians are arranged into the shape of a face, and the different sections move in correspondance to the music. They weren't able to make the face this time, but they did to all the movements. The music was brilliantly sinister, and seeing the singer playing Lucifer staring madly out at the audience while the orchestra moved behind him is something I'll never forget. Another highlight was when the solo trumpeter was playing flat on his back. I was so inspired by him that I tried it with my coach horn as soon as I got home. As he left the stage, a piccoloist slowly spun on. She played with great expression, and carried on plaing as she slowly slipped off again.As we left the concert hall, we instantlystepped into the final piece of the day. Five trumpeters were stationed on a walkway surrounding us from above around the foyer, and they played Michaels Abschied. This piece was designed to be heared by the audience as they leave the venue, and can last for up to half an hour. The effect was amazing, and it provided an unforgettable ending to this day. If only Karlheinz Stockhausen himself could have been here.