BBC Prom 5...
Last night Stu and I went to the Royal Albert Hall to see the fifth of the BBC Proms 2007.
First was Sam Hayden's Substratum (a BBC commissioned world premiere, dontcha know). And to be honest it was 15 minutes of unlistenable cacophony. Like putting a 50 piece orchestra in a large bag and pushing it down the stairs.
Then came Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety. 36 minutes of melodious joy. Great fun.
After the interval came Ives's Symphony No. 4. Bit of a mess to be honest. A bit like two player-pianos having a bare-knuckle fight behind the circus carivans for half an hour with a 90 strong orchestra and 130 strong choir egging them on from the sidelines.
overyourhead - some irreverent musings by a gay London guy - crawling though technology, love and life... so you don't have to.
Oh God, you're such a philistine, you really are, I'm sorry, it's not even any of my business.
ReplyDeleteWhen Sam Hayden's Substratum started people near us started laughing.
ReplyDeleteI was watching the Ives 4th on BBC4. Bit of a lacklustre performance, but I still think it's one of the most astonishing pieces of art music ever written. If it's not your cup of tea, don't be put off - try his 1st symphony, which you could easily mistake for late Dvorak. It's stunning, though you prob won't find it in shops like Virgin or Borders, who are too busy selling crap like Paul Potts. x
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