A German-Australian synthesis ... despite wars

I admire Chris Latham's CIMF and this was his last. Unfortunately, we had clashes and couldn't be so involved this year. Chris gathers some fascinating batches of musicians to play varied music around festival themes. It's the discovery that's most interesting about this festival - new music, composers, musicians - and it suits the educated nature of Canberra. Journalists take care here; as Jack Waterford says, there's always someone who's an expert in Canberra to provide corrections. This week was busy for us so we only managed 3 concerts (and one workshop) and they were the blockbusters: not quite the adventure of CIMF but a treat none-the-less.

The final concert was Brahms Australian Requiem. Actually, it's his German Requiem, but sung in English as it was first performed in full in Australia in 1898. This was the biggest concert of the three we attended this year, with perhaps 200 performers including choir, orchestra and two soloists. It's a grand work, classical in conception, in seven movements, deep with cellos and basses and variously mournful and recovering. The choir was big in the wet environment of the Fitters' workshop with all the voices nicely merged into one. We were up front, on the aisle but nearer the cellos and basses, and we strained to hear the violins and various woodwinds and organ, although I heard gentle harp later when the chart was sparser. It's a feeling of being involved but perhaps not the best balance. This is a great space for choirs and power and passion if less so for clarity. But what a passion and volume this work has. The two soloist, bass-baritone and soprano, were big voices. This was in English but I didn't catch more than a phrase or two, from chorus or male soloist. There was a transcript (good on CIMF!) but I chose to listen. This was a big and passionate work in a big-sounding space.

To finish was a simpler composition, a song arranged by local Calvin Bowman, To Gratiana by W Denis Browne, a composer-soldier who died in WW1. It was a fitting, simple and touching ending for the festival called The Fire and the Rose, with twin themes of the 100th anniversary of WW1 and the 75th anniversary of the start of WW2. Then some short speeches and introductions and a last post, minute of silence and reveille. Mmmm. You can't fault the music in this festival. The little we heard this year were just the big works and they were revelatory. I hope we can be more involved and more adventurous next year, under the new CIMF musical director, Roland Peelman.

Brahms German Requiem was performed in English by the Wallfisch Band, ACO2, Canberra Festival Chorus, Simone Riksman (soprano), Alexander Knight (bass-baritone) under Roland Peelman (conductor). W Denis Browne To Gratiano was arranged for voice and orchestra by Calvin Bowman (arranger), with Christopher Saunders (tenor) and the others above.

AYO2014/07 (Orch 3)

This was AYO's second weekend of orchestral concerts. What a revelation! I'd attended the first weekend and admired the skills but there were some faults, entirely understandable given these musicians had been pulled together for a short time and were not a regularly performing outfit, and were young and perhaps with some nerves. But what a difference a week makes, at least at this level of intensity. I could close my eyes and follow this music with immense pleasure, and this was my experience throughout the final two concerts. These orchestras had matured markedly in one week, thanks the intensive experience, the committed and obviously popular tutors and the rest. My hats off to the AYO.

The early concert started with the Hopkins Chamber Orchestra under Geoffrey Lancaster performing Mozart Symphony no.31 in D, Paris. Three movements, admirably presented, starting with big chords and devilish flourishes, then classic delicacy and tunefulness, then an unassuming waltz for the second movement, and a final movement of buzzing strings, four time, lighter, with more flourishes and canonic movements. Lovely. Second was a world-premiere, Philip Jameson's Dunsinane. PJ is only 20 and could not attend as he's studying at Yale. Performed by the Bishop Orchestra under Alexandre Bloch. AB introduced this work by saying that Dunsinane is Gaellic for "hill of ants" then talking of his images of tones, woodwinds as crickets, strings as snakes that move slowly and bite. He suggested we use imagination to picture music, especially modern music. The work started with a woodwind rhythm overlaid with a slow strings melody. It seemed to split into two parts, firstly weighty then lighter or more jumpy. AB's "hill of ants" metaphor fits perfectly with Great Birnam wood coming to high Dunsinane Hill. Then to end, Alexander Orchestra under Richard Gill performed Brahms Symphony no.2 in D. This follows last week's performance of Brahms' 4th. RG spoke later to ABCFM saying why this pair was chosen. Every performer should play a Brahms symphony; he was a great musicologist; he was seen in light of Beethoven; he's in the centre of the classical music history and the music camp is performing major works throughout this history. RG's quote that "Until Australia has every child in musical education from Kindergarten to Year 6 we will remain barbarians" was well received. Another interesting quote was when asked why there's no instrumental popular music: "you can learn everything through singing". I wonder if there may be more to consider for each of these quotes, but it's interesting to hear them. But back to Brahms. Interesting to see the basses at the back, with the percussion. There's pastoral here but also mechanical, lullaby and some strangely prominent leading notes that aught my ear in the first movement. Then a more melancholy second movement. I'm enjoying some very responsive and powerful passing swells through the strings and accompanying swaying performers: nice, involved. Then the final movement, livelier, morning-like, looking optimistically forward to a new day. I still feel a little uncomfortable with some Brahms' changes but who am I to question? Then a big ending. This is sounding wonderful, professional, worthy. Most impressed.

The Hopkins Chamber Orchestra under Geoffrey Lancaster performed Mozart Symphony no.31 in D, Paris. The Bishop Orchestra under Alexandre Bloch performed the world premiere of Philip Jameson's Dunsinane. The Alexander Orchestra under Richard Gill performed Brahms Symphony no.2 in D.

AYO2014/1 (Orch 1)

It's January and the Australian Youth Orchestra are back in town for their National Music Camp. It's a biennial event here in Canberra, and I hope it remains that way. It's a two week event with a series of free concerts in week 2. It's a young group, aged from teens into the mid-twenties, well trained and keen. There's real excitement at these concerts and real skills. You can hear a few rough edges, from lack of experience or nerves, but to be expected. Yesterday was concert day 1 with two orchestral concerts each presented by three orchestras.

The Hopkins Chamber Orchestra conducted by Geoffrey Lancaster opened with Mozart Symphony no. 29 in A. Mozart is obvious a mile off. This was written after 28 other symphonies while he was a still a teenager. It's light and breezy music with inevitable melody. The performance was stronger on some more forceful passages and a bit nervous at the start, but these guys had the unenviable role of going first. Next was a world premiere. The Alexander Orchestra under Richard Gill performed a nine-minute commissioned work that had its first outing at the NMC, Andrew Howes' Ichiros. This interested me. Andrew explained the work is written around the length of an instrument to perform a fifth, the ratio of Pi and Pythagoras' golden mean. So the work builds as crescendo and cacophony at a point around 2/3 of the way to the end and uses mallet hitting train track cut to the mean. I heard a filmic mash of swells and bells, mysterious and fluid. Tones passed between instruments and occasionally one played a melody. A trumpet featured later, playing tonally but intervallic not scalar. Eventually, it returns to the start, a rubato-like agglomeration of sliding strings and unison trombones and an ecstasy at the end. Most interesting. And also interesting, Andrew advised he'd spent 450 hours composing this 9 minutes of music. Third was the Bishop Orchestra under Alexandre Bloch (Assistant Conductor, London Symphony Orchestra) performing Brahms Symphony no. 4 in E minor. Brahms was called labelled one of the three great B's (with Bach and Beethoven) but the program notes mention that Tchaikovsky called him a "giftless bastard". There were times I felt the music sagged, struggling for purpose or direction. I liked the flowing, legato first movement; the third is irrepressible and popular; the fourth had some amazingly long string lines, including for bass. The performance of all was impressive, tight with decent intonation, better on some louder passages. I would have liked more dynamics sometimes and other times more projection, but this is a first concert by a young group only getting in its stride. Hugely impressive.