Fifth disc in series (of six) focusing on the music of young UK-based composers.
Features world premiere recordings of London Sinfonietta commissions by Ian Vine and
Anna Meredith.
London Sinfonietta’s Principal Bassoon, John Orford, unleashes his inner rock god in Anna Meredith’s axeman.
Flak features live electronics developed and performed by Sound Intermedia.
This CD features four engaging works by rising young stars of the British contemporary music scene that communicate a real passion for experimentation and exploring new sound worlds. Anna Meredith caused a stir at the Last Night of the Proms 2008 with her daring BBC commission froms, and her two pieces on this disc display an equally joyous flair for the dramatic: axeman is a truly awe-inspiring solo for electric bassoon, and flak plays with the contrasts between electronics and live musicians.
Both flak and Ian Vine’s ocre oscuro were created through the London Sinfonietta’s innovative Blue Touch Paper scheme, which gives young composers a laboratory-like opportunity to develop their ideas with musicians.
The London Sinfonietta gave the premiere of Emily Hall’s highly-acclaimed first opera Santé in 2006: Think About Space was described as ‘fresh and distinctive’ by Andrew Clements writing in the Guardian.
3rd July 2009
***
“The latest instalment of the London Sinfonietta's Jerwood Series, featuring recordings of new works premiered by the orchestra in their London concerts, is a nicely contrasted collection of pieces introduced between 2005 and 2008. It's especially good to have something by Ian Vine available on disc, for Vine (born in 1974 and a former pupil of Simon Holt) is one of the more distinctive voices among the younger generation of British composers. His Ocre Oscuro begins with a shrieking violin solo that is refracted through different orchestral textures and colours; the idea is a straightforward, linear one, but it works effectively enough.”
Christmas 2009
*****
“…Anna Meredith's axeman, in which a single bassoon, aided by guitar pedals, makes a credible impression of a strutting rock-guitar solo. …is terrific fun… The rollicking violin part of Ian Vine's wonderful ocre oscuro, magnificently played here by Clio Gould, opens the disc. Emily Hall's Think About Space uses laid-back guitar and melodeon with delay to build undulating cross-rhythms. Its quirky charms are hard to resist.”
