The characteristic sound of the music of the 20th and 21st centuries were the essential ingredients of a compelling programme performed by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Michael Laus last week. It was an innovative programme, performing the dual function of looking back at the early years of the last century and pointing forward to what lies in store in this one.
Ruben Zahra took the honours for the latter function with a performance of his 2007 award-winning composition Pounding Opus 36 in which a very pronounced percussive cluster pounded its way forward persistently through the three sections of the composition, treading on shades of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and Gershwin's jazz idioms in its path.
The orchestra kept up the momentum so that interest never flagged. Featuring novel works of calibre in particular those composed by members of a growing number of new generation Maltese composers is definitely a step in the right direction.
It is surprising to note that the next piece to be performed, Charles Ives's The Unanswered Question was composed as early as 1906, reflecting a musical independence at a remarkably early date. Ives was writing music of increasingly strange complexity, characterised by atonal harmonies and asymmetric rhythms long before he first saw any scores of Stravinsky, Schonberg, Bartok or Hindemith. As does most of Ives's music, The Unanswered Question reflects his strong philosophical and religious views; in this case the question of the origins of man. Three separate instrumental entities expose and try to find an answer to this question: muted strings which produced a beautiful harmonious aura by modulating from one glorious key to another, an aura which the strings sustained throughout; a trumpet which persisted in repeating the question from the wings, at times rather falteringly, and a woodenwind quartet which, from one of the boxes in the second tier, under the direction of Christopher Muscat, obtrusively grew more aggressive as its atonal attempts at answering the question remained futile.
The concert moved on to the mid-20th century with a performance of Aaron Copland's Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra with Harp and Piano (1948), featuring guest clarinettist Robert Plane. Copland's music owed its inspiration to the spirit of American folksongs and dances, and simultaneously to advanced modernism with pounding rhythms and strong dissonances.
These two contributing factors were evident in the Clarinet Concerto, cast in two movements which follow one another without a break and connected by a cadenza for the solo instrument. A short entry on the harp introduced the clarinet which took up the serene legato dominating melody, soon to be accompanied by effectively sweeping phrases on the strings. The cadenza heralded a total change in the character of the piece, introducing staccato leaps from one end of the register to the other, short phrases, repetition of modes and sudden changes from forte to piano and vice-versa, thus utilising fragments of the melodic material to be found in the second movement.
A concert paying tribute to the music of the 20th century could hardly do without the inclusion of a work by Dmitri Shostakovich - his Symphony No.1 in F Minor, Opus 10 (1925-1926), which he completed as his graduation piece at the Leningrad Conservatory at the age of 19. The orchestra rose to the challenge of performing what is still considered today as one of Shostakovich's finest work, confidently highlighting the various characteristics in an ever changing kaleidoscope of sound.
The symphony is replete with interesting interplay between solo instruments, Wagnerian echoes, unconventionally gripping rhythmic motifs, mock-comic grotesqueries, bold percussive elements, vigorous piano work and vivid dynamic contrasts, ending with a rousing fanfare-like figure from the brass.
This was a performance to be emulated.
Ruben Zahra took the honours for the latter function with a performance of his 2007 award-winning composition Pounding Opus 36 in which a very pronounced percussive cluster pounded its way forward persistently through the three sections of the composition, treading on shades of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and Gershwin's jazz idioms in its path.
The orchestra kept up the momentum so that interest never flagged. Featuring novel works of calibre in particular those composed by members of a growing number of new generation Maltese composers is definitely a step in the right direction.
It is surprising to note that the next piece to be performed, Charles Ives's The Unanswered Question was composed as early as 1906, reflecting a musical independence at a remarkably early date. Ives was writing music of increasingly strange complexity, characterised by atonal harmonies and asymmetric rhythms long before he first saw any scores of Stravinsky, Schonberg, Bartok or Hindemith. As does most of Ives's music, The Unanswered Question reflects his strong philosophical and religious views; in this case the question of the origins of man. Three separate instrumental entities expose and try to find an answer to this question: muted strings which produced a beautiful harmonious aura by modulating from one glorious key to another, an aura which the strings sustained throughout; a trumpet which persisted in repeating the question from the wings, at times rather falteringly, and a woodenwind quartet which, from one of the boxes in the second tier, under the direction of Christopher Muscat, obtrusively grew more aggressive as its atonal attempts at answering the question remained futile.
The concert moved on to the mid-20th century with a performance of Aaron Copland's Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra with Harp and Piano (1948), featuring guest clarinettist Robert Plane. Copland's music owed its inspiration to the spirit of American folksongs and dances, and simultaneously to advanced modernism with pounding rhythms and strong dissonances.
These two contributing factors were evident in the Clarinet Concerto, cast in two movements which follow one another without a break and connected by a cadenza for the solo instrument. A short entry on the harp introduced the clarinet which took up the serene legato dominating melody, soon to be accompanied by effectively sweeping phrases on the strings. The cadenza heralded a total change in the character of the piece, introducing staccato leaps from one end of the register to the other, short phrases, repetition of modes and sudden changes from forte to piano and vice-versa, thus utilising fragments of the melodic material to be found in the second movement.
A concert paying tribute to the music of the 20th century could hardly do without the inclusion of a work by Dmitri Shostakovich - his Symphony No.1 in F Minor, Opus 10 (1925-1926), which he completed as his graduation piece at the Leningrad Conservatory at the age of 19. The orchestra rose to the challenge of performing what is still considered today as one of Shostakovich's finest work, confidently highlighting the various characteristics in an ever changing kaleidoscope of sound.
The symphony is replete with interesting interplay between solo instruments, Wagnerian echoes, unconventionally gripping rhythmic motifs, mock-comic grotesqueries, bold percussive elements, vigorous piano work and vivid dynamic contrasts, ending with a rousing fanfare-like figure from the brass.
This was a performance to be emulated.