minimal
I went to a fantastic concert last night at the Barbican:
- Steve Reich Three movements
- Stravinsky The Rite of Spring
- Steve Reich (arr Alan Pierson) The Desert Music
London Symphony Orchestra
Synergy Vocals
Xian Zhang conductor
Once I had got over feeling nervous on behalf of the players (keeping your place in any of the works must be really hard!) I was just buzzing with the whole thing. I don’t think I can have heard The Rite of Spring all the way through before—at least, only on CD when I probably wasn’t really listening—and it really is quite something.
But for me the real gem was The Desert Music. I’d heard of it, as we had to study minimalism for A level music and it’s a work that was alway mentioned in encyclopedias and so on, but didn’t know what it involved. A (smallish) choir, and instruments including: 2 each of marimba, vibes, glock & xylo; 2 timpanists with rototoms as well; 2 pianos; 3 keyboards (at least 2 of which were DX7s!); and some brass, woodwind and strings.
I’m not eloquent enough even to begin to describe it, so I won’t try. Just wow…