Day 347
Harrison Birtwistle: Panic
John Harle
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Davis
This was the piece that cause a scandal at the 1995 Last Night of the Proms. Apparently it prompted a record number of complaints to the BBC. I’m sure that the organisers deliberately engineered this to get some publicity and also to shake up the rather staid image of the last night.
I’ve heard a few Birtwistle peices over the years. At University we were lucky enough to have a regular series of concerts of contemporary music and Birtwistle certainly featured several times. Panic is an uncompromisingly loud and agressive piece for a solo saxophone (playing almost continuously), a drum kit and a wind and percussion orchestra. There is some extraordinary writing for the solo instrument, which must push the performer to the limits of both technique and stamina, and plenty of hard hitting rhythmic energy in the wind orchestra. I’m not quite sure whether I enjoyed it or not - I don’t think that it is a piece to ‘enjoy’, but I certainly found it a rewarding experience to listen to. It is probably a little too long - those promenades at the first performance who hated the whole thing must have been praying that it was over soon so that they could get to Land of Hope and Glory.
Birtwistle was a prolific composer and there is much to explore. Next year I do want to start to get to grips with his operas.
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