A new video from Didier using a GI-IC pieces

Another video from Didier using a GI-IC piece

Another video from Didier using a GI-IC piece

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Angry Birds Bubble and Happsnappy are new on the Widget.

Last night I went to the QEH to hear London Sinfonietta perform a programme called Webern and the 2nd Viennese School. This included Schoenberg's 5 Orchestral Pieces Op 6 followed by Webern's 5 Pieces for Orchestra and 6 Pieces for Orchestra. All three sounded stunning live when I have only heard them on CD and radio. The spatiality of the sounds and the true dynamic range were captivating. The performance started with 3 early songs from Webern before he met Schoenberg.

The 2nd half started with Webern's 3 Tradional Rhymes Op 17 which was his first piece composed using serial techniques sung by Sarah Gabriel. It also included Berg's Four Pieces for Clarinet which sounded so much better than either of the recordings I have of the work. Also Webern's Op11 Three Small Pieces for Cello and Piano which was written during his extreme aphoristic phase - just after the 6 pieces for Orchestra.

The main pieces in the 2nd half were major serial works from Webern - Concerto for 9 Instruments Op 24 and Symphony Op 21. I need to work harder on this part of the repertoire which I dont find as welcoming as the expressionist material.

After the performance there was an a discussion with the CEO of the Sinfonietta, a critic, the woman who designed the visuals projected during the performance, the conductor and the viola player. There was a lot of good stuff about what it is like to play this repertoire and slso about Webern's influence on composers after the 2nd World War who over interpreted the systematic side of his approach.

Possibly this is the best concert yet in The Rest is Noise although the previous two were real highlights as well. It is almost a shame that in February TRiN moves away from Vienna to the use of folk material and what was happening in Paris