News to start your week!
ICYMI, Philip Clark shared his thoughts in The Guardian in a blog post titled “Where have the great composers gone?” His thesis is, essentially, that contemporary music doesn’t compare to composers like Britten, Tippet, Davies, and Birswistle. You can read the full piece here. What’s most important about this piece is the other responses it has solicited.
Susanna Eastburn, the chief executive of Sound and Music, “the UK’s leading organization for new music”, shared her response as an op-ed in The Guardian.
Joshua Mosman, of the San Francisco Chronicle also responded.
It is Marin Alsop’s 25th season with the Cabrillo Festival – and her final one. Good Times, Santa Cruz County’s weekly newspaper, shares a profile about Alsop and the festival she helped shape over the past two and a half decades.
There are two new recordings of chamber works to be excited about – Andrew Clements reviews the Berlin Oboe Quartet in their new recording of contemporary works, including work by Helen Grime (calling the album a “thoroughly rewarding collection, superbly played and recorded). There is also a new recording of Grażyna Bacewicz’s seven string quartets by The Silesian Quartet. Erica Jeal has the review, and compares this new recording to the Lutoslawski Quartet’s recording of the same works that were released last year.
As always, what did we miss? What are you reading? Leave us a comment and let us know!