Thomas Ades new piece 'Tevot', a kind of companion to his 'Asyla', was given its first UK performance last night (Berlin Philharmonic/Rattle). R3 was in attendance recording it for broadcast at an unspecified future date.

It's a similarly biggish piece (20 minutes plus) with a luxuriously large orchestra. I know Ades is a composer who divides opinions quite strongly, well, into three groups I suppose: 'Horrible ugly modern stuff', 'Horribly derivative, conservative and ingratiating stuff' and 'Really not too bad at all'  . I find myself more or less in the last of those and thought it was 'not bad at all'.

Influences from all over the place including, as far as I could hear, almost straight chunks of Janacek and Stravinsky, presumably 'homage' rather than plagiarism . But it hung together quite satisfactorily to my mind in a big arc (or possibly big ark, given the title) made up of several blocks with a big climactic (and very noisy) central keystone. I didn't find it quite as cathartic as I suspect it was meant to be but it was a good listen (anything with anvils and a bass clarinet can't be all bad). I suppose the slight down side for me with Ades is that there are passages where he seems to be treading water a bit and 'doing some composing' to fill in the gaps in a pre-determined plan. That's probably unfair though and it was only a first hearing.

It seemed to go down a storm with the audience but I have a suspicion some of the verdicts will be along the lines 'full of sound and fury but signifying....not really quite enough to justify the Berlin Philharmonic giving it their all.' Lucky man though to have a huge Rite of Spring sized Berlin Philharmonic to take it on world tour with them. As far as I could tell they did him proud and gave it their full commitment (small voice adds unkindly: '..which would make anything sound pretty good anyway, wouldn't it?')       

Anyone else there last night? Any views?

Obviously I wasn't there last night, GG, though I await the broadcast with anticipation. I'd say I'm mostly there with you in group three, too, rarely going overboard immediately for any of his works (apart perhaps for The Tempest, appropriately enough) though finding that they tend to grow with occasional hearing. The Violin Concerto, somewhat savaged by others, has made its way into my memory now: odd snippets will suddenly come unbidden to my head and it still can take time to identify them.

 Whatever a composer does nowadays will automatically be wrong for a sizeable chunk of the listening population; too conservative/not conservative enough, all sounds the same/no distinctive voice, etc,: but at least if he's lucky enough to be performed and discussed then what (s)he is doing has not been done in vain. There seems to be a deal of pressure for the next 'big' composer to rise to the top, and it's perhaps unfortunate for Ades that he's been very much seen as one of the candidates, along with, I guess, the likes of Turnage, MacMillan and Benjamin to name but three. When the vanguard of New Music is moving forward at an ever-faster rate than the majority of listeners who will form their audience, even more pressure is placed on those who are stuck in the middle; they have two widely-spaced stools between which to fall.

Passionate music lovers are very demanding, and increasingly fragmented in their tastes and boundaries; I've used the 'line in the sand' phrase before, but I still find it useful; in fact, I'd expand on it and add a line or two more.

 On the far side of the first line, there's music that challenges me but eventually wins me because I sense something in it that I want to conquer or at least come to terms with: beyond the second, there's music whose virtuosity and/or intellectual craft I appreciate for what they are, yet it and I fail to connect: through my fault, its fault, or a combination of both, my button's not pushed and I develop no relationship with the piece whatsoever. Over the third line is music which on (and sometimes during) the first audition just aggravates me. I should in fairness point out that over my last line are some works by at least one 'rated' C18th composer as well as others from the 19th, 20th, and yes (probably) the 21st centuries as well.....Perhaps I sense a new thread developing here.

rm,
Now that's an interesting one, because I'm just thinking that there's another stage beyond there for me, in that certain pieces then come back as part of my permanent repertoire after that 'doubting' stage. It even happens with my own pieces: even though I love them when they're first performed, they need to have been out of my thoughts and revisited and have wowed me all over again before I can be sure if I really rate them. With proper composers I can have an introductory mania about a certain work but it's only if I keep coming back to it months after that first infatuation that I can really trust my judgement...

 

I think one of the causes of all these arguments is that the hype surrounding Ades' work is so arbitrary and has nothing to do with the music he writes, as opposed to the need of the classical music industry to have an iconic name to latch on to and parasitise. Is it possible that Ades' work is so much "better" than that of all of his contemporaries that the differential in media attention is justified? Of course not. It simply presses all the right buttons for the publicity industry, which has created the kind of momentum that leads to the ROH and Berlin Philharmonic. Does this make it "bad"? Not in itself, of course; my reaction to what little of it I've heard has ranged from indifference to mild annoyance, but that won't surprise anyone who knows about my preferences and the reasons for them. But I don't think an objection to the craven and superficial way the music industry operates should be used as a stick to beat composers with. These issues generally seem to be ironed out by the passage of time (though sometimes by the passage of more time than one can patiently endure!).

i`ve listened to it several times-
if pushed,i think `America` is the stronger of his orchestral works-brighter,more transparent orchestration.

I dare say, but that could also be said about Big Brother, couldn't it?

OK, but doesn't Karl Jenkins' Adiemus also deliver on its own terms?

Just reading back over the thread - I agree with all of the above, Richard. I suppose what I was trying to say is that the hype and the big commissions might have been expected to turn him into a lazy composer who only 'pushes buttons for the publicity industry' and has no perceptible artistic project or intentions of his own. I was pleased to find a piece that made me believe this wasn't the case.