I did not have time to listen to the whole concert, but I listened to the first piece (that is Sturat MacRae Unity).

I want to congratulate the composer upon his piece being on air and many people could listen to the music. On the first listening and with no notes or explanations I thought that at time it sounded angry (or upset) and at times it was quiet. I will have to listen on listen again to be able to say something more meaningful.

I am listening to Nicholas Maw - Sextet for strings played by Aronowitz Ensemble now. I don't know what the singer is singing about. This would be helpful in my understanding.

I hope some members of the board tuned in for the concert. I wish I could write something more meaningful, but may be some other members can write their opinion or explanation of the music.

Yes, I too found Gaudete the sort of work I can't begin to take in on a single hearing. When the orchestration is so richly and intricately upholstered and the singer's tone (gorgeous though it may be) is perhaps slightly at the expense of enunciation, then words which are apparently already complex (see the programme notes) become little more than abstract sounds, making it even harder to get a handle on the piece. In cases like this, the text should surely be part and parcel of the notes, though there may have been a copyright issue preventing their publication.

I'm guessing that the performers did the composer proud, though. What must have been a challenging and taxing vocal part requiring a huge range (B below middle C to top E according to Rob Cowan's radio introduction) was handled with aplomb by Susanna Andersson, and the orchestra, under Ed Gardner, sounded well drilled. Apart from the online catch-up repeat, there's another broadcast on Friday afternoon.

I only caught the last few minutes, having entirely forgotten about it.  So I'll have to catch up later. Shame Stuart doesn't seem to be around any more - it would be interesting to hear how he felt it went...

I was sensing some Tippett-like textures, too: though is that partly because of the forces? Could it be that Tippett's Byzantium - a similarly extended setting for soaring soprano and orchestra - has cast at least a touch of influence on Gaudete?

IIRC, the radio introduction stated that the piece was written with that specific soloist in mind: I can check back on that later.

Thanks for the above comments, and thanks for listening! No, I haven't disappeared from r3ok for good, but have deliberately been working away from my desk (at the piano) for the last couple of months - which has kept me away from the computer a bit!

I fully accept that Gaudete could be a difficult work to form a strong impression of at first listening (in fact I haven't yet formed a strong impression of it as a listener myself!)

Interesting to hear the comparisons to Tippett - someone mentioned that to me last night as well - but strangely the only sections I can relate to Tippett are not those other people have mentioned! I don't know Byzantium, though I'm certainly going to look into it now...if there's any direct influence from Tippett, it's the 3rd Symphony, which was kindly suggested by time_is_now while I was writing the piece. Perhaps the approaches to the orchestra (and perhaps the voice) that comes most instinctively to me just happens to be reminiscent of those favoured by Tippett. I certainly don't know enough of his work to count him a major influence (Birtwistle, for example, is a much more obvious influence for me).

I wrote the piece specifically for Susanna after working with her last year. And yes, the musicians did me proud: there were a few imperfections but then it wasn't an easy piece! So I'm delighted.

If anyone would like a copy of the text, PM me and I'll give you a copy.