Well, we've had 29 events so far, and have 9 more to go over the next 4 days - if you've not managed to catch anything yet, then don't miss your chance! It's been pretty tiring, but there have been some amazing concerts, with more still to come.
I've just finished a wind quintet concert with my Daniel's Beard colleagues, which was great fun. Wind quintet repertoire can be a bit annoying sometimes, as composers often didn't really know what to do and basically tried to write a string quartet for the wrong instruments, but there are a few crackers out there...Samuel Barber'sSummer Music being one of them. One of the audience said afterwards "I don't normally like the Ibert piece, but today I loved it!", which is a great compliment to have! The Beardy Winds have a rest this evening as Alastair (on violin), Tom (cello) and Aaron (piano) perform a really interesting programme - Schnittke (think Shostakovich with less hair) and Brahms. The Schnittke is dedicated to the doctor who resuscitated him not once, not twice but on three seperate occasions, and Brahms is one of the greatest piano trios out there.
Next for us will then be a concert on Thursday, where we're going to give the UK premiere of a piece by a German composer who isn't particularly well known here - Volker David Kirchner. Now, this may be a bad plan - will people turn up to hear something by a composer that they've never heard of? It's hard to tell! Hopefully - if they don't like it, then it's only 12 minutes of their lives that they won't get back, after all. On the other hand though, it really is a great piece, and of all the obscure, unknown repertoire which we've introduced over the last few years, there hasn't been a duff piece in there yet, so I'm hoping that people will trust us a bit and take a wee risk on it! The second piece in the programme is by an old friend of mine, John Stringer. He wrote it for us to perform at the Sound Festival in Aberdeen last year. It's about 8 minutes long, and is really atmospheric, so it should work well in Cottier's. The Piano Quartet by Richard Strauss is surprisingly uncommon in concert programmes. Given that he was the most performed living composer in the world at one point (whilst he was alive, obviously!), it's odd that it isn't more familiar, especially as it's such a fine piece. Really lyrical, all the swoops and grand gestures that you would associate with Strauss, yet still with the strong classical and early romantic influence that his father exerted on him.
That's the last Daniel's Beard gig, but I'll be involved in the WEF Winds on Friday - Mozart's Serenade for 13 Winds. It's a stunning piece, one of the greats for wind players. The chance to play it with a lineup of players from all of the orchestras and several different chamber groups is very exciting, especially since we'll be conductor-free... Then there may be a sneaky pint of ale to sip whilst listening to the Bagels, and then a chance to sleep!
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