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Post by jandl100 on Apr 30, 2019 13:47:13 GMT
Kamran Ince - Turkish/American composer born in 1960 in the USA but moved to Turkey when he was 6. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamran_InceI'm not sure how I first came across his music, probably a magazine review of the Naxos CD of his 2nd symphony and Concerto for Orchestra, both very large scale and noisy affairs! Perhaps that album will form part ii of this month's classical choice.  But here we have him in smaller scale mode. Very much integrating Turkish music and musical instruments with Western musical structures and instruments, creating a, to my ear, very beautiful and entrancing mix of East and West.  |
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Post by Slinger on Apr 30, 2019 14:03:28 GMT
He used to be married to David Milliband's wife, the violinist Louise Shackelton who, much like her husband, plays second fiddle (she plays it in the LSO, though).
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Post by jandl100 on Apr 30, 2019 14:29:10 GMT
My goodness, you are a absolute mine of fascinating information, Paul.  |
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Post by Slinger on Apr 30, 2019 14:33:17 GMT
My goodness, you are a absolute mine of fascinating information, Paul. What a polite way of saying I've got a head full of shit, Jerry.  Actually though, it's all down to Google in this case. I do like to know a little bit about who I'm listening to and I thought that scrap was quite interesting, and almost relevant. |
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Post by julesd68 on Apr 30, 2019 15:01:06 GMT
He used to be married to David Milliband's wife, the violinist Louise Shackelton who, much like her husband, plays second fiddle (she plays it in the LSO, though). She didn't like playing second fiddle to the conservative Ince I read - apparently he felt the housework was her responsibility ...  |
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Post by Slinger on Apr 30, 2019 15:19:47 GMT
He used to be married to David Milliband's wife, the violinist Louise Shackelton who, much like her husband, plays second fiddle (she plays it in the LSO, though). She didn't like playing second fiddle to the conservative Ince I read - apparently he felt the housework was her responsibility ... Ince's mother blamed the break-up of the marriage on her daughter-in-law's "radical feminism," Jules.  |
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Post by Slinger on Apr 30, 2019 15:37:50 GMT
In the meantime, I have actually listened to the piece.
I started out making track-by-track notes as an aide-memoire...
Track 1 is a long introduction to a piece of music that never actually materialises. Instead, Track 2 is a bit of minimalism that bears no musical relation to track 1. Track 3 follows on nicely, though as does 4. By the time we hit track 5 we're into strident repetitions a la Michael Nyman only to lapse back into the minimalist track 6. Track 7 picks up the pace again and is a sort of "understated" Nyman. Track 9 is a mirror held up to track 5. Track 10 started out reminding me more of the Spanish song "Romanza," than anything. Perhaps I need to listen to more Radiohead.
And that's where I stopped jotting down notes. Many of the tracks are "pairs" - To Be Happy With & To Be Happy Without, To Float With, & To Float With But Seriously, etc. - and they mirror, or sometimes echo, each other. I like that concept very much. My only complaint, if it is one, is that several of the tracks simply stop dead, as if the composer couldn't be arsed to write an ending, or couldn't find a way to lead melodically into the next track.
I'll give it 7/10 as I really did quite enjoy it.
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Post by MartinT on Apr 30, 2019 19:13:24 GMT
I wasn't keen on the opening. A looping theme without any of Glass's inventiveness.
Much of it sounds to me like incidental music for a film. I must admit that it started to grate fairly early on. I can't see me returning to it, unfortunately. 3/10 on your scale.
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Post by julesd68 on May 1, 2019 9:07:13 GMT
Agreed - I don’t cope very well with looping themes; something of a bete noir for me!
Like Martin it feels like incidental music to me - maybe for an ecological documentary or such like.
I’m not hearing much inventiveness or musicianship so 3/10 for me.
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Post by jandl100 on May 1, 2019 9:51:41 GMT
I must admit it sounds a bit Max Richter-ish to me and I thought it would be a hit. So it goes. OK. Try this. Set the volume at 11 and apologise to the neighbours. I love the cover art as well, those were tough times.  |
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Post by Pinch on May 2, 2019 12:12:36 GMT
Listening to this now - certainly agree that it's Richter-ish, but with a touch of traditional folk, which I like.
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Post by Pinch on May 2, 2019 13:14:24 GMT
Okay, just finished. I didn't dislike it, but it didn't really grab me either - there were parts that I found enjoyable, and parts that grated a little - I found some of the motifs just a bit too saccharine (which I normally have a pretty high tolerance for). I enjoyed the small scale, though, and the folk elements, as I mentioned.
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