Two posts ago I reported on my success in the jazz grade three exam. Now it’s about time to start preparing for grade five, the top jazz grade, but I don’t much like the tunes. Should I still do it? I think I need to, because my practise has become rather aimless lately.
But one thing that has carried me through these last few months is my latest challenge. I’ve been learning a modern classical piece for solo saxophone, I Sleep At Waking by Ian Wilson. After all the jazz I wanted to tread some unfamiliar ground, to put my technique to the test, so a few months ago I asked my teacher for a through-composed piece in a modern style, … read on »
Archive for August, 2008…
Messiaen Around
Last night I went to the Edinburgh International Festival performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Eclairs sur l’au-delà – which is usually translated as Illuminations of the Beyond – at the Usher Hall, played by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with a sprightly young fellow named Ilan Volkov conducting.
In my seat in the upper circle I waited for the first chord, which begins the piece in a strangely unassuming way, catching you unaware, as if the orchestra is picking up a performance midway through – which helps give it an eternal, cyclical quality. But when the performance started I was puzzled. I didn’t recognize it at all. I mean, yes, it’s an unassuming opening for sure, and I’d listened to it only … read on »
©2010 Alistair Robinson