James Arden checks out the garage rockers latest album.
The Christian rock band from Brighton bring religion to the masses.
Recipe for modern R'n'B album: liberal helpings of guest rappers and an overdose of sexual euphemisms.
Reading week has sped past and the end of term is in sight. But for many, there are still exams lurking and deadlines to be met. Indeed, ‘reading week’ is, in my experience, usually far too hectic to actually get any reading done!
With this in mind, Bach’s Goldberg Variations are the perfect antidote to the stresses and strains of student life. The aria and 30 variations belong to the latter part of Bach’s career and offer remarkable testimony to the composer’s mastery of contrapuntal forms. Displaying elegance and sophistication, the variations offer some kind of perfection, which for me, is remarkably soothing and calming. Let them play, and allow yourself to be drawn into their world.
Written in an entirely different, but still contrapuntal, idiom is Richard Strauss’ Metamorphosen, a work for 23 solo strings. Composed in 1945, it has been suggested that it was written as a statement of mourning for the destruction wrought by the Second World War, in particular the bombing of the opera houses in Munich, Dresden and Vienna. The work offers a poignant but beautiful reminder of the atrocity that man is capable of.
A further, rather different meditation on the theme of death is Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten. Composed in 1977, the work is scored for string orchestra and bell, and begins and ends with scored silence. Exploring the creation of hypnotic effects generated by the unfolding of simple material at different speeds, the elegy demonstrates the clear love and respect that Pärt held for Britten.
On a lighter note, my final choice for this week is Britten’s Simple Symphony. Another work for string orchestra, the piece is based on eight themes composed in Britten’s childhood. Completed when the composer was just 20, the work is light-hearted, joyous and full of the exuberance of youth. The movement titles alone reveal a glimpse of the delights within: Boisterous Bourée, Playful Pizzicato, Sentimental Sarabande and Frolicsome Finale.
You must log in to submit a comment.
