Bach’s “Es is vollbracht” grievingly descends; Graun’s trumpets upwards. To the taste, no doubt, of an optimistic Enlightenment, hankering for its Goethe.The best of it, however – there are tantalising glimpses of Mozart and Sturm und Drang Haydn over the horizon – is very good indeed. One large chorus feels like a sketchbook for La Clemenza did Tito. It was Ex Cathedra’s not always secure bass soloist, Robert Rice, and at times the orchestral playing, notably bassoons and basset horn near the close, that caught the drama best Skidmore’s briskish pacings was to advantage. The appealing soprano soloist, Fusako Yanauchi, never quite managed the drama – she needed to let rip – but her soprano-alto duet (with the splendid Margaret Cameron) was riveting.
Most impressive of all was the better-than-professional internal balance achieved by Skidmore’s choir The result was a team effort of top-notch quality.. Most “classical” children’s events are billed as unsuitable for children under seven, but this contemporary choir bravely set up shop in front of an audience full of toddlers, babies and restless children who can make opening a crisp packet sound like an endless musique concrÿte tone poem. The musicians were unfazed, perched on the edge of the stage to begin with “And The Days Are Not Full Enough”, an Ezra Pound setting with enough vocal fireworks to give the audience an idea of their idiom: rich-sounding, acoustic, expert and modern. The Shout’s composing co-leaders, Richard Chew and ex-Man Jumping man Orlando Gough, captured the children’s attention by inviting participation in the improvisatory “In Praise of Pizza”, whose simple head tune we all learnt in no time.
Most “classical” children’s events are billed as unsuitable for children under seven, but this contemporary choir bravely set up shop in front of an audience full of toddlers, babies and restless children who can make opening a crisp packet sound like an endless musique concrÿte tone poem. The musicians were unfazed, perched on the edge of the stage to begin with “And The Days Are Not Full Enough”, an Ezra Pound setting with enough vocal fireworks to give the audience an idea of their idiom: rich-sounding, acoustic, expert and modern. The Shout’s composing co-leaders, Richard Chew and ex-Man Jumping man Orlando Gough, captured the children’s attention by inviting participation in the improvisatory “In Praise of Pizza”, whose simple head tune we all learnt in no time.
The more serious Tall Stories suite was excellent, but possibly a little too long for this kind of audience, since even diehard contemporary music parents find it difficult to concentrate at length while monitoring their infant charges. “Lift Boy”, a setting of the poem by Robert Graves, featured the attractive tenor of Martin George, accompanied by the rest of The Shout jammed together like commuters in a lift, while Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s “The Penny Candy Store” was a duet for Wills Morgan and bass man Jeremy Birchall. Audience fidgeting declined sharply when Gough and Chew, in true Blue Peter fashion, brought on something they had prepared earlier: 15 or so small kids who had attended the early morning workshop. The resulting collaboration, “Stout Denial”, was terrific, based on the kinds of nagging questions that parents ask their children: “Where did you put it?”; “Why is it broken?”; “What did you swap it for?” answered by the children’s sing-song “I don’t know”.This was followed by “I Said She Said”, another “confrontational” improvised piece for three pairs of women singers.
By the time The Shout tore into “I Sing Because I Sing”, the audience was hooked. This is a tremendous ensemble piece, with featured solos and duets. Carol Grimes was in particularly good form for her duet with Wayne Ellington. The Shout closed their fine concert with the relatively brief “Taking Leave Of A Friend”.There is something intoxicating about music like this. The Shout show us that there are many new things to be done with the voice, and that innovation doesn’t have to be driven by technology, or anything more than a basic urge to make music – whether by scribbling it down, or by opening your mouth, taking a deep breath and letting rip..
State of the Nation was a weekend of contemporary music organised by a combination of the London Sinfonietta, the BBC, the South Bank Centre and a host of specialist music organisations. In the rarified world of “new music”, getting a thousand people overall to attend such a happening counts as a mass event – but if this represented “the Nation”, it was a peculiarly narrow slice of it. Even making the concerts free didn’t fill more than half the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Nevertheless, there was a pleasant buzz of activity throughout. State of the Nation was a weekend of contemporary music organised by a combination of the London Sinfonietta, the BBC, the South Bank Centre and a host of specialist music organisations. In the rarified world of “new music”, getting a thousand people overall to attend such a happening counts as a mass event – but if this represented “the Nation”, it was a peculiarly narrow slice of it. Even making the concerts free didn’t fill more than half the Queen Elizabeth Hall.