On Saturday November 17th, I had the pleasure
of attending a Musique Démesurées concert given by the Orchestre d'Auvergne
at the Chapelle des Cordeliers in Clermont-Ferrand.
The Orchestra’s director is the Spaniard
Roberto Fores Veses. According to the programme notes, he has worked and studied
music in all parts of Europe.
The first of the four pieces was Little Concerto
for Strings which is one of the first composed by Englishman Jonathan Harvey.
Then we listened to Blaze, a work by
young British composer Benjamin Ellin in which melodies seem to conflict. The effect
was rather unique, helped along by accordionist Pascal Contet. This was the world
premiere performance and the composer was in the audience.
The third work, Ombres opus 12, was by the
Franco-Bulgarian André Boucourechliev. It was a tribute to Beethoven and there
were several references to beethoven’s music in the work.
Finally, Claude Vivier’s Zipangu is inspired
by Marco Polo’s voyages and by Japan (which was called “Zipangu” in the 15th
century).
I was a little sceptical about this kind of music before going to the concert
because I thought it was more for people who really know about it. However, in
the end, I actually had rather a good time, out-of-the-ordinary at least!
