‘A moment of sudden and great revelation or realization’.
This is the second Oxford definition for the word ‘epiphany’…which is also a Christian feast day, ‘the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi’.
It’s the ‘sudden realization’ that has descended on Arcana towers, however, as many of us go back to work today. Christmas is done, two weeks that have flown by – and just a heartbeat later we’re thrust wide-eyed into the New Year, back into the strong current of the river that is modern life.
Help is at hand, however. Music is such a reliable ally in times like this, whether it’s the music we know and love or the music we haven’t discovered yet. Both are reasons to look forward to 2025 with anticipation! Arcana will be hoping for several ‘epiphanies’, as we split our loyalties between the old and the new, covering music from the last 500 years or more as we go.
2025 will see the tenth birthday of this resource, believe it or not – on Saturday 1st February. By then we hope to be well in the groove of providing a daily digest of shared musical loves, interviews and concerts. Along the way there will be special focus on Shostakovich, who died 50 years ago this year, and is a favourite composer in these parts. We will also look to enjoy classical music from London, Birmingham and online, electronic music from all corners of the world, and plenty in between.
If you’d like to get in touch with us about any of it, suggest some things for us to listen to, or even write for us, get in touch! You can get me, Ben Hogwood, via e-mail (editor@arcana.fm), over BlueSky (Ben Hogwood or Arcana) or – if you must – on Twitter / X for a little while longer.
Before you go, do listen to this remarkable carol marking Epiphany from British composer Judith Bingham – both haunting and tremendously powerful. Happy New Year!
Sonic Cathedral – the label that celebrates itself – marks two decades in existence with this handsomely packaged box set of classics and rarities. It’s no exaggeration to say that Nathaniel Cramp’s lovingly directed label has played a big part in the continued regeneration of shoegaze, a form of music whose versatility and staying power has continued to confound anyone miserly enough to criticise it.
By drawing on the best shoegaze from the late 1980s – and utilising some of the pioneers – Sonic Cathedral has looked for new talent and become a forward looking enterprise. Certain qualities have been retained and built upon, such as a penchant for winning remixes – marked in a disc entitled ‘Recalibrate Yourself’ – and a generous number of Yuletide covers and originals, marked in the brilliant ‘Celebrate Your Elf’. The label’s original best-ofs are found on the very fine ‘Celebrate Yourself’, while Reverberate Yourself! A Congregation Of Sonic Cathedral Live Recordings is a collection of exclusives from right down the front of the gig.
What’s the music like?
This is a brilliant collection, capturing each aspect of the Sonic Cathedral label and what has made it special. Celebrate Yourself is the true ‘best of’, rounding up 20 of the best tracks since the label began as a club night. These include the shimmering, hazy beauty of Pye Corner Audio, whose Warmth Of The Sun features Andy Bell, and the warm-hearted Early Years beauty Fluxus. Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, one of the label’s best aditions, shine on Balance, while there is a dreamy Dot Allison contribution in the shape of Unchanged. The easy tread of Neil Halstead’s Spin The Bottle is appealing. Mildred Maude bring their distinctive guitar sound to CPA II, while a new addition from Emma Anderson, Queen Moth, is beguiling. It’s great to see the label’s newer names on such good form.
If you want an extra groove laden underneath, the Recalibrate Yourself collection delivers in spades. Perhaps inevitably Andrew Weatherall takes the limelight with the laconic beat applied to Early Years’ Hall Of Mirrors, but there is plenty else to enjoy. James Holden gives a dazzling remix of XAM Duo’s Cold Stones, a flurry of exhilarating synths, while Maps’ take on Not Me But Us’ When We See is suitably epic. Meanwhile the Pye Corner Audio remake of Lorelle Meets The Obsolete’s Unificado is a wall of noise, a real thrill.
Complementing the studio recordings, Reverberate Yourself is a brilliant live collection, right from the label’s roots. It is led off by a powerhouse performance from Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, whose account of What’s Holding You? is a thrilling tour de force. ‘Epic’ is definitely the word here, applicable to The Early Years and their account of The Simple Solution, Slowdive’s Golden Hair from Los Angeles, and bdrmm’s Mono from Leeds, but there are more intimate moments too, such as Mark Peters at The Band Room in Yorkshire and Dean Wareham’s When Will You Come Home.
The icing on the cake is Celebrate Your Elf, led off by a wonderfully starry The Box Of Delights from Mark Peters, who also delivers a winsome Silent Night. Fairewell makes two excellent contributions in Christmas Eve and In The Bleak Midwinter, while A Place To Bury Strangers enjoy a bruising encounter with Kool & The Gang’s Celebration. Wrapping things up is Maps – a technicolour remix of The Box Of Delights and a stellar cover of East 17’s Stay Another Day.
Does it all work?
Emphatically. It’s easy to imagine that Sonic Cathedral could have doubled the choices on this compilation and still not lost the quality. There are winning musical moments at every turn.
Is it recommended?
Heartily. This is a lovingly compiled anniversary treat, capturing every aspect of a record label whose status has only grown over that time. We’re lucky to have them!
As today is World Violin Day, here is a suitable piece to take us into the weekend! Hilary Hahn and the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln under Semyon Bychkov oblige…
posted by Ben Hogwood – text copied from the festival’s press release:
One of England’s most colourful and charismatic composers – Sir Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006) – is to be celebrated at the 19th International Malcolm Arnold Festival; an annual programme of events centred around the multi-faceted composer and his music. The composer’s hometown of Northampton will host a day of live music-making on Saturday 19 October, and a specially procured programme to attract listeners from around the world will live-stream on Sunday 27 October.
SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER – LIVE MUSIC CONTINUNES ALL DAY
Continuing his successful presentations in both live and digital formats, Festival Director Paul Harris is extending the reach of Malcolm Arnold’s music to listeners everywhere, with live concerts and a Symposium hosted in the composer’s hometown, and a specially conceived live-stream day, presenting recorded performances and talks, this year with a particular focus on Arnold’s songs and choral works – a relatively little-known area of the composer’s output.
Paul Harris says: “This year we are offering three concerts within central Northampton (Malcolm’s birthplace), all in walkable distances from each other. We are delighted that Saturday’s launch concert will take place at St Peter’s, marking the reopening of the church as a performance space.”
Launched by composer, Matthew Taylor, listeners will be able to enjoy a programme of rousing music for brass, one of Malcolm Arnold’s most popular genres as a renowned trumpet player himself, performed by Spectacle Brass Quintet lead by Nick Budd. Following this there will be a performance of the composer’s second String Quartet performed by students from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Live music continues throughout the day, transferring to All Saints’ Church, just a short walk away, with music for choir and organ to include the composer’s psalms and part songs, his John Clare Cantata, and Turtle Drum; familiar to many from school days. Also featured will be Arnold’s Organ Variations: five variations by living composers and one new variation written especially by Jonathan Whiting for this year’s Festival.
Demonstrating the exuberance of Arnold’s works and some of his finest and most popular tunes, the Festival’s Gala Concert takes place at Northampton Guildhall and will be performed by the Northamptonshire County Youth Concert Band and Orchestra (NMPAT) who are regular guests at the Festival. The Festival will end with a short Symposium hosted by Matthew Taylor discussing all things Arnold.
HOW TO BOOK Tickets are £10 per concert or £25 for a day ticket, available at the door or book in advance online. Students and under 18s are admitted FREE of charge. www.malcolmarnoldfestival.com
ONLINE DAY (FREE live-stream) – SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER
FREE-to-view and presented live by Director Paul Harris, the Festival’s complimentary digital live-stream day will take place on Sunday 27 October and features performances of some of Malcolm Arnold’s greatest solo, chamber and orchestral music as well as talks, lectures and exclusive interviews.
Paul Harris says, “The day is structured around the years that have their anniversary this year; 1934, 1944, 54, 64, 74 …etc. and what Malcolm was writing and doing in those years. We are also featuring all of his wonderful songs as the central theme performed by Claire Thompson and Scott Mitchell – Malcolm is not well-known for his vocal writing and our programme will give a fascinating insight into this genre. Also a host of Arnold specialists will be contributing through their knowledge and enthusiasm to bring together another fascinating and engaging day of music making.”
Harris himself will give a talk on Malcolm Arnold at the Royal College of Music, and there are further talks by Arnold authorities including Dr. Timothy Bowers, Dimitri Scarlato, Eleanor Fox, Gus Woodward, and BBC Radio 3 broadcaster and long-time Arnold enthusiast, Martin Handley.
Amongst the assortment of Malcolm Arnold’s chamber works will be historic recordings and specially recorded performances by students from Chethams’ School and the Royal College of Music. Soloists taking part, who will also introduce their pieces, include soprano, Claire Thompson, pianists Scott Mitchell and Lynn Arnold, and oboist Ewen Millar.
Amongst those pieces featured will beKensington Gardens for Oboe, a piece by Arnold’s fellow composer at the Royal College of Music, Ruth Gipps, known affectionally to Malcolm as ‘Widdy’. Written for Gipps’ own instrument and piano, this is an engaging short suite of three pieces named Elfin Oak, Fat Pigeon and Chestnut Trees. Alongside Arnold’s songs from his own Kensington Gardens are his William Blake Songs, which were hailed by Gipps as “the real Malcolm”.
Both dramatic and playful in tone, the Sinfonietta No. 3, Arnold’s third “Little Symphony” completed in September 1964, extends the scope of his two earlier essays in this form and is scored for a classical chamber orchestra, demonstrating all the usual hallmarks of the composer’s inventiveness in smaller scale.
From the same year, the celebratory Water Music was commissioned by the National Trust for the opening of the Stratford Canal. In three movements, the piece was written for wind and percussion to be played on a raft moored on the River Avon, and later transcribed by the composer for full orchestra.
HOW TO VIEW Live-stream FREE to view. Refer to the website for further information including the full programme:www.malcolmarnoldfestival.com
Published post no.2,290 – Tuesday 3 September 2024
Darius Milhaud died 50 years ago today. One of the most prolific composers of the 20th century, Milhaud’s list of works extends to several hundred published pieces for all manner of instrumental and vocal combinations, with works for the stage, concert hall, chamber music and piano all filling the list to bursting point.
More recently his music has been difficult to find, whether on concert programs or recordings – and we hope to redress the balance a little over the next month, exploring some of his works – including all 12 symphonies and five piano concertos. For now, here is a performance of one of Milhaud’s best-loved works, the jazz-inspired La Création du Monde:
Arcana.fm 