I recently attended an open rehearsal as part of the LSO and UBS Sound Adventures Scheme. Initially, I was a bit overwhelmed by the thought of a 3 hour session taking apart 3 works by budding young composers Emily Hall, Christian Mason and Martin Suckling.
Given that in the New Music world, ‘budding’ combined with ‘unknown’ can sometimes be replaced with ‘keen but tragic’, signing up to the evening was slightly risky. However, I found myself pleasantly surprised and would even go so far as to recommend it to New Music talent scouts as well as orchestral enthusiasts. Each short piece will eventually be played as a ‘surprise bonus item’ in one of the LSO’s concerts without telling the audience first. The idea is to introduce new music to those who wouldn’t necessarily be keen on attending contemporary music concerts, but in the midst of music that they enjoy.
The format of the evening proved an excellent forum for debate between orchestral players, conductor and composers, and I often felt like we the audience, were getting an intimate and rare glimpse into the thoughts and minds of all three. Just under an hour was assigned to each piece, allowing a 15 minute interval half way through. Each hour began with a complete run-through before the magnifying glass of conductor Francois-Xavier Roth came down on a few significant passages, closing with a final performance which took the detailed work into consideration.
Sight-reading from the LSO was astounding, especially considering this was music quite different to their usual repertoire. They were more than happy to point out technical problems-positively eager to in some cases, leaving Emily Hall in particular, feeling a bit sheepish under the scrutiny of such established players.
Even if this was a bit daunting, all 3 certainly felt privileged, being able to hear their piece performed by a world class orchestra. I was in awe of their abilities, particularly in the transformation from first play to final performance of Christian Mason’s beautiful ‘O Night O Night’ in just under 50 minutes. Mason himself found the workshop to be ‘a wonderful experience because it provided an opportunity to hear the work come to life in a short space of time, and in an atmosphere of interest and good will. The chance to talk to the conductor, players and audience members about their experience of the music was also very useful.’
Roth managed to lead the orchestra through the demands of the piece with extraordinary understanding of the composer’s intentions. His enthusiasm for discovering new talent really came across in his engagement with the music and the composers and his rehearsal style really shed light on the music for the audience. Every process was explained and he allowed each composer time to explain their conception, adding his own opinions along the way.
The music rehearsed represented 3 very different personalities and it was a real treat to actually be aware of the composer’s personas and their reactions to the LSO’s interpretation of their music. The small audience was made up of friends of the resident composers and other hopefuls, to whom I have no doubt that this was an immensely useful learning exercise in writing for a full orchestra.
Find out more about Sound Adventures at their website.
