Search - Poul Ruders, Melinda Wagner, Mark Mandarano :: Melinda Wagner: Concerto for Flute, Strings, and Percussion; Poul Ruders: Concerto in Pieces (Purcell Variations)

Young Person's Guide to the (1990's) Orchestra

07/13/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard (and saw) the Ruders work, "Concerto in Pieces," on the BBC's "Last Night of the Proms" and was captivated by the sight of the percussionists dipping tubular bells into whimsically decorated aquariums to get that amazing sliding effect in the fourth variation. The orchestration is brilliant, the textures and colors uncanny, and the BBC Symphony rises to the challenge virtuosically, the brass in particular. "Concerto in Pieces" is the best sort of accessable, exuberant music-making: comprehenisble but not condescending. A touching tribute to Purcell (the theme is from Henry P.'s Dido and Aeneas) and to Benjamin Britten and his "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" - two great representatives of the tradition of musical "Englishness". You'd never guess it from hearing the piece, but Ruders is from Denmark! Incidentally, the crowd at Albert's Hall loved the piece at its premiere and its not every day you see a sea of people dressed like soccer-hooligans so enthusiastic about a new symphonic work."