Bristol Sound World begin their residency at the Mount Without - I was there!

Sometimes the thing you are looking for is right under your nose. Such is the case with the Bristol based project Sound World.

I have been vaguely aware of this initiative and its valiant efforts to support freelance musicians to make ends meet through the Pandemic, but that was about it. Luckily a couple of weeks ago I saw an article on the BBC West News page about a new concert series that would include recently composed pieces that had been performed online during their Lockdown activities.

As soon as I saw the playlist I was intrigued – all living or recently dead composers, all very contemporary and right up my street. I booked tickets immediately and then realised you could also become a member and get personalised listening lists, concert recommendations and follow-up info on featured music and musicians delivered to your inbox. Fantastic stuff!

Sound World Director Julian Leeks says:

No matter how much you want to be discovering new music and expanding your horizons, nobody wants to spend ages wasting time on music that’s not right for them.”

Introducing the band…

The concert Sound World @ the Crypt was at The Mount Without on Sunday 1^st October. The Sound World band is made up of

The music included composers from seven countries. Most pieces were either solo or duets whilst the finale (a new piece called Stung by Julian Leeks) featured the entire band.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The music choices required a lot of virtuosity from the performers and included captivating, very modern sounds throughout. I particularly loved the musical saw / theremin effect that Harriet Riley made with a cello bow (?) in The Grace of Silence by Dame Evelyn Glennie. Also, several pieces involved what I considered to be really appealing dissonance from plucked violin and sliding cello. Hombre d’Aout with its super combination of violin and vibes has a couple of fragments of tunes that remind me of a favourite jazz piece. I’ll have to keep listening and mulling it over so I can work out which ones. It was like the last kiss of summer.

In several pieces I could hear a definite nod to Copland. The piece for solo clarinet, Fantasie by Jorg Widmann was superbly performed. Of course, it would be hard to write a 7-minute piece for solo clarinet without at some point referencing seminal works like Copland’s Clarinet concerto and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Stravinsky’s Ebony concerto. But this piece, that was written when Widmann was only 19, is much more than the sum of its influences. It is like a very long etude featuring every possible challenge for the player. I spoke to George Blakesley after, and he said he was learning the Copland concerto at the moment. Based on this performance, he’ll certainly be able to take on that challenge with aplomb.

Another, Copland similarity was the middle part of Jessie Montgomery’s Duo. Dirge had a real feel of Copland’s autumnal and very cloudy Nonet for Strings.

A great advert for modern music

The concert was hard to fault in any way. The music choice was very well curated and gave everyone a chance to show their skills. None of the pieces were more than 10 minutes and most were 4-5 minute miniatures. Even if you didn’t care for a piece, there was never a chance to get bored. The set list was a mix of the melodic and more challenging. Lots of light and shade and much modulation between the ethereal (e.g. the Glennie) and Dancing with the Shadow by Eleanor Alberga, which Riley described as “crazy chaos”.

Looking around at the small audience of around 40 people I was really gratified to see that many people were younger than me. That’s something I don’t experience at most concerts I go to! Every little detail was well done including the highly informative (and free) 10-page programme booklet.

It was a great advert for modern music. No , need to use the words “classical” or “art” here. I would say that anyone with an inquisitive nature and a willing pair of ears would be won over by the music performed.

A challenge was set to the audience by Julian Leeks to choose the work that they would like to here again at the next concert. This was incredibly difficult as not a single piece lacked the merit to promote its cause. There were some lively showcases for individual instruments. For instance, Plain Blues by Coleridge Taylor Perkinson had what seemed like a definite undertone of Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child. The outer parts of Duo, (apparently an ode to friendship) felt like a conversation, but one when at first the violin and then the cello hogged most of the chat whilst the other tried to get a word in edgeways! Other parts felt like an argument whilst the middle Dirge did feel like fond recollections of old friends. There was so much motivic energy in Dhipli Zyia by Iannis Xenakis and Perpetual Motion by Perkinson (a bit like high octane Arvo Pärt) and a real joie de vivre to the finale Stung. Then the gorgeous Covid creations April by Sally Beamish and Glennie’s amazing The Grace of Silence. When I came to make my choice, it was literally like hovering over a newly opened box of luxury Belgian chocolates!

The next concert is at the same venue on 14 January. It’s unfortunately rather a long time to wait. I would like to think that word will spread about this tight knit ensemble and the inspiring music they played. I think Bristol could certainly benefit from a Sound World concert every month. It’s very in tune with my own aspirations going forward. I do very much hope that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

The Bristol Sound World Playlist

I came home buzzing with enthusiasm and put together a playlist on my Spotify account and added their album Reflections to my liked list. I also met a young composer called Sam Pradalie who has suggested I listen to another American composer Harry Partch. I’m always keen to go down a new avenue so we’ll see where that one takes me!

Inspired by Bristol Sound World

I also did my own playlist called Inspired by Bristol Sound World! I hope the band get to listen to this and perhaps will be stimulated to play some of these tracks and perhaps attempt transcriptions of others. It would be amazing to hear some of these played in their residency at the Crypt.

The first track Vieux Poeme is a Copland art song transcribed for cello, violin, piano and vibes so would be an easy fit for the Sound World ensemble. The music itself (composed in 1920) showed early signs of Copland’s talent for polyrhythms. It’s currently not available on Spotify but can be purchased from other streaming platforms.

I am sure that Harriet Riley will love Subway Jam as it uses percussion and brass to create an overpowering and claustrophobic atmosphere. Listen to the whole soundtrack album from the 1961 film Something Wild. This is part of Copland’s output that hardly anyone knows or is even aware of – which is exactly the reason that I feel the need to yell about it!

Seagull Chorale by Sarah Nicolls is a wonderfully percussive and highly seductive piano piece. That surely must be a prepared piano of some sorts? It says on Spotify that Sarah gets 211 monthly listens. She deserves a whole lot more.

Morton Feldman also auditioned to get the Something Wild gig. This was the piece he presented to director Jack Garfein who was less than impressed. It’s very different from Copland’s score but could work just as well to convey those deeply troubled unspoken thoughts of the Carrol Baker character Mary Ann. I wonder if the celesta part could be played on the vibes?

Just imagine the Crypt being decked out with all sorts of flowerpots wash tubs, coffee cans and other junk percussion? That’s what would be required for Lou Harrison’s Violin Concerto. I can really see it! I’m sure it would go down a treat!

Velocities – a nod to Sound World patron, composer and multi-instrumentalist Dame Evelyn Glennie who performed the premiere recording back in the 90s. Composer Joseph Schwantner is 80 this year. Happy Birthday!

Meredith Monk’s Traces has a wonderful ebb and flow in a work that I wish was just that little bit longer. Missy Mazzoli has been described by Time Out New York as “Brooklyn’s post-millennial Mozart”. You’ll hear why in this recording. Her Vespers for Violin was nominated for a Grammy in 2019.

Samoa is far and away my favourite Morton Feldman piece. I feel this work could potentially be transcribed by the Sound World band. It’s just an absolute delightful pot pourri combining wistful jazz and out of sight, out of mind mischief.

7 Papillons is a piece for solo cello by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. She conjures up an amazing (dare I say) sound world. I’ve only included the second movement, but you should listen to the whole lot.

John Musto’s playful divertimento is a great ensemble piece where you can almost see the cartoon characters and their irreverent hi jinx. Music from Copland House have recorded a whole CD of his chamber works. Definitely worth checking out!

Alberto Ginastera’s Norterna for piano has a bit of the Pink Panther theme about it whilst Toshio Hasokawa’s Spell Song for solo clarinet is a tune that holds you in the thrall of the snake charmer.

Quanta by Laura Pramuk is another ensemble piece that could transfer nicely to the Crypt. This version is played by the Manchester Collective. If you become a member of Sound World, you could get free tickets to their St George’s concert (featuring the music of Julia Wolfe and Steve Reich) this October.

Devonté Hynes, like Dame Evelyn Glennie, is a multi-talented composer, performer and producer. His work Coil from has a spiritual calmness and assurance to it. A mortal coil perhaps, but one that you’re not shuffling off any time soon.

What a way to end this playlist! Aisha Orazbayeva playing Morton Feldman’s solo violin tribute For Aaron Copland. The first version is the way it was composed. The second sounds as if she is making music whilst doing some spooky DIY! How does she make those sounds? It won’t be to everybody’s taste, but I find it haunting and enticing – it’s incredible!

I hope you love this playlist and have as much fun listening as I did in creating it.

See you at the next Sound World concert!