What a Facade!
And so, back to the joy of live music making. One thing that I have learnt over the years is that works written for chamber ensembles don't translate well to orchestral forces. (And equally I don't think that a symphony orchestra can play jazz, despite Gershwin , Shostakovich et al ). Small is beautiful, and the clarity and precision of single instrumental voices really let's you see straight through to the composer's original intentions. I was reminded of this while listening to an excellent performance of the orchestral suite from Copland's Appaachian Spring by Thierry Fisher and the Ulster Orchestra on Radio 3 on Friday night. But it was really brought home on Sunday by an outstanding performance of Walton's Facade using poems by Edith Sitwell (seen below) based on a performance conducted by Walton himself (with Constant Lambert as narrator and a stage curtain by John Piper ) in the Aeolian Hall in London in 1942. The Invitation Concerts run by Norwich