In August 1945 atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Around 120,000 people, of which 95% were civilians, were killed outright. It is estimated that a further quarter of a million died from the after effects of the explosions. Six days after the second bomb was dropped Japan surrendered unconditionally, removing the requirement for an invasion of the Japanese mainland by Allied forces , an engagement that would undoubtedly have resulted in dreadful casualties on both sides. Hopefully the music community, as well as the world, will remember 2005 as the sixtieth anniversary of these terrible events, as well as the year of the premiere of an opera by John Adams . My attempts to understand the almost incomprehensible events of 1945 led me to the recently published 109 East Palace by Jennet Conant . This is the story of the extraordinary secret community of allied scientists at Los Alamos in New Mexico that, in a race against the clock, created the t
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It is on an early CD by Mark Ashford released by Turnbull (950604). The other works on the 25 minute CD are by Roland Dyens(an exciting young composer I'm hearing a lot of recently), Henze, Albéniz and Sergio Assad.
Well worth seeking out.
When is a recording of Taverner going to appear?
:-)
Man that article steamed me up! I mean, I can be a music snob like few others can --"What do you mean, you don't know Reimann's great Lear by heart?!?", he said in a sniffy voice-- but the one thing I can't abide is people having a pop at others tastes in music. Mr. Cameron shouldn't be held to a higher standard just because he's a politician.