Tag: John McCabe

Laudamus Te, English Baroque Choir, Brandenburg Sinfonia, St John’s Smith Square, 16 March 2013

I’d never heard the Bach Magnificat in D played live but had always loved my recording of it (by The Sixteen – click here or image below):

I thought SJSS would be a magnificent setting to hear the piece live – after all that is where my lovely recording of the piece had been recorded. I was right.

In the first half, we heard the Schubert Mass in G, which I enjoyed more than Janie did, although she quite liked it. It was followed by a world premier of a JohnMcCabe piece named Psalm-Cantata, which frankly did little for either of us.

But we did both really enjoy the Magnificat.

Below is a video of Nikolaus Harnoncourt with an unidentified choir and orchestra playing the Magnificat magnificently:

All Fired Up At A BBC Philharmonic Prom, Royal Albert Hall, 15 August 1989

Jilly is listed as having joined me for this one. Her work telephone number is strategically placed in my diary on the preceding day, so she might struggle to deny this one.

I’m not entirely sure why I chose it other than the fact that I was certainly into Richard Strauss and Sibelius at that time, so two pieces by those dudes that I hadn’t heard live before probably sealed the deal. It might have been Jilly saying “you’ve GOT to see this Heinz Holliger fellow”, as that was the sort of thing that Jilly would say.

Here is a link to the BBC stub for this one. Edward Downes conducting the BBC Philharmonic. We heard:

  • John McCabe – Fire at Durilgai
  • Richard Strauss – Oboe Concerto in D major
  • Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 1 in E minor

Robert Maycock in The Independent liked this concert:

Downes Prom Maycock IndyDownes Prom Maycock Indy 17 Aug 1989, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

McCabe wrote Fire At Durilgai for the BBC Philharmonic. Here is a recording of it by them, but under Yan-Pascal Tortelier’s baton.

Here is a recording of the great oboist Heinz Holliger, but with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe rather than the BBC Phil.

Here’s a recording of the Orchestre de Paris under Paavo Järvi giving Sibelius 1 a go: