CLASSICAL Psappha
Edinburgh: Queen's Hall, Mon 22 Mar. Psappha, the north of England’s leading contemporary music ensemble make their first trip across the border this month. They are named after a percusSion piece by Iannis Xenakis, and Will perform work by that Greek- born composer at their Edinburgh date.
Following encouragement from Edinburgh Contemporary Arts Trust, who present the concert, Psappha turn to Xenakis’ chamber music and offer a rare chance to hear P/ekto, a very nOisy piece written in the early 90s. Scored for violin, cello, flute, clarinet, horn, piano and percusSion, P/ekto is extremely complex musrc. Paul MacAlindin, who regularly conducts the ensemble, is charged
FOLK Ossian
Edinburgh Harp Festival,
The Pleasance, Fri 26 Mar.
This year’s Edinburgh Harp Festival opening concert brings the latest line- up of Ossian, the group whose records and tours of the 70s and 80s first gave the Scottish harp an international profile
Their harpei, Billy Jackson v- also a composer, music therapist and teacher t is Currently putting a lot of energy into his record company, tvtill Records, which is soon to release four versions of his 'Land Of Light', a song which this year won a national competition for a 'Song For Scotland' Why four verSions”
’lt'll be a budget-price CD of a Gaelic version, an English, an all- instrumental, and ftnally a choral arrangement,’ he explains 'It Will be useful for people who want to learn the song, or use it for film, TV or radio Plus, they'll get to hear other sorts of music that they iniglit not normally be aware of '
There has been a great deal of interest in ’Land Of Light‘ A number of choirs want to perform it, including a Scots Gaelic one in Australia and the Lowland Band of the Scots DiVision ~ a big, loud pipe band With a brass section.
OSSIan's musical approach is much
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; (1'53). with the task 01 keeping it all together.
'In P/ekto, Xenakis splits the players '- into three groups, and the way in which he explores the interplay between them is féiSClltdtlltg,’ says MacAlindin. 'The strings and Wind play purely linear, horizontal music, while the piano plays nothing but chords or vertical music and the perCUSSion plays untuned rhythm.’
Xenakis, now in his late 70s, also trained as an architect and is a completely lone mice in 20th century music. His composition is renowned for its use of mathematical formulae
’If you’ve never heard Xenakis before, this is a very good
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introduction,’ says l‘vlacAlinclin. 'lt's very striking and there’s a sense of this being his classic epic. sound. It's also incredibly loud.’ (Carol Main)
Glasgow
Royal “IIIIBBI‘I Hall Manila! ZBtII‘Jllly ' M41 287 5511
The stuff of legends: Ossian
gentler, With a sweetness that won 2 them many admirers all over North America. Though he still spends part of each year in the US, Billy now tends
ABERDEENMUSICHALL'I’uesdayalIApflIMMMQ 122 to avoid the worst excesses of their pervasive harp romanticism Roy“ 6W CONCERT "All Wm M M 01“ m 5511 'All that "Celtic Realms" stuff,’ he EDINBURGH QUEEN'S "All Friday 9th Aprt|0131668 2019
laughs 'Some of them think urea" JUSI stopped livuig in caves. They don't even think we've got shops '
(Norman Chalmers)
' All tickets valtd
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