It’s been far too long. Six years since Lee Fraser‘s last album, Cor Unvers, and a full decade since his debut, Dark Camber, both of which were among my very best albums of 2018 and 2014 respectively, and both of which continue to blow my mind anew every time i… The post Lee Fraser – Live at Parken, Vienna, 05.08.23 appeared first on 5:4. 5:4 is on Patreon! Please consider supporting the blog by becoming a Patron from just $2 a month: https://www.patreon.com/5against4 ..read more

i’m thrilled to be presenting the latest instalment in my occasional series The Dialogues. On this occasion, i’m sitting down with Estonian composer Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes, whose music i’ve been marvelling at ever since first contact at the 2017 Estonian Music Days. We got together at my rented apartment in Tallinn’s… The post The Dialogues: Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes appeared first on 5:4. 5:4 is on Patreon! Please consider supporting the blog by becoming a Patron from just $2 a month: https://www.patreon.com/5against4 ..read more

I want to flag up two recent albums for which i’ve contributed liner notes, both of which focus on music from Norway, and both of which have coincidentally been released around the same time. The first is My Microtonal Piano, an anthology of contemporary pieces performed by Oslo-based pianist Sanae… The post Sanae Yoshida – My Microtonal Piano; Henrik Hellstenius – Public Behaviour appeared first on 5:4. 5:4 is on Patreon! Please consider supporting the blog by becoming a Patron from just $2 a month: https://www.patreon.com/5against4 ..read more

Symphony No. 16 (1979) Allan Pettersson’s final completed work shares some similarities to Violin Concerto No. 2, inasmuch as it blurs the distinction between symphony and concerto. Pettersson went as far as to describe the concerto as “a symphony for violin and orchestra”, and it’s tempting to regard Symphony No.… The post Allan Pettersson – Complete Edition: Final works, 1979-80 appeared first on 5:4. 5:4 is on Patreon! Please consider supporting the blog by becoming a Patron from just $2 a month: https://www.patreon.com/5against4 ..read more

Somewhat incredibly, for a man crippled by rheumatoid arthritis and essentially confined to his apartment (four floors above ground level without an elevator), Allan Pettersson managed to begin and complete his next two symphonies within a single year. Symphony No. 14 (1978) Compared to No. 13, a very different character… The post Allan Pettersson – Complete Edition: Symphonies Nos. 14-15, 1978 appeared first on 5:4. 5:4 is on Patreon! Please consider supporting the blog by becoming a Patron from just $2 a month: https://www.patreon.com/5against4 ..read more

Symphony No. 13 (1976) In the first part of this Lent Series, i remarked on the sorry fact that most of the admittedly sparse commentary on Pettersson’s music has invariably adopted the stance that it is all bleak, tragic and full of despair. Several of the preceding works i’ve explored… The post Allan Pettersson – Complete Edition: Symphony No. 13, Violin Concerto No. 2, 1976-77 appeared first on 5:4. 5:4 is on Patreon! Please consider supporting the blog by becoming a Patron from just $2 a month: https://www.patreon.com/5against4 ..read more

In recent years the Swiss music festival Forum Wallis has broken up its elements into three parts – instrumental, electronic and folk – taking place separately, in different parts of the Valais region. As last year, i just attended the instrumental performances, which took place over two days in Schloss… The post Forum Wallis 2024 appeared first on 5:4. 5:4 is on Patreon! Please consider supporting the blog by becoming a Patron from just $2 a month: https://www.patreon.com/5against4 ..read more

Symphony No. 8 (1968-1969) Allan Pettersson’s previous two symphonies, though structured as single movements, both featured what amounts to two distinct sections. Symphony No. 8 is the same, though here Pettersson explicitly divides the work into two movements. This is an interesting decision, as it can easily be argued that,… The post Allan Pettersson – Complete Edition: Symphonies Nos. 8-9, 1968-70 appeared first on 5:4. 5:4 is on Patreon! Please consider supporting the blog by becoming a Patron from just $2 a month: https://www.patreon.com/5against4 ..read more

Symphony No. 6 (1963-1966) i said previously that Symphony No. 5 upped the ante, so perhaps it seems like hyperbole to say that in Symphony No. 6 Pettersson does it again, but there really is no other way of perceiving this vast 60-minute, single span behemoth. By this point in… The post Allan Pettersson – Complete Edition: Symphonies Nos. 6-7, 1963-67 appeared first on 5:4. 5:4 is on Patreon! Please consider supporting the blog by becoming a Patron from just $2 a month: https://www.patreon.com/5against4 ..read more

Symphony No. 4 (1958-1959) By now, the paradigm is well-established: Pettersson’s music is one of disruptive struggle, where contrasting, sometimes contradictory, musical ideas jostle and collide in a cycle of seemingly unstoppable volatility. In his previous work, the Concerto No. 3 for String Orchestra, Pettersson had allowed himself a greater… The post Allan Pettersson – Complete Edition: Symphonies Nos. 4-5, 1958-62 appeared first on 5:4. 5:4 is on Patreon! Please consider supporting the blog by becoming a Patron from just $2 a month: https://www.patreon.com/5against4 ..read more