It may seem a churlish complaint after a stellar evening of premieres by some of Britain's most gifted composers – Julian Anderson, Huw Watkins, and Colin Matthews to name but three – but last night's concert given by the wonderful Nash Ensemble at Wigmore Hall was at least one piece too long, a pleasure transformed into a "marathon" as I heard one woman describe the experience as she left the hall. And I thought all this was supposed to be fun – or is it just me?
I'm minded to call it the Second Higgins Law: concerts of new music are always too long. Frankly, my feeble brain can only absorb so much new and interesting complexity (it's the equivalent of wanting to look at 10 paintings carefully rather than trying to digest 100 at a blockbuster show) such that when it came to the final piece on the programme, Mark-Anthony Turnage's new song cycle – with the divinely voiced Mark Padmore accompanied by ensemble – my mind wasn't on the job.
I can't count how many times I've been in this situation of the marathon new music concert. For the first hour, even hour and a half, I'm acutely listening. After two, two-and-a-half hours, it's all over for me. And I don't believe I'm the only one.
Which is not to take away from the works and the performances I heard last night. Julian Anderson's music is just becoming more and more gorgeous and impressive. He's on fire. His Poetry Nearing Silence, a "divertimento after Tom Phillips for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet" was just fabulous – and his Prayer for solo viola (premiered by the marvellous Lawrence Power) a huge treat.
