Contemporary music festival shuts down
NewsIt’s curtains for the Vle of Glamorgan Festival which has been presenting new works each years since 1969.
Composer Huw Watkins says on its website: ‘This wonderful festival has championed an enormous range of composers over the last fifty years, and I am very fortunate to have been one of them. It has cultivated a sympathetic and adventurous audience for new music in Wales, for which, as a composer, I am deeply grateful.’
But no more, from today.
The money has dried up and the authorities have turned a deaf ear.
Wales is returning to the musical dark ages.
A sad story….
But are contemporary music festivals not something that should not be necessary? If new music were a normal part of regular concert life, there would be ‘music festivals’ but not specifically and exclusively for ‘new music’, new works would be included in any music festival.
‘Contemporary Music Festivals’ were especially important for postwar modernist music, which did not fit within the central performance culture, and thus got a specialist platform. Now that modernism in contemporary music has greatly eroded and most composers, especially younger generations, appear to attempt to write tonal, accessible music, specialized festivals seem to have become less of a need.
In the 2nd half of the last century, festivals like the ISCM, the Donaueschingen and Darmstadt festivals were hotbeds of destructive nonsense under the flag of ‘avantgarde’ (a term from the military handbook, and for a reason). What master pieces have emerged from these festivals and been gratefully included in the general repertoire? Even Boulez’ sonic art has withdrawn to the far margins of music life and mostly experienced, I’m sure, as a time capsule from the sixties.
In these identity-warring times, where classical music as a whole is, in the West, suffering from all kinds of critique and thus, its support by society threatened at quite some places, the plight of contemporary music as ‘avantgarde’ and specialized festivals seem to be a luxury problem.
People are tired of empty “contemporary ” rubbish.
This is a tragedy, and yet another nail in the coffin for arts in Wales. This festival was something really special, and took adventurous programs, which were well attended, to beautiful places in South Walrs. It will be greatly missed.
I second Guest’s post, and am feeling the loss. The Vale was an annual festival of music by living composers, many of whom were in attendance. The programme invariably included some world and UK premieres but wasn’t all specifically new or contemporary. For example, Per Nørgård was introduced to us with major works from the 1960s.
Many of the performers were international musicians visiting the UK specifically to perform in the Festival. Each year, with its individual focus, conjured a different world in a variety of bespoke locations.
This has been a tough year in South Wales as we also lost the extraordinary Beyond the Border International Storytelling Festival which, like the Vale of Glamorgan Festival, grew from St Donats Arts Centre.
We do still enjoy two other arts organisations with historic links to St Donats – Music Theatre Wales and NoFit State Circus, joint-winner this week with WNO of the Sky Arts opera award.
Our experiences exactly, The Vale Festival and St Donat’s was special for the reasons you state, a big loss.
Others we have lost
Sunday morning coffee concerts in the Reardon Smith
WNO opera reduced from three to two seasons.
Everything in St David’s Hall, Cardiff Singer of the World, NOW, Welsh Proms, Lunch time concerts, Organ Concerts.
Lower Machen Festival
Llandaf Festival for nine years, but back now.
What we have gained
Penarth Festival, thank you Alice and David
Hoddinott Hall
RWCMD
The St David’s Hall lunchtime concerts are now the Cardiff Classical Lunchtime Recitals. 1.00pm on the 1st Tuesday of every month at Eglwys Dewi Sant in St Andrew’s Place. Tickets available on the door. Details on the Arts Active website: http://www.artsactive.org.uk
I worry for the future of those remaining festivals – with the axing of the Junior Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, we will lose all but those willing to really fight for a career in Classical Music in Wales.
How can a country such as Wales be allowed to dispense of these fantastic spaces..people.. and confidently, unashamedly, market itself as the Land of Song? We need protecting!