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BBC National Orchestra of Wales Performs the World Premiere of Alexander Goehr's The Master Said

Oct. 01, 2021

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales, under the baton of Catherine Larsen-Mcguire, presents the world premiere of Alexander Goehr's The Master Said on October 29 at BBC Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff. The composer discusses his new work:

"The Master (Confucius) does not ‘know’, but seeks to learn from antiquity. He does not memorize a great number of different things, but seeks their underlying unity. This all makes him, in his estimation, fit to teach others. He will offer them one corner and expect them to deduce the other three (of the square). He performs on a kind of stone drum. A passer- by comments the way the music expresses feelings, but he scorns its one-sided obstinacy.

I composed this as a set of elaborations on different aspects of an idea. The inspiration is partly Joseph Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross, similarly seven adagios for chamber orchestra, followed by a brief allegro. There are in the Haydn (and I hope in my piece) ‘feelings’ and possibly one-sided obstinacy." 

Listen to Alexander Goehr's String Quartet No. 3 (1975-1976):

(Alexander Goehr/String Quartet No. 3/Lindsay String Quartet)

To learn more about Alexander Goehr, visit: schott-music.com.

 
Alexander Goehr
The Master Said (2016)
for narrator and chamber orchestra
Texts from the Confucian Analects, translated by James Legge
2(2.afl)1.ca.0.bcl.2-2.1.0.0-hp.pno-str
30'

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