Page 271 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

confessed in her post-concert chat with the festival’s curator Kate Molleson, though she has more
than made up for it since by settling in Montana and turning to nature for inspiration. Lockwood is
one of many “outsider modernists” who were just as bold in their reinventions of music as any of
the lustrous names of the West who dominate the official histories. Ten of them, including an
Ethiopian nun who went to a Swiss finishing school and a Brazilian composer who created an
entire menagerie of new instruments, are revealed in Molleson’s 2022 book (which gave the
festival its name) – at the Southbank, the music of all of them is being heard, some of it for the first
time in the UK.

Many of the mysterious sound-within-sounds of Lockwood’s music turned out to be field
recordings of rivers and insects, subtly altered and diffused by the Queen Elizabeth Hall’s superb
sound-diffusion system. Layered above them were plaintive notes and almost-mute sighings and
scratchings from violinist Angharad Davies and cellist Anton Lukoszevieze. They played these tiny
sounds with the same delicate care as a pianist would place a note in a Mozart sonata, with
expressive results that were just as potent – but in a different way. A Mozart sonata arouses
memories of all the other sonatas one has ever heard. Here, the cello and violin keenings seemed
new-minted and yet old, like a voice of nature.

After that, it was a shock to be plunged into the jangling, hard-edged, clockwork world of Music for
5 Pianos by Cuban composer José Maceda. Maceda was inspired by folk music from across the
world, not just his native land, but he was also a dreamer of new musical worlds as bold as any in
the West. This piece, played by superb precision and sensitivity by five pianists of the group
Apartment House conducted by Jack Sheen, revealed both sides of this extraordinary man.

The rhapsodic flurries tossed from one piano to another sounded like a village fiesta; the bell-like
chords and interlocking patterns seemed to point to the stars. It was miles from Lockwood’s nature
mysticism, but the grandeur and innocent freshness were the same. In all, it was a wonderful
beginning to a festival that harked back to the days when the Southbank was habitually bold. Let’s
hope it’s a sign of things to come. IH
Festival continues until July 7. Tickets: 020 3879 9555; southbankcentre.co.uk