Page 164 - FINAL_RPS Awards 2021 Coverage Book_Full (2)

world premiere of a piece that later went on to win a Royal Philharmonic Society Award – Danni
Howard’s delightfully light and airy Trombone Concerto, performed by the orchestra’s principal
trombonist Peter Moore.

So can the story of classical music in 2021 be summed up as “tentative return to normality?” Not
really: offstage, there is an ongoing crisis caused not only by Covid, but also by border restrictions,
and by Brexit (which has had a profound effect on classical music, masked by the pandemic).
There have been innumerable postponements or cancellations when a soloist or conductor found
themselves unable to travel.

Is a “tentative return to normality” even a desirable aim? The more radical musicians and
orchestral managers are saying we don’t want normal, if normal means the same old programmes
played to the same (literally) old, overwhelmingly white audiences, with female and non-white
performers and composers continuing to be side-lined. Some also say it’s time for classical music
to become more environmentally aware; even Simon Rattle was heard to declare that the old
model of orchestral touring needs to change.

On these fronts there has been progress. If 2021 belongs to any musician, it’s not the venerable
white male composers whose anniversaries have been celebrated this year, such as the sublime
master of Renaissance counterpoint Josquin des Prez (died 1521) or Igor Stravinsky (died 1971).
It’s Florence Price, the African-American composer who had to battle against racism, and most of
whose manuscripts had to be rescued in the nick of time when the house that contained them was
due to be demolished.

This year, the music of this quietly determined, elegant, hugely gifted woman has been everywhere,
from the Proms to the Edinburgh Festival, and on CD; her first and third symphonies have been
recorded by the Philadelphia Orchestra on the classical world’s swankiest label, DG. It’s a
heartening story, which proves there is sometimes justice in the world.

Joyous: Nicola Benedetti's baroque recordings were a highlight of the year CREDIT: Simon Fowler