Hear and Now – Beamish/Payne/MacMillan/McCabe by McCabe, J., Beamish, S., MacMillan, Payne, A., Ó (2016/2016), Seoltóir Martyn Brabbins, City Halls, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Musical inspiration comes in many forms. The late John McCabe was transfixed by the pattern of sounds coming from a Japanese amusement arcade, which gave rise to his ‘musical entertainment’ Joybox. Sally Beamish’s Second Cello Concerto takes its cue from the wanderings of Robert Cohen’s grandfather and weaves together elements of Polish and South African folksongs with migratory birdcalls. Sir James MacMillan’s faith remains as central to his writing as ever; here his motet for ensemble and chorus is given its UK Premiere by the Glasgow Chamber Choir. Anthony Payne’s dynamic and monumental Time’s Arrow from 1990, meanwhile, is nothing less than an orchestral evocation of ‘The Big Bang’, acclaimed as “a work of stunning confidence with exceptional clarity of thought and argument.” Martyn Brabbins conducts the BBC SSO in this concert for BBC Radio 3’s Hear and Now, which brings together works by four of the leading British composers of our time.