The UK audiences have witnessed the biggest night of music with the help of the largest of this season’s Proms commissions, Minds in Flux. It has arranged an avant-garde setting with improvisations that let audiences hear George Lewis’s work in a different way.
Lewis is a trombonist-provocateur who has been breaking the conventional norms with his compositions and improvisation. Along with saxophonist Anthony Braxton, he is been smudging the boundaries between jazz and classical music as well as electronic and acoustic. His amazing work of amalgamation made him a highly influential professor in Music. He has worked and taught in American universities for years.
Making a wonderful blend of classical instruments and modern technology, the show started with a symphony orchestra that made the audience awestruck. The event took place on the Albert Hall stage in a socially distanced manner. The opening sound was crafted with a flock of clarinets and flutes which was revolving around the hall and the heart of the listeners. Thanks to software designer Damon Holzborn and Sound Intermedia for showing such amazing witchcraft with music. There were an ample amount of electronic elements merged with the orchestra that added more excitement. With the 25 minutes long progression and a complete musical arrangement, the show gained pace with a solo violin work on Boulez’s Anthèmes II and the electronic grooves of Stockhausen’s late Cosmic Pulses. Lewis masterfully handled the whole arrangement with a classic Beethovenian style and lucid electric inclusions. His well-practiced and controlled compositions are beyond technique but a conceptual vision that can grab everyone’s attention.
Minds in Flux has played with the stream of consciousness with symphonic coherence and periodical repetitions along with subtle improvisations. Previously, Elizabeth Ogonek, Britta Byström, and Augusta Read Thomas have captivated everyone with their faultless performance and made the audience long for a second listen. And this prom is bringing all the flavors together. Lucy Crowe added more charm to the event with her absolutely stunning performance. There is pathos, melancholy and joyful essence at the same time of listening to such amazing musical representation. The finely calibrated arrangement created a magical experience for all the audiences who came to watch the show. Now the biggest question comes, would like you like to experience such an event for the second time? The answer is Yes, for the 100th time as well.
