Stirling Newberry wrote the following after David Stewart's reaction to
James MacMillan's Cello Concerto:

>In composer lingo a "beached whale" is a large ambitious score that has
>no hope of performance.  Opera projects are generally in this catagorey.

Listmembers with longish memories may recall that this is not the first
time that the polymathematical Stirling's omniscience appears to have
failed him where MacMillan is concerned.  Often, on this subject as on many
others, his comments are interesting and even illuminating but seem to
inhabit a parallel(ish) universe working according to rules not entirely
familiar in this one.

MacMillan's Cello Concerto is large and ambitious, and it has also been
performed many times and recorded.  After the percussion concerto, Isobel
Gowdie and The World's Ransoming - all written earlier - it is now one of
his most performed large pieces.  If it is a whale, it is therefore a
healthy and active one, and neither endangered nor stranded.

Possibly the reference to opera is to do with the fact that the Cello
Concerto contains a good deal of re-worked material from MacMillan's only
full-scale opera to date, Ines de Castro.  If not, it's hard to see the
relevance.  Ines de Castro is, as far as I know, still awaiting its first
performance outside the UK, but it has recently been revived by Scottish
Opera.  So it is clearly not in the "beached whale" category.

Not for the first time, I am left totally unclear as to what Stirling's
point is.

Unfortunately I was unable to be at the Albert Hall last Monday to hear the
Cello Concerto, as I was on a boat returning me from the Isle of Capri to
Amalfi during a week's short holiday in Italy - so I have still not heard
the Cello Concerto live.  If David or anyone else who heard the performance
would like to expand their thoughts, I'd be interested to hear them.

Finally bringing this post around to Nielsen, I have to agree strongly
with those who advise against the 6th as a first point of contact with
this very fine composer.  And I will also point out that the current Proms
season contains performances of the three great central symphonies - the
3rd on August 11, day of a total solar eclipse in south-west England (about
96% totality at the Albert Hall, but late morning not during the concert!),
the 4th on (Friday) August 13, and the 5th on the 22nd of August.  I'm
going to try to get to the 4th and maybe the 5th as well.

Ian Crisp
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