Gavin Higgins’ Der Aufstand received its world premiere at Prom 40 of the BBC Proms last Sunday to positive critical review.
Commissioned by the BBC for the National Youth Wind Orchestra, Der Aufstand saw Higgins return to his roots in wind and brass band composition. Meaning ‘riots’ in German the piece draws on the social unrest of 2011 in an wider exploration of the tensions and opposing forces found in society at large. This is powerful , angry music that combines driving rhythms, a wild series of fanfares and ‘screaming’ chords; with the first performance taking place on the last day of the London Olympics, Gavin describes it as a ‘noisy antithesis to the celebratory fanfare’.
PRESS COMMENTS
'With screaming aleatoric passages for piccolo and high flutes in the latter stages prefacing the effective contrast of four offstage clarinets and an ending of crushing, even nihilistic power, the score was brought to life with a potent mix of menace and youthful vigour whilst Higgins, not for the first time, showed himself to be a composer of vivid imagination and expressive power'.
Seen and Heard (Christopher Thomas) 16th August, 2012
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'...a nicely imagined and controlled depiction of last summer's British riots'.
The Guardian (Andrew Clements) 13th August, 2012
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'Highlights were very definitely the NYWO's version of Brixtonite Gavin Higgins' monumental response to the 2011 riots'
The Arts Desk (Daniel Ross) 13th August, 2012
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'...even better, Gavin Higgins's Der Aufstand, a boldy imaginative response to last summer's riots, powerfully conveyed by the wind orchestra and James Gourlay'.
The Times 13th August, 2012