Little more than ear-tickling exercises in intriguing sounds

Classical London Sinfonietta Queen Elizabeth Hall ★★★★★

During its 50th birthday season the London Sinfonietta has pulled out all the stops to show that it’s keeping up with the times. We’ve seen music-theatre projects, site-specific pieces and cross-art collaborations, all of which is fine in principle, but there have been times when the actual musical content has seemed worryingly thin.

Wednesday night’s concert was a case in point. It offered four pieces that (apart from the first, a memorial by composer Emma Wilde to Sinfonietta supporter Robert Clark) were all ear-tickling exercises in intriguing sounds but not much more.

This is always the lurking danger in concerts of new music. The idea that composing music is all about

“exploring sound” has become an article of faith for many composers, but as this concert proved the creed can become a cop-out. It offers an excuse to hold emotion at arm’s length.

It was surprising to encounter this issue in the evening’s commissioned piece from Charlotte Bray, entitled

Reflections in Time. Rebecca Saunders’s piece Skin summoned a sound world of dark menace. The delicate sounds of Cosmigimmicks by Unsuk Chin came as a relief. At last one felt the press of genuine feeling, but it was too little, too late.

The London Sinfonietta performs the world premiere of Cave by Tansy Davies and Nick Cave at the Printworks Canada Water on June 20-23. Tickets: londonsinfonietta.org.uk