Angela Slater

Reviews

Musical Opinion April June 2023

Sounds New: Twenty CBSO Centenary Commissions.  Symphony Hall, Birmingham
(29th January 2023)
Angela Slater’s Unravelling the Crimson Sky was an intricate, sometimes turbulent and often ravishingly scored piece that exploited the full range of a large orchestra, with brass and percussion highlighted to conjure up glowing colours streaked across sky.  Taut and closely argued, it began with, and developed a fanfare-like motif, while juxtaposing diverse episodes, some reflective and others dynamic, before finishing with a passage of glinting, pellucid textures.  A rich mixture of a tone poem and a study in timbre, this ambitious, accomplished work was awarded a detailed and superbly played debut performance.

Paul Conway

Boston Classical Review

A moving farewell in New England Philharmonic’s season finale April 28, 2019 at 12:34 pm 
By Aaron Keebaugh

Saturday’s concert also featured the world premiere of Angela Elizabeth Slater’s Roil in Stillness, winner of the NEP’s annual call for scores. Like Rakowski, Slater drew upon the natural world for inspiration. Roil in Stillness, a tone poem composed in 2015, conjures the effects of rippling water as seen through a microscope.

It’s an attractive score and as its title suggests, chock-full of energy. Pittman and the orchestra delivered a vital and enthusiastic performance to make a strong case for this young composer.

Across 14 minutes, figures churn through each section of the orchestra, coming to rest on bristly dissonances before breaking away. Slater makes deft and vivid use of instrumental color. Brasses sound out heavy chords in climactic moments, and the large percussion forces supply a steady a rumble to propel the music forward. For all its power, Roil in Stillness concludes with a single high violin note evaporating into silence.