The Garden of Forking Paths .

Commissioned by RTÉ for performance by the London Sinfonietta in the RTÉ Living Music Festival 2002 Premiere information 26 October 2002. Mahony Hall, The Helix, Dublin London Sinfonietta, conductor Pierre André Valade.

Download London Sinfonietta version:

Garden of the Forking Paths (mp3)

Live Reviews: RTÉ Living Music Festival: 26th October concert

John McLachlan

The Living Music Festival, 26th October
Mahony Hall, The Helix
London Sinfonietta and London Sinfonietta Voices

Birtwistle — Nenia: the Death of Orpheus (1970)
Mauricio Kagel — Match (1965)
Rob Canning — The Garden of Forking Paths (2002)
Luciano Berio — Laborintus II (1965)

The programme that the London Sinfonietta performed brought together four pieces very diverse in terms of their relationships to extra-musical concerns, but not so very diverse on questions of purely musical style and content. Three of the pieces were written within five years of each other, while the new work from Rob Canning sat surprisingly well among these – it might even be considered a little retro, in its delight in late 60s/early 70s ‘controlled improvisation’.