Insomnia, an interesting title for any piece of music, was performed at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. It wasn’t the only piece to be played as part of the concert, which was good as Insomnia is only twenty minutes long. The Vertigo suite from the movie Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock was also played. It was not just a concert though it was also a lecture aimed at giving the audience a better understanding of the main piece insomnia.
Deconstructing Insomnia, the first half
The first half of the concert concentrated on Insomnia, composed by Esa-Pekka Salonen in 2002. In this first half the presenter Paul Rissmann was tasked with breaking down the suite so that the audience could better understand it. Insomnia, despite what the name might suggest, is a fast paced piece changing quickly between its component sections.
Along with explaining what was going through the composers mind when he wrote the Insomnia, Paul Rissmann went into great detail as to what each section of the orchestra was doing during a section. Each section was played through then a section of the orchestra would play their part alone allowing the audience to hear what is sometimes lost to the ears.
The presenter also showed the sheet music on screen, allowing the audience to see what was happening. This exposed the mechanisms that the composer used to create the rhythmic pulse that was supposed to give the impression of a heart that was racing for example and made it a lot more understandable.
The lecture also included a recorded interview with the composer, something that as Mr Rissmann himself said was impossible to do with the composers of the classical pieces the orchestra usually plays without the use of a séance.
Overall the lecture was very enjoyable and made the piece a lot more understandable. The lecture had the added benefit of hearing from the composer himself about what he was thinking when he wrote the piece. It was instructive and engaging because of the presenters approach to his subject. Mr Rissmann’s style of delivery was almost conversational and he explained things with humour and a simplicity that made the subject easy to understand.
Vertigo and Insomnia, the second half
The second half of the concert was a play through of both suites. Starting with Vertigo, composed by Bernard Herrmann for 1958 film of the same name, the Orchestra played three of the pieces from the original soundtrack. Like the movie the pieces were dramatic and evocative, starting with “Prelude and Rooftop” then “Nightmare and Dawn” and ending in “scene D’amour.”
Because these pieces were composed for a soundtrack they do give you certain feelings, feelings of danger for example especially in the first piece “Prelude and Rooftop.” But it also allows your mind to wonder. Speaking to another audience member after the concert he imaged an ocean during the performance of “Prelude and Rooftop” due to its calm start and stormy ending. I’d never heard the soundtrack on its own before and personally I enjoyed it and it is certainly worth listening too on its own.
Insomnia was played straight through afterwards. The lecture before gave a better understanding as to the message and meaning behind it which I believe was necessary. As a technical exercise you can’t fault it and it is very dramatic, but it doesn’t give me a sense of insomnia. I have had those nights where a single thought keeps me awake and leads to an unstoppable chain of thoughts which is impossible to silence.
To me insomnia is a slow restless process not one that crashes around, heart racing and tossing back and forth in a rapid way. To me the piece speaks more of a nightmare then insomnia. There is simply too much drama in it.
I personally feel that Insomnia is trying to convey too many things in a short amount of time; it swings between calm and drama, the pounding of the thoughts and them racing through your mind, the drifting off to sleep and then the rising sun. It’s too busy for my liking.
Comparing it to Vertigo though is unfair. Vertigo was written for a different reason and although taken as a whole it also convey many different ideas, fear, danger, anticipation, it does it over a longer period of time and is broken down into tracks. Insomnia is one piece and rushes through its ideas and whilst all of its notions are conveyed, some were only done so because of the lecture before the suite was played. Again, as a technical piece you can’t fault it, it just left me feeling that it was wrongly titled more than anything else.
The concert however was excellent, the orchestra was brilliant and the lecture before was well thought out and explained. If the Royal Scottish National Orchestra repeats this concert I would urge you to see it because it is certainly worth it.
Nikki McLean - I am who I am; an ambidextrous dyslexic and you're just going to have to deal with me.
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