Moondog music at the Barbican

The Music of Moondog - Barbican, 30 May 2009

What has provoked the recent outbreak of male menopausal grumpiness in the nation's press? Could it be the warm weather?

First the Telegraph's Rupert Christiansen had a go at opera-loving kids, who, lured by the offer of 1,200 free children's tickets, are apparently "dragged along by their well-intentioned parents" to Opera Holland Park, thus depriving grouchy middle aged men of their rightful seats in the stalls. Rupert, who perhaps skipped GCSE maths in his own distant youth, may have neglected to calculate that 1,200 freebies spread out over 45 shows (generous though it is) averages a mere 27 unwanted children per performance - barely earth-shattering.

And now the FT's Andrew Clark accuses classical music itself of "trying to be fashionable, relevant to the internet generation*". "Should we be alarmed?" he asks "Will everything we value and respect start to crumble?" "Is there a vacancy at the Daily Mail?"

(*a clever FT code for 'young people')

Both might have been even further peeved by Saturday night at the Barbican. A distinctly youngish audience sat in respectful silence while the Britten Sinfonia played their hearts out for over an hour of orchestral music. And as soon as the music stopped they applauded every note heartily.

OK, so the music of Moondog, with its jazz, folk and street sound influences, barely scrapes under the heading 'classical', but it's as good as any other label. Moondog's own description was "the art of concealing art: maximum effect but with minimum means".

It has to be said though that some of the means were rather too minimum to sustain interest over a full work. I'm thinking particularly of the Salzburg Symphony (one of over 800 symphonies Moondog wrote), a charming but exceedingly slight pop Mozart pastiche here given its world premiere. But the crisp educational beats of the opening Moondog Theme, the hillbilly Bach of Chaconne in G major and the twinkling Marimba Mondo made up for it.

And that was just the second half. The massed saxophones of London Saxophonic, joined by some excellent percussionists, filled most of the first with some of Moondog's joyful, upbeat brass compositions. An all-too-brief piano solo from Liam Noble was welcome, the protracted stage reset that preceded Clinic's two short rock numbers less so.

Some videos with original Moondog recordings - all of these were performed (in different arrangements) by the Britten Sinfonia:

Moondog'sTheme

Bird's Lament

Viking 1/Marimba Mondo

Chaconne in G major