Helen Grime - "Meditations on Joy"
Helen Grime - Meditations on Joy
Grime's work continues to be available for outside audiences to happily embrace contemporary classical music, without ever sacrificing her integrity.
Scottish composer Helen Grime was once again represented at the BBC Proms with the European premiere of her recent work, Meditations on Joy. The original premiere delayed due to the pandemic, this 2019 work is set in three sections, exploring Grime's personal experiences of joy through the act of composing. While a truly delightful piece, it is apparent Grime's definition of both meditation and joy are wildly interpretive. The music consists of a wide range of emotional characters and sounds, but is always in forward motion. Her joy in the outside movements seems to be found in the stark contrast of sounds, while in the spinning middle section feels like an excited, distractable puppy.
Meditations on Joy is another prime example of Grime's excellent mastery of compositional craft. It is a highly organized and thought-out piece, even in the sections which come across as through-composed. The music, while often lacking in true melodies, is so exciting and honestly interesting, you never notice it is impossible to sing along. Grime's work continues to be available for outside audiences to happily embrace contemporary classical music, without ever sacrificing her integrity.
listen to the work on BBC Sounds here (available for 77 from this post)
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