Greatest Hits (So Far!) of Martijn Padding

The Attacca label has released a CD with the greatest hits (so far) of Martijn Padding. The CD received some very positive reviews:

‘Multiple award-winning composer Martijn Padding (1956) enjoys composing concerts. He loves their rhetorical character and the appropriate interaction between soloist and ensemble. In the CD booklet, he provides a very personal commentary on the chosen work, composed from Last Words (2010), Slow Landscape (with thunder) and Unequal Parts (both from 2016). Top students from the classical department of the Royal Conservatoire (KC), where Padding has taught for over 30 years, will perform the three compositions. Led by conductors Andreas Hanson and Gregory Charette, the musicians rehearsed the pieces at length, sessions where they also had the opportunity to incorporate their insights into the interpretations. Sit back with Martijn Padding’s words from the liner notes in mind. The sounding results are stunning. Padding’s compositions are diverse and complex, but soloists and ensemble seemingly unite with the score. Instrumentations in traditional combinations of strings, wood and brass with percussion surprisingly fraternise in perfect harmony with more unusual instruments like accordion, keyboard, Balinese Thunder and synthesiser. Students from KC’s Art of Sound department, led by Daan van Aalst, were responsible for the recording technique. The whole performance and recording really picked up fantastically.

Tight and balanced. The title Greatest Hits may remind you mostly of pop and rock successes, but it is entirely appropriate for this selection of Padding’s concerts. The addition So Far! also suggests a sequel with more masterpieces. Gladly!’ – Frank Hougee

(Luister 10 – Frank Hougee)

Padding gathered. Padding excels in that dialogue form of soloist versus ensemble. Here he lets cello, bass flute and piano enter into conversation with an ensemble of Hague conservatory students.’

(NRC – Joep Stapel)