Wigmore Hall, London
A very unconventional set of instruments brought a touch of chaos to this esteemed venue as it hosted the London contemporary music festival’s finale

‘A home for the promiscuous music lover” is how the London contemporary music festival (LCMF) describes itself, but in fact it is a festival that has no permanent home of its own. Over the past 12 years it has led a peripatetic life around some unlikely London venues. The 2024 festival last month was based in Hackney, but one event was left until the new year, and that took place in the Wigmore Hall, bringing the slightly chaotic and distinctly anarchic character of the LCMF to one of the capital’s most respectable concert halls while halving the average age of the audience there in the process.

The concert ended with the world premiere of Éliane Radigue and Carol Robinson’s Occam Delta XXIII, a collaborative drone piece for baritone saxophone, trombone and percussion, inspired by the colours and wave patterns of the North sea. Here it was performed from memory and with immense concentration (there is no written score) by members of Ensemble Klang.