Even pop geniuses have a patchy record when it comes to writing for an orchestra. For every success (a Jonny Greenwood or a Randy Newman, for instance) there is at least one dud (a Paul McCartney, a Sufjan Stevens, a Deep Purple). Sadly, on the evidence of the world premiere of her first symphony, Joan Armatrading is very much in the latter category: a brilliant pop melodist who somehow turns cloth-eared when trying to write for an orchestra.
It’s difficult to see what Armatrading was trying to achieve with her half-hour composition, written in four movements. It features a handful of aimless, glib melodies, played almost entirely in unison. There is little harmony, no counterpoint, no tension and no sense of development. It’s difficult to believe that the writer of such clever and harmonically rich masterpieces as Love and Affection, Willow, I Need You, Your Letter or Cool Blue Stole My Heart has put her name to this.
