On april 23rd 2005, 'Popcorn Superhet Receiver' premiered at LSO St Luke's, with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Robert Ziegler. The piece, comissioned by BBC Radio 3, was inspired by radio static and the extended, dissonant chords of Polish composer Penderecki's 'Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima'. A recording of the premiere performance, which lasts over 19 minutes, was aired on the BBC Radio 3 programme 'Mixing it' on June 24th 2005:
Information from the Faber Music website:
Description: string orchestra (18 vln.6 vla.6 vlc.4 db)Duration: 18
Genres: String Orchestra
Instrumentation: 18 vln.6 vla.6 vlc.4 db
Commission: Commissioned by the BBC
First Performance: 23.4.05, Jerwood Hall, LSO St. Luke's, London: BBC Concert Orchestra/Robert Ziegler
Availability: Score 0-571-52204-1 on sale, parts for hire
Programme Notes: Jonny Greenwood (b 1971) Popcorn Superhet Receiver (2005) Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and first performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra and Robert Ziegler on 23 April 2005 at LSO St Luke’s, London This was my first piece for the BBC Concert Orchestra, and it’s coloured by my childhood: as a kid, the family car only ever had the same four cassettes in it. These were: the songs of Simon and Garfunkel (though bizarrely not sung by them); Mozart’s horn concertos; and two musicals: Flower Drum Song and My Fair Lady. (This isn’t a claim of any kind of deprivation – there were other records at home – that’s just how things were.) On long journeys, when the family refused to hear them yet again, I used to listen to the engine noise, and found that if I concentrated hard enough I could hear the music from the cassettes still playing in the background. I’d do this for hours, until I could nearly hear every detail fighting to be heard through the drone of the car. And it was thoughts of background noise, and radios, that got me started writing this first BBC Concert Orchestra commission. © Jonny Greenwood
In 2005, Jonny wrote a short introduction about the piece, which was used for the program notes of performances of 'Popcorn Superhet Receiver':
This was my first piece for the BBC Concert Orchestra, and it's coloured by my childhood: as a kid, the family car only ever had the same four cassettes in it. These were : the songs of Simon and Garfunkel (though bizarrely not sung by them); Mozart's Horn Concertos; and two musicals: Flower Drum Song and My Fair Lady. (This isn't a claim of deprivation - there were other records at home - that's just how things were).
On long journeys, when the family refused to hear them yet again, I used to listen to the engine noise, and found that if I concentrated hard enough I could hear the music from the cassettes still playing in the background. I'd do this for houses, until I could nearly hear every detail fighting to be heard through the drone of the car. And it was thoughts of background noise, and radios, that got me started writing this piece.
'PSR' was one of the titles that appeared on the blackboard the band used during two weeks of rehearsals from september 19th to 30th 2005. At the end of that session, Colin posted a picture of this board on Dead Air Space on september 30th, unfortunately (and probably intentionally) in rather low resolution, so that some of it can't be deciphered:
In 2006, 'Popcorn Superhet Receiver' won the BBC Radio 3 Listeners' Award at the 2006 British Composer Awards, presented by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters in association with Radio 3. The event was held at the Hayward Gallery in London on november 24th 2006. The listeners of Radio 3 chose 'Popcorn Superhet Receiver' from nine BBC orchestral commissions, premiered between 1st April 2005 and 31st March 2006.
In connection with the Awards there was also a concert at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, where 'Popcorn Superhet Receiver' was performed in Jonny's presence by the BBC Concert orchestra, conducted by Robert Ziegler. By this point, probaby for this occasion, the piece had been reworked slightly, now being 3 minutes shorter than the premiere performance. It was broadcast on the BBC Radio 3 programme 'Performance on 3' on november 27th 2006:
In connection with the Awards there was also a concert at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, where 'Popcorn Superhet Receiver' was performed in Jonny's presence by the BBC Concert orchestra, conducted by Robert Ziegler. By this point, probaby for this occasion, the piece had been reworked slightly, now being 3 minutes shorter than the premiere performance. It was broadcast on the BBC Radio 3 programme 'Performance on 3' on november 27th 2006:
As part of the award, Jonny received a £10,000 funding from the PRS Foundation towards the commission of a new orchestral work, which is currently in progress.