Revolución diamantina is an awful disgusting mess

If you don't know what Revolución diamantina is (lucky you) - it's a composition by Gabriela Ortiz for an unreasonably large orchestra — that won 3 Grammys in 2025. Here's a longer description if you're interested. And here you can listen to it (don't).

I experienced it live yesterday (don't want to say listened as there's nothing to listen to), and rarely does a piece of music cause such a strong sense of disgust in me. I was ready to bail by the end of the second movement when I finally accepted that it was not going to get better. The only reason I stayed was Tchaikovsky after the intermission (it was great, by the way; the audience applauded the cello soloist so much that he did an encore).

Anyway, if I had to describe Revolución diamantina in one sentence, it would be "violation of the ears." Any time a half-decent melody gets going, it's interrupted by some banging, screeching, or pinging, and soon, it devolves again into something completely nonsensical. If the goal was to construct a piece as aesthetically unpleasant as possible, Gabriela succeeded with a flourish.

I clapped at the end only because I was so happy that it was finally over and I'll never have to listen to it again.