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New Music Concert Listings
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17 Aug
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18 Aug
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Saturday, August 18, 2012 at 11 am
Collegium Novum Zürich | Wilfried Hiller | Elsbeth Moser | Hubert Nettinger | Elisabet Woska
Lucerne Festival
Lucerne
Switzerland
http://e.lucernefestival.ch
Collegium Novum Zürich: Bettina Boller violin | Martina Schucan violoncello | Simon Lamothe-Falardeau tuba | Christoph Keller piano | Wilfried Hiller conductor (Hiller) | Hubert Nettinger tenor (Hiller) | Elsbeth Moser bayan | Elisabet Woska narrator (Hiller) | Stefan Blum percussion | Thomas Hastreiter percussion | Werner Hofmeister percussion | Edith Salmen percussion | Sebastian Hollunder piano and organ (Hiller)
“My way of working is essentially different from that of other composers,” Galina Ustvolskaya once observed. “I write when I find myself in a state of grace.” Music as worship, as testimony to a higher inspiration? This concert launches the Credo series with a gathering of four composers whose works also contain a spiritual message: first is Sofia Gubaidulina, who musically traces the symbol of the cross in her duo “In croce” and who depicts the soul’s ascent into heavenly heights in “De profundis,” which was inspired by Psalm 130 (“Out of the depths, o Lord, I cry to You”). Her Bavarian colleague Wilfried Hiller similarly drew on a biblical text for his monodrama from 1979, “Ijob”: the story of a man who loses everything because God wishes to test his faith.
Wilfried Hiller : Ijob
Galina Ustvolskaya : Piano Sonata No. 6
Galina Ustvolskaya : Composition No. 1 “Dona nobis pacem”
Sofia Gubaidulina : “In croce” for Violoncello and Bayan
Sofia Gubaidulina : “De profundis” for Solo Bayan
Sofia Gubaidulina : “Silenzio” for Bayan, Violin, and Violoncello
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18 Aug
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Saturday, August 18, 2012 at 3 pm
Proms Saturday Matinee
Cadogan Hall
5 Sloane Terrace, London, SW1X 9DQ
United Kingdom
02075898212
Conductor: Nicholas Collon
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
London Sinfonietta Voices
Mezzo-soprano: Lucy Schaufer
Counter-tenor: Andrew Watts
Piano: Huw Watkins
Narrator: Samuel West
Linked Ophelia pieces by Oliver Knussen, 60 this year, follow Alexander Goehr’s reflection on Bach’s compositional procedures, which Knussen himself premiered, wearing his conductor’s hat.
Also born in 1952, Simon Bainbridge has developed a darker, less mercurial kind of idiom. Inspired by Hieronymus Bosch’s extraordinary triptych, his eagerly awaited new work is a labyrinthine journey featuring mezzo-soprano and counter-tenor.
There will be no interval.
Alexander Goehr : … a musical offering (J.S.B. 1985) …
Oliver Knussen : Ophelia Dances
Oliver Knussen : Ophelia's Last Dance
Simon Bainbridge : The Garden of Earthly Delights
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19 Aug
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Sunday, August 19, 2012 at 11 am
Ensemble intercontemporain | Pablo Heras-Casado
Lucerne Festival
Lucerne
Switzerland
http://e.lucernefestival.ch
Ensemble intercontemporain | Pablo Heras-Casado conductor
It was a series of paintings by Francis Bacon that inspired Philippe Manoury to compose his “Fragments pour un Portrait.” Much as Bacon brought a new perspective to Velázquez’s “Portrait of Pope Innocent X,” Manoury deployed the same musical material for the seven movements of his ensemble piece—and in the process created seven different manifestations of an imaginary single-movement piece. Michael Jarrell was similarly inspired by other artistic disciplines: “La Chambre aux Échos,” which was commissioned by LUCERNE FESTIVAL in 2010 and which will now be performed in its completed version, draws on Richard Powers’s novel by the same name and explores the phenomenon of memory and of the genesis of feelings. Led by Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, the Ensemble intercontemporain will present an exemplary performance that will also serve as a point of reference for students of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ACADEMY, who themselves will then perform Jarrell’s score as part of their concert on 1 September.
Sean Shepherd : “Blur” for Ensemble
Michael Jarrell : "La Chambre aux Échos" for Ensemble
Philippe Manoury : “Fragments pour un Portrait” for Large Ensemble
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19 Aug
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Sunday, August 19, 2012 at 6.30 pm
Junge Philharmonie Zentralschweiz | Latvian National Choir | Andres Mustonen | Soloists
Lucerne Festival
Lucerne
Switzerland
http://e.lucernefestival.ch
Junge Philharmonie Zentralschweiz | State Choir "Latvija" | Andres Mustonen conductor | Raminta Vaicekauskaitë soprano | Mati Turi tenor | Vytautas Juozapaitis baritone | Gennadi Bezzubenkov bass
Sofia Gubaidulina faced a dilemma when she took up a commission to compose a Passion for the Bach anniversary year in 2000: “In Russian liturgical practice, there is no Passion tradition,” she remarked. “The Orthodox Church’s practice is to avoid any reference to personal representation or characterization and to anything theatrical.” Yet Gubaidulina solved the problem by freely combining excerpts from the Passion narrative told in the Gospel of St. John with verses from the visionary Book of Revelation, often setting them to music simultaneously. Her “St. John Passion” is closer to a ritual than to a theological plot. Shortly after the world premiere, she complemented the Passion with another large-scale work, the oratorio “St. John Easter” (2002), which focuses on the events involving the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Together they form a diptych that is her opus summum—and a centerpiece of this summer’s career retrospective in Lucerne.
Sofia Gubaidulina : St. John Passion
Sofia Gubaidulina : St. John Easter
Sofia Gubaidulina : In Russian
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20 Aug
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Monday, August 20, 2012 at 7.30 pm
Lucerne Symphony Orchestra | James Gaffigan | Hélčne Grimaud | Hans Christoph Begemann
Lucerne Festival
Lucerne
Switzerland
http://e.lucernefestival.ch
Lucerne Symphony Orchestra | James Gaffigan | Hélčne Grimaud | Hans Christoph Begemann
Wolfgang Rihm has never been afraid of grappling with music historical tradition. “Nähe fern” (“Near Far”) is his new, four-part cycle of orchestral works and will be heard in this concert for the first time in its complete version as a kind of disguised symphony, thus concluding Lucerne’s Brahms/Rihm series. In this work Rihm gives an entirely personal musical response to the four symphonies of Johannes Brahms. Yet his points of reference are extremely subtle: there are no direct quotations, no all-too-obvious echoes of Brahms’s musical language, which here represents the “Near.” Rihm instead homes in on the organic way in which melody is made to flow and on the refined art of motivic development that Arnold Schoenberg so deeply admired in his essay “Brahms the Progressive.” Meanwhile, the program’s second half presents the actual music of Brahms, in the original, as French master pianist Hélčne Grimaud appears at the keyboard for the dramatically compelling First Piano Concerto.
Wolfgang Rihm : Symphony “Nähe fern”
Johannes Brahms : Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15
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20 Aug
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21 Aug
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Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 8 pm
Edinburgh International Festival
Usher Hall
Edinburgh
Scotland
Tickets: Ł12 - Ł42
Cleveland Orchestra
Franz Welser-Möst Conductor
Best known for the unforgettable ‘Vltava’ (also known as ‘The Moldau’), which vividly depicts the country’s mighty river, the six symphonic poems of Má Vlast, ‘My Homeland’, conjure the spirit of Smetana’s beloved Bohemia, conveying its history, traditions and nature in music of wonder and imagination.
Franz Welser-Möst and his mighty Cleveland Orchestra bring their power and precision to the piece in a welcome return to the Festival. Folk music, this time from Poland, also lies behind Lutoslawski’s colourful Concerto for Orchestra, a virtuoso showpiece that shines a spotlight on the individual talents of Cleveland’s exceptional players.
‘This world-class orchestra... outshines all competitors these days’ The Wall Street Journal
Witold Lutoslawski : Concerto for Orchestra
Bedřich Smetana : Má Vlast (parts 1 – 4)
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22 Aug
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Wednesday, August 22, 2012 at 8.00 pm
Edinburgh International Festival
Usher Hall
Edinburgh
Scotland
Tickets: Ł12 - Ł42
Cleveland Orchestra
Franz Welser-Möst Conductor
Franz Welser-Möst concludes the Cleveland Orchestra’s account of Smetana’s Má Vlast with the powerful final movements, which depict the glories of Bohemian pride in music of blazing defiance. Shostakovich wrote his seldom-heard Symphony No 6 just after the dark years of Stalin’s purges, and the jollity of its conclusion makes a startling contrast with its haunting opening.
Compelling German pianist Lars Vogt is the soloist in Lutoslawski’s Piano Concerto, a piece full of energy and shimmering colours that proudly displays the inspiration its composer took from Chopin and Rachmaninov. It’s the perfect showpiece for Vogt’s combination of muscularity and refinement, and for the remarkable warmth and clarity of the Cleveland Orchestra’s sound.
‘The Cleveland Orchestra is one of the greatest in the world – the playing is perfection.’ The Guardian
Bedřich Smetana : Má Vlast (parts 5 – 6)
Witold Lutoslawski : Piano Concerto
Dmitri Shostakovich : Symphony No 6
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23 Aug
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Thursday, August 23, 2012 at 8 pm
European Union Youth Orchestra at EIF
Usher Hall
Edinburgh
Scotland
Tickets: Ł12 - Ł42
European Union Youth Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda Conductor
Garrick Ohlsson Piano
Edinburgh Festival Chorus
Christopher Bell Chorus Master
The exceptional young players of the European Union Youth Orchestra take on one of the largest and grandest piano concertos ever written. Busoni’s vast creation, with a male chorus swelling its overwhelming conclusion, is rarely performed because of the demands it places on its performers. The rich, deep sound of acclaimed US pianist Garrick Ohlsson is ideal for the piece’s vast canvas.
Conductor Gianandrea Noseda also brings his thrilling energy to bear on Debussy’s magical Nocturnes, three sound portraits of subtle shades and dazzling light. Twenty-Seven Heavens, by Richard Causton, is part of New Music 20x12, delivered by PRS for Music Foundation with the BBC, London 2012 and NMC Recordings. Special thanks to RVW Trust for making the New Music 20x12 commission possible.
‘An exceptional youth ensemble... it is among the elite institutions of its kind’ New York Times
‘The EUYO played... with such vitality and brilliance that they certainly turned heads.’ Berliner Zeitung
This concert will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 11 September 2012.
Richard Causton : Twenty-Seven Heavens
Claude Debussy : Nocturnes
Ferruccio Busoni : Piano Concerto
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| 24 Aug |
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25 Aug
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26 Aug
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| 27 Aug |
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28 Aug
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Tuesday, August 28, 2012 at 8.00 pm
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Usher Hall
Edinburgh
Scotland
Tickets: Ł12 - Ł42
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons Conductor
Baiba Skride Violin
Often considered to embody the spirit of Finnish nationalism, Sibelius’s Second Symphony is one of the composer’s warmest pieces, emerging from forest murmuring at its opening to the blazing light of its grandiose conclusion’s triumphant fanfares.
The violin concerto Offertorium by Tartar-born composer Sofia Gubaidulina has become a modern classic, its profound spiritual message conveyed in music of glowing transcendance. Written in defiance of Soviet oppression, its score was smuggled out of the USSR for its 1981 premiere in Vienna. It is just the piece to showcase the lyricism and emotional depth of Latvian-born violinist Baiba Skride’s playing to the full.
‘Andris Nelsons is six-and-a-half feet of pure energy’ The Daily Telegraph
‘there really is something going on between Nelsons and the CBSO… an alchemy that makes the combination irresistible in concert.’ The Guardian
Sofia Gubaidulina : Offertorium, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
Jean Sibelius : Symphony No 2
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| 29 Aug |
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| 30 Aug |
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| 31 Aug |
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1 Sep
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Saturday, September 01, 2012 at 11 am
EIF: Emerson String Quartet
Queens Hall
Edinburgh
Scotland
0131 668 2019
http://www.thequeenshall.net
Tickets: Ł8 - Ł29
Emerson String Quartet
The Queen’s Hall Series concludes with one of America’s finest string quartets, famed for its impeccable technique, assured musicality and dramatic spontaneity.
In a wide-ranging programme, the Emerson String Quartet contrasts two late masterpieces from Mozart and Beethoven with a fresh work by one of Britain’s leading composers, Thomas Adčs, which the players premiered last year.
Beethoven’s Opus 127 Quartet is the first of his so-called ‘late quartets’, in which the composer explores hitherto uncharted depths of intense spirituality. Its music touches on the profoundest emotions, with melodies of great lyricism and ineffable beauty.
Mozart’s Quartet K575 is a sprightly, glittering piece with a prominent cello part written for the Prussian King Wilhelm Friedrich II to play. The vivid sound pictures of Adčs’s The Four Quarters evoke night time, dawn and daytime in virtuosic music, including an unforgettable movement describing a shimmering cascade of raindrops.
‘one of the most impressive of American string quartets.’ (New York Times)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : String Quartet in D K575
Thomas Ades : The Four Quarters
Ludwig Van Beethoven : String Quartet in E flat Op 127
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1 Sep
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Saturday, September 01, 2012 at 11 am
Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart
Lucerne Festival
Lucerne
Switzerland
http://e.lucernefestival.ch
Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart
“What is eternity?” asks the Silesian Baroque poet Angelus Silesius in one of his mysterious epigrams, only to provide a paradoxical answer: “It is not this, not that, / Not now, not aught, not nothing; it is I know not what.” Heinz Holliger has set ten poems from Angelus Silesius’ “The Cherubic Pilgrim” to music, all of which revolve around metaphysical questions of nothingness, space, time, and the nature of God. The same can be said of the other works on this Sunday matinee program of a cappella music. For example, Michael Jarrell grapples with a fragment of the Greek philosopher Parmenides, while in his musical-dramatic cycle LICHT (“Light”), Karlheinz Stockhausen once again undertook a comprehensive worldview at the end of the 20th century. The Neuen Vocalsolisten Stuttgart will present the concluding text from “Wednesday” in the LICHT cycle—a composition Stockhausen incorporated into the design of his own grave.
Michael Jarrell : “… car le pensé et l'ętre sont une męme chose …”
Heinz Holliger : nicht Ichts – nicht Nichts.
Salvatore Sciarrino : Tre canti senza pietre
Karlheinz Stockhausen : “Menschen, hört” from “Mittwoch aus LICHT”
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1 Sep
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Saturday, September 01, 2012 at 7:30pm - 10:00pm
Cool Fusion
St. Michael's Church Chester Sq, London
Chester Square, Victoria, London, SW1W 9HH
United Kingdom
http://www.stmichaelschurch.org.uk/
Tickets: Ł12/Ł10 concessions, from ticketline.co.uk/cool-fusion or 0844 888 9991, booking fee applies
Lambeth Wind Orchestra
Putney Arts Theatre
Coronel Percussion
Cool Fusion Jazz
Cool Fusion Electronica
Mark Pampel (piano)
PIP Theatre Company
Cool Fusion is one of the largest voluntary-arts initiatives in the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. It presents a series of four performances of new music and drama in historic London venues, celebrating the Olympics and Paralympics within London's vibrant culture. It is a partnership of London Composers Forum, Colchester New Music and Putney Writers' Circle.
Developed collaboratively by twelve composers and four writers, Cool Fusion uses wind orchestra, percussion ensemble, electronics and actors to weave a narrative of exceptional human endeavour. The performance is framed by historical episodes, from sandals to scandals, chariots to wheelchairs, outside track to winners’ podium. These are interwoven with works exploring the parallels between music and physical culture, in rhythms of pace, endurance, determination and achievement.
For the St Michael's performance, Cool Fusion is joined by the PIP Theatre Company. PIP – Pursuing Independent Paths is a Westminster-based charity for young adults with learning disabilities; the PIP drama students will be presenting the premiere of Journey of the Torch, a music theatre piece presenting their interpretation of the Olympic torch’s journey from Greece to London, across a myriad of different land and seascapes. Showcasing the inimitable talents of PIP Theatre Company members, Journey of the Torch is the culmination of a series of workshops with composer Andy Bungay, writer Linda Redshaw and drama therapists Rebecca Blake and Alison Singleton. The PIP students have played a leading role in collaborative story development, creating a soundtrack and performing original music.
Texts and libretti for musical works are contributed by Rita Adam (Four Minute Mile), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Dorando: An Olympic Tale) and Linda Redshaw (Outside Track, Journey of the Torch). Additional non-musical drama pieces are contributed by Marcia Kelson and Dan Clarke.
This performance and outreach project are supported by Westminster City Council, Vital Regeneration and BNP Paribas, and by public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Mark Garnham : Fanfare for the Olympic Flame (London 2012)
David Arditti : Time and Tide
Cedric Peachey : Gold, Silver & Bronze
Alan Parsons : Fanfare for 2012
Mark Pampel : THE FINAL
PIP Theatre Company : Journey of the Torch
Martin Jones : Four Minute Mile
Phil Baker : Triumphal Laurels – Canzona ii from Canzonae Olympiae for Brass Quartet & Timpani
Luca Tieppo : Dorando: An Olympic Tale
Mark Pampel : Against the Odds
Stuart Russell : Distance/Time
Alan Taylor : Episode I from Five Incomplete Episodes
Andy Bungay : Outside Track
Alan Hilton : Olympic Fanfare
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2 Sep
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Sunday, September 02, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Bridging the Gap
American Islamic College
640 W. Irving Park in Chicago
United States
847-530-4061
http://americanmusicfestivals.com
amusicfest@aol.com
Tickets: $ 25
Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra and Chicago Syntagma Musicum Chorus
with
Imam Senad Agic, vocal soloist
Rabbi Neil Brief, guest speaker
The Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra performs a program of Jewish and Muslim music “Celebrating 500 Years of Friendship in Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
Ilya Levinson : Shtetl Scenes
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| 3 Sep |
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4 Sep
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Tuesday, September 04, 2012 at 20:00
Musikfest Berlin
Koninklijk theater Carre
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Sergei Leiferkus speaker
Rundfunkchor Berlin / Simon Halsey coach
Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam
Mariss Jansons conductor
After experiencing the latest trends of his era in Paris and Berlin, a talented young composer left Europe, burning his bridges behind him. He declared his previous music invalid and started from scratch in America. During his search for new horizons, Edgard Varčse moved to the USA in 1915. His emigration was an act of artistic liberation. New York, melting-pot and bubbling cauldron, with the most modern skyscrapers of the day, people from all over the world and a frantically fast pace – all this overwhelmed the young Edgard Varčse on his arrival. He incorporated his impressions of New York and first experiences of life in the USA into his orchestral work Amériques.
Arnold Schoenberg : A Survivor from Warsaw
Igor Stravinsky : Symphonie des Psaumes
Samuel Barber : Adagio
Edgard Varčse : Amériques
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| 5 Sep |
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6 Sep
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7 Sep
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8 Sep
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Saturday, September 08, 2012 at 7:00pm - c. 9:30pm
Morton Feldman's "Triadic Memories"
Schott Recital Room @ Bauer & Hieber
48 Great Marlborough Street, London W1F7BB
United Kingdom
Tickets: Ł10/Ł5 concessions
Luke Berryman (piano) www.lukeberryman.com
"Triadic Memories" is a vast single-movement work lasting approximately two hours. Like other compositions of Morton Feldman's final years, it's closely related to the aesthetics of Mark Rothko's paintings, and is characterised by stasis and extremely quiet dynamics. The unusual title refers partly to an attempt to evoke memory itself: listening to this piece is like flicking through an old photograph album. Its delicate, slowly-shifting harmonies reach toward something that was once definite, but is now lost in time. It was perhaps this fragility that led the composer to aptly describe the piece as "the largest butterfly in captivity".
"Triadic Memories" has only been performed a handful of times across the world, and the 25th anniversary of Feldman's death falls in the first week of September. All in all, this concert promises to be a special occasion.
Morton Feldman : Triadic Memories
Karlheinz Stockhausen : Klavierstück IX
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| 9 Sep |
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10 Sep
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Monday, September 10, 2012 at 19.00
John Adams: Nixon in China
Philharmonie Hall, Berlin
Germany
Robert Orth baritone (Richard Nixon, President of USA)
Jessica Rivera soprano (Pat Nixon, his wife)
Gerald Finley baritone (Chou En-lai, Premier of the People’s Republic of China)
Alan Oke tenor (Mao Tse-tung, Chairman of the People’s Republic of China)
James Rutherford bass (Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s advisor)
Kathleen Kim soprano (Chiang Ch’ing, Mao’s wife)
Stephanie Marshall mezzo soprano (Nancy T’sang, first secretary to Mao)
Louise Poole mezzo soprano (second secretary to Mao)
Susan Platts alto (third secretary to Mao)
BBC Singers / Matthew Morley coach
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Mark Grey sound direction
Paul Curran stage director
Murray Hipkin assistant conductor
John Adams conductor
With Nixon in China, American composer John Adams created one of the most successful operas of the 20th century. Following the opera’s first performance in 1987 in Houston, Texas, there have been numerous international productions, with the recording winning a Grammy. Nixon in China is an opera of its time, modern yet also combining elements of historical drama, reportage and documentary.
John Adams : Nixon in China
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| 11 Sep |
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| 12 Sep |
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13 Sep
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13 Sep
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Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 19.00
Fish Music
The Big Screen
The Big Screen, Armada Way, Plymouth
United Kingdom
01752 585050
http://peninsula-arts@plymouth.ac.uk
Tickets: Free
Ten Tors Orchestra Strings
Sam Richards piano
Tim Sayer trumpet
Andy Vissier saxophone
150 with Plymouth University
Fish in an aquarium become musical notes by placing a musical stave in front of them. String players play this mobile score/installation. Improvisers, with their backs to the action, take the string sound as their cue. Fish Music has become an urban legend. Come and see and hear the original, the real thing.
Sam Richards : Fish Music
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14 Sep
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Friday, September 14, 2012 at 4:45PM
Contemporary Classics 2
Kings Place
90 York Way, London, N1 9AG
United Kingdom
020 7520 1440
http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/
info@kingsplace.co.uk
Tickets: Ł4.50
Mark van de Wiel clarinet
Jonathan Morton violin
Igor Stravinsky’s output varied hugely over his lifetime, and The Soldier’s Tale (1918) dates from the early Russian phase after the composer had made a huge impact with his early ballet scores including Petrushka and The Rite of Spring. The original piece is a musical, narrative and dance composition which tells the story of a solider making a deal with the devil. This arrangement for three instruments was made by Stravinsky in 1919, and includes five numbers from the longer original for seven players.
Stravinsky's Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet also date from the same time, and are dedicated to Werner Reinhart, a supporter and patron of Stravinsky’s and a fine amateur clarinettist. Oliver Knussen’s Secret Psalm was written as a memorial piece to Michael Vyner, the artistic director of the London Sinfonietta until 1989. The concert will be introduced by the players, who will demonstrate how these contemporary classics work.
Igor Stravinsky : Three pieces for solo clarinet
Oliver Knussen : Secret Psalm for unaccompanied violin
Igor Stravinsky : The Soldier's Tale (1919, trio version)
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14 Sep
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Friday, September 14, 2012 at 3:30PM
Contemporary Classics 1
Kings Place
90 York Way, London, N1 9AG
United Kingdom
020 7520 1440
http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/
info@kingsplace.co.uk
Tickets: Ł4.50
Mark van de Wiel clarinet
London Sinfonietta
This concert combines a 20th century chamber music classic along with other contrasting and complementary chamber pieces.
Bartók’s Contrasts was written in 1938, commissioned by jazz clarinettist Benny Goodman and incorporates a number of Hungarian and Rumanian folk melodies. Lutoslawski’s Dance Preludes for clarinet and piano is similarly based on folk melodies, this time from the north of his native Poland. London-based composer Simon Holt’s Brief Candles is an evocative set of eight miniatures for solo clarinet. London Sinfonietta Principal clarinet Mark van de Wiel features as soloist.
Simon Holt : Brief Candles (for solo clarinet)
Witold Lutoslawski : Dance Preludes
Béla Bartók : Contrasts
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| 15 Sep |
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16 Sep
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Sunday, September 16, 2012 at 7:15PM
Minimal Materials 1
Kings Place
90 York Way, London, N1 9AG
United Kingdom
020 7520 1440
http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/
info@kingsplace.co.uk
Tickets: Ł4.50
London Sinfonietta
London Sinfonietta Academy Ensemble
The first of two concerts that explore how the repetition of minimal amounts of musical material make for a compelling listen.
Laurence Crane’s music is hauntingly beautiful in its stillness. Crafted with immense care, and a careful choice of consonant harmonies, his Trio and Riis both date from 1996.
Graham Fitkin was a pupil of Louis Andriessen, and while studying with him evolved his own highly tonal and often piano based version of minimal composition. His early piano piece, The Cone Gatherers (1987) helped establish his reputation and the concert also features his high energy Flak for two pianos and eight hands and a new arrangement for ensemble of Compel.
In this concert, London Sinfonietta musicians perform side-by-side with members of the London Sinfonietta Academy Ensemble.
Graham Fitkin : The Cone Gatherers
Laurence Crane : Trio
Graham Fitkin : Flak
Laurence Crane : Riis
Graham Fitkin : Compel
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16 Sep
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Sunday, September 16, 2012 at 8:45PM
Minimal Materials 2
Kings Place
90 York Way, London, N1 9AG
United Kingdom
020 7520 1440
http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/
info@kingsplace.co.uk
Tickets: Ł4.50
Sound Intermedia
London Sinfonietta
Steve Reich first developed his Counterpoint pieces in the 1980s, using in distilled form some of the compositional techniques he had developed from as early as the late 1960s.
While these pieces can be performed live, using many instrumentalists, the idea of one live musician performing against a recording of themselves came from Reich’s earlier experiments that developed such techniques as phasing (a musical pattern shifting inexorably forward against a steady version of itself).
The Counterpoints use short melodic phrases which are mostly played in canon, repeated at a fixed distance from each other. Each piece progresses through the differently paced sections by adding layer upon layer of interlocking ideas.
While it’s possible to hear the musical evolution of each piece as the fragments build up, the listener can eventually just revel in the fascinating and energetic textures, picking out new melodic patterns that emerge, guided sometimes by the soloist who also layers these on top.
Steve Reich : Vermont Counterpoint
Steve Reich : New York Counterpoint
Steve Reich : Cello Counterpoint
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MARCHINGEGNO
