Patron: Roderick Williams OBE
5th July, 8pm
Mad Song
St John the Baptist Church, EN5 4BW
Anna Clyne: Just As They Are
​
Chris Mayo: Very little perhaps nothing
​
A Purcell Garland
Henry Purcell, arr. Oliver Knussen: ... upon one note
Henry Purcell, arr. George Benjamin: Fantasia VII
Henry Purcell, arr. Colin Matthews: Fantazia 13
​
Henry Purcell, arr. Joshua Ballance: Curtain Tune
​
Christian Mason: I wandered for a while...
​​​
Tristan Murail: Treize Couleurs du soleil couchant
learn about the programme...
There’s a lot of music in this programme: why have you chosen these pieces?​
​
Yes it’s a real mix of pieces from the last few decades! As a group we’re quite stylistically agnostic, and I think this concert really reflects that with such an aesthetic range.
The idea behind the programme was to explore music inspired by other pieces of art or other non-musical inspirations, music that is really wedded to something else. There are three pieces in the programme that draw on text: the Clyne, Mayo, and Mason. Alongside those we have some contemporary recompositions of music by Purcell, and then we wrap up with the Murail, which draws on a painting by Monet.
​
‘Recomposition’ is a really broad term for the Purcell works in the programme. What do the composers do successfully? Why do we need to recompose at all?
The selfish answer would just be: we like the music, but it’s not for our instruments, so we nicked it. And frankly, there’s some truth to that. Arrangements of music for different ensembles have an endless history, and particularly with earlier music where performing practice had more flexibility.
When it’s done best, we feel that recomposition allows you to appreciate earlier music in a new light. It brings out new facets of the music that were always there but perhaps a bit hidden, and allows you to enjoy different features of the music. Across the four composers we’re presenting there’s a real range in how they do this: George Benjamin keeps all the same notes but just changes the sounds; Colin Matthews goes much further in rewriting the music and breaking it up. Nonetheless, they all stay true to the originals throughout. On a certain level, the point is to celebrate Purcell!
The Murail piece in the programme has a very poetic title: what’s the story behind this piece?
​
Yes it does! ‘Thirteen colours of the setting sun’ is already enticing, but the piece has a really fascinating story. It’s often been compared to Monet’s Impression, soleil levant, which is the painting that kicked off impressionism, but is also of Le Havre, Murail’s hometown.​
Murail’s music takes the idea of sunset and depicts it musically. For him, the crucial thing is the blending of colours: this process where we go from full daylight to nighttime through various stages that are each gorgeous, but where the transitions are imperceptible. So, his music does the same thing: there are 13 sections, each very different with their own personalities, but which melt into each other, creating exactly the same sensation as when the light changes at the end of the day.
If our audience wanted to listen to some other music related to your programme, what would you recommend?
George Benjamin’s At First Light is a gorgeous introduction to his soundworld. If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous you might try Kaija Saariaho’s Petals.
For something a bit earlier, Olivier Messiaen taught Benjamin and Murail, and his Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus are absolutely stunning. The whole cycle is huge, but the Première Communion de la Vierge is a particular favourite.
And finally, if you were a pasta sauce, what would you be and why?
Perhaps pesto: always fresh and very versatile!
There’s a lot of music in this programme: why have you chosen these pieces?​
​
Yes it’s a real mix of pieces from the last few decades! As a group we’re quite stylistically agnostic, and I think this concert really reflects that with such an aesthetic range.
The idea behind the programme was to explore music inspired by other pieces of art or other non-musical inspirations, music that is really wedded to something else. There are three pieces in the programme that draw on text: the Clyne, Mayo, and Mason. Alongside those we have some contemporary recompositions of music by Purcell, and then we wrap up with the Murail, which draws on a painting by Monet.
​
‘Recomposition’ is a really broad term for the Purcell works in the programme. What do the composers do successfully? Why do we need to recompose at all?
The selfish answer would just be: we like the music, but it’s not for our instruments, so we nicked it. And frankly, there’s some truth to that. Arrangements of music for different ensembles have an endless history, and particularly with earlier music where performing practice had more flexibility.
When it’s done best, we feel that recomposition allows you to appreciate earlier music in a new light. It brings out new facets of the music that were always there but perhaps more hidden, and allows you to enjoy different features of the music. Across the four composers we’re presenting there’s a real range in how they do this: George Benjamin keeps all the same notes but just changes the sounds; Colin Matthews goes much further in rewriting the music and breaking it up. Nonetheless, they all stay true to the originals throughout. On a certain level, the point is to celebrate Purcell!
The Murail piece in the programme has a very poetic title: what’s the story behind this piece?
​
Yes it does! ‘Thirteen colours of the setting sun’ is already enticing, but the piece has a really fascinating story. It’s often been compared to Monet’s Impression, soleil levant, which is the painting that kicked off impressionism, but is also of Le Havre, Murail’s hometown.
​