Fortissimo Autumn 2018 by Faber Music

FABER MUSIC NEWS — AUTUMN 2018

fortissimo! OLIVER KNUSSEN (1952-2018)

Plus Lessons in Love and Violence David Matthews at 75 Cave: a new chamber opera by Tansy Davies Anna Meredith opens the BBC Proms and Edinburgh Festival

Highlights • Tuning In • New Publications & Recordings • Music for Now • Publishing News

Faber Music is deeply saddened to announce the death of Oliver Knussen on 8 July. Knussen, our beloved House Composer of over forty years, was one of the world’s most eminent and influential composer-conductors and leaves behind him a body of work of crystalline concision, complexity and richness. His impact on the musical community – both in the UK and around the world – was extraordinary, and is a testament to his great generosity and curiosity as a musician, as well as his unfailing love and deep knowledge of the art form. In tribute to Knussen, the BBC Proms opened with his Flourish with Fireworks. The Tanglewood Music Center, where he was Head of Contemporary Music from 1986-93, performed his Songs and a Sea Interlude and numerous chamber works. Knussen left many musical projects unfinished, though at this very sad time we are heartened that in the last few years he was able to complete two final masterpieces – Reflection for violin and piano, and O Hototogisu! for soprano, flute and ensemble – and that his life’s work will now be housed at the Sacher Foundation.

Dear colleagues, In our last issue we mourned the passing of Donald Mitchell – the rock on which Faber Music was founded. In this issue we mourn the untimely death of another foundation stone of the company, Oliver Knussen. Olly joined us in 1977 and he became a central part of our culture: a magnet for other composers who were drawn to the values that supported him here. Others will say more eloquently than I what his music, personality, as well as his conducting, meant to a musical community which stretched across Europe to the US and beyond. His eminence was reflected by full-page obituaries in the major newspapers of the UK, Holland, and the US, as well as features on primetime BBC Radio 4 news and other BBC programmes. His unique and generous personality, humour, and engagement with a wide circle of admirers will be much missed. Another composer who joined Faber Music in 1977 was George Benjamin. Olly and George were not known to each other then, but since became the closest of friends. Benjamin’s third opera Lessons in Love and Violence has shown again what innate talent the composer has in this genre. The opera has attracted the attention of the BBC and a TV broadcast will be relayed on October 21, preceded by a BBC 1 ‘Imagine’ documentary, charting his life and achievements, on 16 October. An Opus Arte DVD, and a recording from Nimbus are planned for release in the new year. David Matthews is another composer who has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with us (since 1986). His 75th year is passing with confirmation of a particularly apt position for him at the heart of the English countryside, a landscape so important to his music. Indeed, with performances from the Orchestra of the Swan, the English Symphony Orchestra and the Chipping Campden Festival coming up he can truly be described as the composer of ‘middle’ England.

Olly and I became close friends virtually from the moment we joined Faber Music in the late 1970s. I have always loved his music with its radiant harmony, exuberant rhythmical vitality and unsurpassable instrumental mastery. His supreme talents as a conductor exhibited the same attention to detail, depth of intelligence, aural refinement and communicative brilliance. His generosity and openness of spirit has had a crucial impact on music here over the last four decades, in particular by helping so many younger composers to forge their voice, either through his inspirational teaching or by allowing them to hear their first scores played with exemplary focus and energy. I should add that it’s impossible to imagine a more loyal and caring friend; he was also the funniest person I have ever met. It’s painfully hard to accept the parting of this uniquely wonderful figure – but his musical legacy is vast, and it will continue to flourish long into the future.

Olly Knussen taught me that a work takes as long as it takes. He worked only to his own time scale and it was like a diamond forming.

PHOTO: SALLY CAVENDER © MAURICE FOXALL

Thomas Adès

Olly came into my life as a friend rather late. He was known to me as a composer of a younger generation but it was only about 10 years ago we started phoning each other regularly. I found he was one of the few people I could talk to about music. We were on the same wavelength and he had a knowledge of music, particularly contemporary music, that was hard to imagine. There are figures in my life who have appeared to me as angels and he was certainly one of those. Like all of those angels he will be sorely missed.

Harrison Birtwistle

It’s abundantly clear how Olly radiated great warmth and pure music. His musicmaking was at the very highest level; an expression of everything that was good in the world. His incredible talent and complete devotion to his art was hugely inspiring and comforting to me. How lucky we were to have known him – those sparkling eyes are unforgettable.

Sally Cavender Performance Music Director | Vice Chairman, Faber Music

George Benjamin

Tansy Davies

HIGHLIGHTS

Olly was the greatest musician I’ve ever known. He was a major British composer and conductor – by far the best of his generation, with ears even better than Boulez’s. He was also my closest friend, with such a kind heart, and was like my Dad. The loss to me but also to us all is incalculable.

Mark-Anthony Turnage

Who now can I rely on when I have a question that needs answering? Olly was so knowledgeable and wise about so many things, much more than just music (and what was there that he didn’t know about that?). Who else would have introduced me to the writer Harry Mulisch and the film maker Aki Kaurismäki, or told me where to find Joachim Patinir in the Prado? How many people could have directed me to the best Dim Sum restaurant in San Francisco? And even where I thought myself an expert, Olly could shame me by finding a wine that I hadn’t known about. It’s impossible to be objective about the loss of someone who was a friend of mine for more than 40 years. A great musician, yes, it hardly needs saying, but I can only think of Robert Craft’s touching words after the death of Stravinsky. ‘We do not want him to be with Bach and Mozart as commentators and messages of condolence are saying. We want him in the next room, frail and weak as he was, but wonderfully alive... I cannot believe and cannot accept that he is not and will never again be there.’ In the late 1970s I helped with the completion of Olly’s Third Symphony, a race against time. The perfectionism which so often led to crises before a première was, when applied to Olly’s work as a conductor, a completely different experience. We worked together on many recordings, and if it was scary to be producer for someone whose ears were incomparably better than mine, it was also immensely rewarding. Watching him in rehearsal left you staggered by the precision he aimed at, and usually achieved, although it was rarely entirely to his satisfaction. Of course, like any powerful personality, he could be difficult. During the composition course which we ran together for 25 years at Aldeburgh, where he was an irreplaceable mentor to so many young composers, our different approach might lead to minor clashes. He would occasionally call me a control freak – it takes one to know one! But everything would be resolved over a leisurely evening meal. Similarly the many long evenings he spent at our house were always a delight. What a privilege to have had a part to play in such a remarkable life. Others will write about his music for years to come, and so will I. But for now all I want to do is express gratitude for an exceptional life that was far too short. He still had so much to say, and our own lives are so much diminished by his absence.

Colin Matthews

Oliver Knussen Oliver Knussen was the gentle giant of new music, a man of Selected unique abilities, infinite tact, huge charm and great humour. forthcoming In his beautiful and humane output he showed that anything performances from an expressionist poem by Trakl to a dog eating a mop may Flourish with become great and memorable music for anyone who cares to listen. Fireworks His conducting was likewise broad – who else could interpret 22.9.18, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Theatre, Japan: Tokyo Birtwistle, Respighi, Feldman, Busoni, Mussorgsky and Carter Metropolitan Symphony with equal brilliance? To many of us, he was also a dear friend Orchestra/Lawrence Renes who surmounted many difficulties with incredible bravery, never 9.3.18, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, UK: BBC losing his zest for life. He wore his genius lightly – he would Philharmonic Orchestra have guffawed at the notion he was one. But he was, and his O Hototogisu! extraordinary musical legacy places him in the company of the 18.11.18, CBSO Centre, greatest creative figures of the past sixty years. Birmingham, UK: Claire Booth/

Julian Anderson

It was an immense privilege to work alongside a mind as fine as Olly’s. It had its challenges too, of course. It was natural that Olly’s exacting standards for himself would be expected of those working on his music. When Olly proudly brought in the manuscript of Prayer Bell Sketch he was almost embarrassed by the trouble its notation had given him. ‘It’s only a piano piece,’ he said. ‘But that’s the most complex notation of all’, was my reply. There could be no greater misnomer than ‘sketch’ for the customary fastidious and exquisite pencil manuscript and its beautifully-wrought notation. Olly relished the intricacies of notation and would expect the appearance of his manuscripts to be replicated in the typesetting – quite a challenge to engravers and, more recently, to the software. Layout and spacing on the page was an obsession and the exquisitely beautiful notational spacing in the manuscripts set the standard to be followed in the published scores. Each page was examined fastidiously until every piece of spacing met with his approval. In 1989, Olly himself asked that the last remaining plateengraver in the UK, Jack Thompson, engrave his Rilke settings. Four Late Poems and an Epigram became the last Faber Music publication to be traditionally engraved. Editing the content was virtually out of the question – but rarely needed. When once challenged over the immense detail in his scores, Olly faxed by return two melodic lines picked from Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony. ‘As specific as anything these days’, was his reply, ‘Perhaps the problem is that some people aren’t specific enough!’ Editorial changes would not go unnoticed: regrouping a pair of rests could constitute ‘recomposing’.

Marie-Christine Zupancic/ Birmingham Contemporary Music Group/TBA

Songs without Voices 7.12.18, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London, UK: London Sinfonietta/Jessica Cottis

Whitman Settings 23.1.19, Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany: Claron McFadden/Alexander Melnikov

Where the Wild Things Are 24.1-7.4.19, Opernhaus, Düsseldorf, Germany: Deutsche Oper am Rhein/Duisburger Philharmoniker/Jesse Wong/ dir. Philipp Westerbarkei (7 performances)

Reflection 19.3.19, Wigmore Hall, London, UK: Nash Ensemble/Musicians from the Royal Academy of Music

Ophelia Dances Book 1 20.3.19, Berlin: Ensemble UnitedBerlin/Catherine LarsenMaguire

Study for “Metamorphosis” UK premiere 12.4.19, Wigmore Hall, London, UK: Nash Ensemble bassoonist

Olly was never happier than when we were probing into the intricacies of his manuscript. He loved his scores when they were published, and told us he slept with both the Violin Concerto and the Higglety, Pigglety, Pop! full score under his pillow when he received his newly-published copies. Olly’s talent for storing his pieces in his head, then scoring an orchestral piece vertically, bar by bar, usually in the early hours, was legendary. Rarely, if ever, was anything found to be out of place on the page – and as is reflected in the exquisite beauty and quality of the music itself.

Elaine Gould 3

Lessons in Love and Violence

Lessons in Love and Violence, George Benjamin’s longawaited third opera, premiered at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 10 May 2018, with the New York Times hailing it as a ‘significant contribution to the art form’ and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung describing it as a ‘haunting symbiosis of words and music’.

In what is an almost unsurpassed expression of trust, six international houses have participated in the commissioning and production alongside Covent Garden. Following the Dutch National Opera performances in June, the opera now travels to Hamburg State Opera, Opéra de Lyon, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona and Teatro Real, Madrid.

Delving into the dark and turbulent events of Edward II’s life and death, the 90-minute opera to a text by Martin Crimp is directed by Katie Mitchell, with designs by Vicki Mortimer. Once again, Benjamin has tailor-made the music for a hand-picked cast. The baritones of Stéphane Degout and Gyula Orendt – as the King and his lover Gaveston – entwine in duets of dark sensuality, whilst soprano Barbara Hannigan, as Isabel the Queen, traces an ever-descending spiral of desperation with a vocal angularity quite different from the role of Agnès in Written on Skin. Tenor Peter Hoare is terrifying as the cold utilitarian Mortimer, whilst the gleaming haut-contre of Samuel Boden (as Boy and Young King) is only revealed fully in the opera’s denouement, when he restores order with a terrible act of violence. The vividly characterised supporting roles are sung by soprano Jennifer France, mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó, and bass-baritone Andri Björn Róbertsson.

Full commission and instrumentation details on page 22

Compared to the punchy 15-scene structure of Written on Skin, Lessons unfolds a taut slow-burning arch of seven longer tableaux, each with its own distinct character. The score boasts particularly rich string textures, and is coloured by basset horn and cimbalom together with a pair of harps, celesta, and percussion (including talking drums and tombak). Several of the opera’s powerful interludes are dominated by braying, sardonic brass – with tuba substituted by the more menacing contrabass trombone. If Benjamin’s music is at its most acerbic and violent here, other moments – like Gaveston’s intimate declarations of love for the King – display a tender directness unlike anything else in his output. The use of the third person – such a distinctive feature of the previous operas – is gone, allowing for some spectacular ensemble writing. In Scene Three’s play within a play, several strands of independent music collide, and the result is perhaps one of the most complex musical structures Benjamin has ever tackled. The music’s relationship to the drama is often unstable and seemingly very spontaneous, but beneath it all one senses a rigorous architecture, unflinchingly guiding the listener deeper and deeper into the opera’s disquieting emotional world. 4

IMAGES: LESSONS IN LOVE AND VIOLENCE © ROH, PHOTO BY STEPHEN CUMMISKEY

‘Benjamin and Crimp have done it again’ ‘A raucous beauty… Benjamin and Crimp have done it again. Six years after the masterly Written on Skin, they have again dared to challenge audiences by remaining true to their uncompromising visions… Without pandering, they’ve made another significant contribution to the art form… It’s Benjamin’s remarkable music that gives the work its charge: the writing is so lush, haunting and detailed — radiant one moment, piercingly dissonant the next — that you are continuously enveloped by the raucous beauty of the sounds…’ The New York Times (Anthony Tommasini), 11 May 2018

‘Refined, alive, virtuosic and particularly lyrical in its magnificent interludes… Like the elegant tailoring she wears, the role of Isabel fits Hannigan like a glove. If perversion inhabits Gaveston… it is all the better to provoke and seduce: to provoke the angry Mortimer, for whom “love is a poison”, and to seduce the King, a striking figure of loneliness, whose natural authority (audible in his brilliant tone of black mica) does not prevent the drama’s vertiginous exploration of human torment.’ Le Monde (Marie-Aude Roux), 22 June 2018

‘This haunting symbiosis of words and music seethes with violence and sensuality… Delicate flitting passages mix glowing colours with exotic cimbalom sounds, strange chirping harps and nervous, tone-painterly swells…’ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Gina Thomas), 14 May 2018

‘Crimp’s text is clear, poetic, dark, loaded and ambiguous… The music is characterized by a permanently emotional rawness.’

Het Parool (Erik Voermans), 26 June 2018

HIGHLIGHTS

‘Carries the lyric art to a rare degree of accomplishment.’ Diapason (Benoît Fauchet), 12 May 2018

‘Atmospheric from the outset… the dense interludes convince, drawing in a highly attentive audience…’ Das Opernglas (Michael Lehnert), June 2018

‘Benjamin’s opera introduces us to characters who “turn to the dark” and we follow them as they peer into the abyss… His music is at once brilliantly clear and full of halfsuggested meanings… gripping concentration, enough to make an audience hold its breath for long stretches.’ The Financial Times (Richard Fairman), 11 May 2018

‘This complex and polysemous work enshrines Benjamin as one of the great opera composers of our time…’ El País (Luis Gago), 11 May 2018

‘A different beast to Benjamin’s last opera, yet it gets under one’s skin with the same forensic precision.’ Opera (Erica Jeal), July 2018

‘A triumph… this new opera is a sign of vitality.’ The Evening Standard (Leader), 11 May 2018

‘Compared to Written on Skin, there are more overtly lyrical passages, more vocal counterpoint (including some almost Verdian ensembles) and more bravura orchestral writing. The pacing and balance are flawless. Benjamin’s great gift for crystalline clarity is also evident: I can’t think of a composer writing today who has the same ability to make the tiniest flourish or the simplest combination of instruments so richly expressive. There is no empty rhetoric in his music, no pointless excess…’ The Telegraph (Rupert Christiansen), 11 May 2018

‘The music resembles a whirlpool that pulls everything towards the chasm. Every scene, every interlude has unique colour. A great coup, exquisitely executed.’ Operwelt (Wiebke Roloff), July 2018

‘A bleak, lustrous opera… There’s a pervading air of menace, but the drama’s implicit violence only becomes explicit in some of the interludes… Remarkable colours and effects.’ The Guardian (Andrew Clements), 11 May 2018

‘More ambitious than Written on Skin: bolder, angrier, more self-revealing, more tender’ ‘No weapon in music is more powerful than silence. Benjamin uses it with surgical skill… [In the third scene] public and private drama clash while different musical ideas play simultaneously. Think of the end of Act I of Tosca. Benjamin, not surprisingly, handles things entirely differently, reining in rather than spilling out, tightening harmony and counterpoint to breaking point. It’s a tense moment in a work that locks you in from its opening conflict… more ambitious than Written on Skin: bolder, angrier, more self-revealing, more tender… Each scene has a different musical identity.’ The Observer (Fiona Maddocks), 19 May 2018

‘An opera built on the sliding panels of elision, metaphor and metonymy – a shifting world where a kiss can be a betrayal, and a caress a murder, where taking away a man’s name or his crown can deprive him of his life… The thirdperson narration has gone. Storytelling has become a more straightforward transaction, and Benjamin’s language has responded in turn with a more sustained, string-based lyricism that could be described as sensuous were it not so coldly, forbiddingly beautiful… the “machine” of politics finds echo in music that ticks and clicks and – devastatingly – stutters and stops altogether on the word “dead” during the King’s assassination. Raging against that machine with every coaxing bar he sings, Gaveston stills and suspends time… Degout – pliant in scenes with Orendt (Benjamin doing here for male-voice duets what Strauss did for female) – holds the centre, orbited by Hannigan’s brittle Isabel (whose horrid-beautiful pearl aria is a highlight)… There is no poker here because the authors have found a far more devastating, savage weapon: love itself.’ The Artsdesk (Alexandra Coghlan), 11 May 2018

‘Another masterpiece, darker and perhaps deeper still than Written on Skin… its intellectual brilliance and sensual wonders matched, at the very least, by its emotionally overwhelming dramatic path…’ Seen and Heard International (Mark Berry), 16 May 2018

reviews continued overleaf… 5

Tansy Davies: Cave ‘Auditorium and stage are drawn into the music’s altered temporality… Any effects are always understood through the prism of beauty, and his chief development in the last decade or so has been to realise, rather as Mozart did, just how powerful an engine of drama this prism can be… There are no formal arias as such, but here the sense is all the stronger that the melodic line could erupt at any moment, producing aria-like refractions of the emotional drama.’ The Times Literary Supplement (Guy Dammann), 18 May 2018

‘A masterpiece…’ NRC Handelsblad (Mischa Spel and Ron Rijghard), 4 July 2018

‘Benjamin’s is a completely original musical language… He and Crimp are a dream duo…’ Trouw (Frederike Berntsen), 7 June 2018

‘A hermetic, dark work in which subcutaneous human desires are masterfully cast into sound… Rarely does one see so many immediately iconic scenes in a new opera. The strongest is when Isabel, confronted with the poor of the country, dissolves a pearl in vinegar before their eyes… It is a dark scene and – like much of the opera – angry, dreamy, elusive and ambivalent… When Mortimer [strangles] a Madman, the orchestra throws punches. Even more hard-hitting than these blows are the score’s narrow consonances, melodious dissonances and unusual colours with which Benjamin gives such an unsurpassed voice to the untranslatable undercurrents of human contact and desire.’ NRC Handelsblad (Mischa Spel), 26 June 2018

‘…the notes swirl and boil, glow and burn… Benjamin is a master in the unfolding and interweaving of supple vocal lines and in the compression and stretching of musical time. The listener is not short of anything.’ deVolkskrant (Frits van der Waa), 26 June 2018

Tansy Davies’s new chamber opera Cave premiered in the vast warehouse space of The Printworks, London on 20 June. Starring Mark Padmore and Elaine Mitchener, it was staged by the London Sinfonietta in association with the Royal Opera. Furthering the successful collaboration with poet Nick Drake, which in 2014 produced the BASCA-winning opera Between Worlds, this 60-minute work follows a grieving father’s quest for survival and renewal, in a world plagued by environmental disaster. Desperate to connect one last time with his daughter, a man – sung by Padmore – enters a dark cave, triggering a journey into an underworld of spirits. A world that is given voice through Mitchener. Lucy Bailey directed, the London Sinfonietta was conducted by Geoffrey Paterson, and sound design was overseen by Sound Intermedia and Rolf Wallin. Key to this opera’s success is the inspired pairing of two remarkable – and hugely contrasting – vocal talents. Padmore is an English lyric tenor par excellence, whilst Mitchener is a fearless experimental vocalist whose contribution is a thrilling mixture of the fully notated and the wildly improvisatory. Sometimes the singers are worlds apart, elsewhere they loosely echo one another and, in some of the opera’s most poignant moments, their voices are melded together, in strange alloy. The sheer range of vocal writing in the piece is astonishing: from pure-tone chants, winding cantabile icaros, and trilling birdsong imitations, to cries of anguish, guttural moans, and a series of terrifying cawing noises barked through a megaphone. Both singers shake rattles whilst singing, and Mitchener plays bass drum in one of the opera’s several outbursts of wild shamanic energy. Cave feels like a pivotal moment in Davies’s evolution as a composer, uniting a new-found spaciousness, and harmonic airiness with the looping grooves that have long driven her work. Across eight scenes, six instrumentalists create a richly alluring, glittering soundworld, prominently flecked with harp. At key moments the players take on solo roles: a horn rides the natural harmonics in broad upward surges, the clarinet duets in the stratosphere with Mitchener’s twittering vocalisations, and later a violin joins her in a folksy, lilting lullaby. Everything is couched in a vast, slow-moving cave of electronic sound (based on Davies’s darkly lustrous string orchestra work Dune of Footprints) which provides the beguiling harmonies which underpin the piece.

PHOTOS: BARBARA HANNIGAN IN LESSONS IN LOVE AND VIOLENCE © ROH, PHOTO BY STEPHEN CUMMISKEY; CAVE AT PRINTWORKS LONDON © MANUEL HARLAN

HIGHLIGHTS

‘a shimmeringly atmospheric soundscape’ ‘The space is astounding – a soaring cathedral nave deep inside the womb of a decommissioned printworks… A portentous parable of the catastrophic mess we are wantonly making of our planet… there is some personal consolation, but no redemption from a scorched and atrophied world… Drake’s libretto is powerfully resonant, a poem rather than a plot and clearly very deeply felt… a shimmeringly atmospheric soundscape… What one is left with is often beautiful in sound, a threnody always haunting and unsettling in implication.’ The Telegraph (Rupert Christiansen), 21 June 2018

‘Davies’s ambitious dystopia is small only in size… The opening music establishes a sense of place immediately, layering low, ominous notes, a calming harp, and high, skittish figures. The man claps and whistles as if to test the size of the cave, and Davies’s electronic manipulations pick up the sounds and send them spiralling out beyond the ceiling. The music is transparent, brazenly beautiful and much use is made of the Sinfonietta’s players as soloists, weaving elaborate individual lines alongside the vocalists.’ The Guardian (Erica Jeal), 21 June 2018

‘overwhelming impact’ ‘The score is beautifully imagined, both subtle and refined in its use of a small group of instruments; at other points more violent gestures intervene, hitting home with overwhelming impact… Bailey maximises the atmospheric impact of the vast venue, while both Padmore and Mitchener give performances of exceptional range and expressive power… the opera’s general stance is spiritual, if necessarily troubled. The ending may feel more ambivalent than positive, but the journey on which the audience has been taken is undoubtedly worthwhile.’ The Stage (George Hall), 21 June 2018

‘Into a cave creeps a man (Padmore giving the performance of his life)… The best thing about Davies’s music is how she interleaves Padmore’s voice, acoustically and electronically, into a web of what seemed like embellished echoes. The virtuoso instrumentalists produce strikingly atmospheric gestures… a bold and ambitious show.’

‘an ineluctable taste for the epic’ ‘Davies and Drake have an ineluctable taste for the epic… [A] sensuous, layered score, full of tender woodwind drones, plucked harp and elegiac strings, combined with vivid electronics… full of strange powers.’ The Observer (Fiona Maddocks), 1 July 2018

‘A resourceful composer… Mitchener pushed towards an improvisational, at times almost shamanic utterance that threatened to stretch the boundaries of bel canto to breaking point… The real atmosphere emerged through the orchestra, weaving eerily insinuating textures.’ The Evening Standard (Nick Kimberley), 15 June 2018

Cave (2017-18) chamber opera in eight scenes for mezzo-soprano, tenor and ensemble with electronics. 60 minutes Text: Nick Drake (Eng) cl(=bcl).bsn(=cbsn).hn.harp.vln.db – live electronics (1-2 operators): sampler/effects applied to the vocal performers FP: 20.6.2018, The Printworks, London, UK: Mark Padmore/Elaine Mitchener/London Sinfonietta/Geoffrey Paterson/dir. Lucy Bailey commissioned by the London Sinfonietta and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation, with support from the Britten-Pears Foundation Full score, vocal score and parts for hire

The Times (Richard Morrison), 22 June 2018

‘Swathed in a highly suggestive atmosphere… Davies draws ominous, atmospheric music out of her players, overlaid with the amplified sounds of dripping water and thunderous destructiveness… the mood is sustained without a lapse.’ The Financial Times (Richard Fairman), 21 June 2018

Francisco Coll Selected forthcoming performances

Francisco Coll Working with a fine brush

Cantos

Rizoma, a thrilling five-minute duo for violin and cello, was premiered – and recorded – by star soloists Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Sol Gabetta in July. ‘Writing this piece has been more difficult than I originally imagined, says Coll. ‘Despite being a piece of short duration, I spent several months working with a fine brush in the counterpoint of the voices. The result is an extremely compact structure’.

12.12.18, Fundación Juan March, Madrid, Spain: Dalia Quartet

Four Iberian Miniatures 3.2.19, Stadttheater, Bern, Switzerland: Patricia Kopatchinskaja/ Camerata Bern

Hyperlude V 23.4.19, Indianapolis, IN, USA: Augustin Hadelich

As its name suggests, Rizoma is the seed of a larger work: Les Plaisirs Illuminés, a double concerto which Gabetta and Kopatchinskaja will premiere as part of Coll’s residency with Camerata Bern in July.

Hidd’n Blue 10.5.19, Palau de la Música, Valencia, Spain: Orquesta de Valencia/Ramón Tebar

Les Plaisirs Illuminés

Major addition to trombone repertoire

World premiere 19.7.18, Kursaal Bern, Switzerland: Patricia Kopatchinskaja/Sol Gabetta/ Camerata Bern

Tanglewood debut Coll made his Tanglewood debut this summer, with the US premiere of his Four Iberian Miniatures by violinist Chi Li and the Festival Orchestra conducted by Thomas Adès. Described as ‘glittering with sharp Andalusian light’ by The Observer, the 12-minute work will next be performed in February by Patricia Kopatchinskaja as part of Coll’s residency with Camerata Bern. ‘An earthy, extroverted violin concerto in all but name, in which popular dance forms appear as if warped in a funhouse mirror.’ The Boston Globe (Jeremy Eichler), 30 July 2018

Augustin Hadelich (who gave the BBC Proms premiere of the Four Iberian Miniatures back in 2016) performed Coll’s Hyperlude V for solo violin in Pittsburgh and at the Aspen Music Festival. A further performance is planned in Indianapolis this April.

New quartets take up ‘Cantos’ Coll’s 5-minute movement for string quartet, Cantos has been taken up by the Dalia and Callisto Quartets in Germany and Australia respectively. A version of Hyperlude V for solo violin, the work was composed for Cuarteto Casals, who also premiered Coll’s Concerto Grosso. ‘Cantos has a spiritual and introspective character,’ says Coll. ‘It is a consecutive series of cadences that in some way emulate the inflections of the human voice.’

PHOTO: FRANCISCO COLL © JUDITH COLL EXTRACT FROM RIZOMA © FABER MUSIC

Faber Music is pleased to announce that Coll’s Chanson et Bagatelle for trombone and piano will be published later this year. With this masterful 8-minute work Coll – a trombonist himself – has created a major addition to the instrument’s repertoire. The Chanson is almost Bergian with its dark harmonies and slow-burning passion, unfolding as a song without words whose broad lines exploit the whole compass of the instrument, from pale heights to baleful, gritty depths. The angular Bagatelle which follows could not be more contrasted, drawing much of its characteristic mood and colour from the ingenious use of the harmon mute.

‘Hidd’n Blue’ in Spain Since its premiere by the London Symphony Orchestra and François-Xavier Roth back in 2009, Coll’s exhilarating concert-opener Hidd’n Blue, continues to be taken up internationally. In July Pablo Rus conducted three performances with the Jove Orquestra de la Generalitat Valenciana, who became the seventh orchestra to perform it. Vivid, rhythmically charged and filled with startling harmonies, this 5-minute work builds to a truly vertiginous climax. Writing about the piece, Coll describes ‘a bass note of deep, mysterious blue that has been overlaid with swirling, lighter colours’. The work’s next performance will be with the Orquesta de Valencia in May 2019, as part of Coll’s residency at the Palau de la Música.

TUNING IN

Jonathan Harvey New songs unearthed

Recognition for a pioneering mind

To mark what would have been Harvey’s 80th birthday in 2019, Faber Music will publish an unreleased collection of songs for mezzo-soprano and piano entitled Songs and Haiku. Two haiku (the first for piano alone – the only piece here to have been published before – the latter by Basho) bookend three love songs dedicated to Harvey’s wife Rosa. The grouping of pieces was the composer’s own, and mixes Eastern and Western poets in a totally characteristic manner. Both Tagore and E.E. Cummings are represented, poets who feature in some of Harvey’s finest works (Song Offerings and Forms of Emptiness, respectively), and a third song sets Tennyson’s ‘Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal’, and should prove a fascinating comparison with the Britten version. A premiere is planned for next summer.

A new essay by Paul Griffiths, based on fresh research at the Sacher Foundation and the previously unseen diaries of Harvey’s widow Rosa, has shed new light on the extent of Harvey’s pioneering achievements. Published in the Sacher Foundation’s journal, the article credits Harvey with several important breakthroughs and is an important step to reappraising works like the Inner Light trilogy.

2019 will also see the long-awaited publication of a new edition of Speakings, Harvey’s 2008 work for orchestra and electronics. Typeset, and with input from Gilbert Nouno who collaborated on the electronic element, this major undertaking will make Harvey’s stunning piece even more accessible to conductors and enthusiasts.

‘Within a period of under six years, then, between July 1967 and (at the latest) April 1973, Harvey was not only introducing live electronic music to Britain but also, on an international plane, independently anticipating or paralleling two highly significant innovations of the time: “formula composition” à la Stockhausen and spectral music. If his position in these spheres has not been recognised, that is partly because the works in question have remained underexposed… There is also the question of Harvey’s lack of ego. That very quality that made him so receptive to ideas just over the horizon would then have restrained him from taking ownership of them.’

In Harvey’s questioning and poetic Scena for violin and 9 players, the soloist proceeds through a series of dramatic and richly coloured events signalled in the score as ‘Lament’, ‘Mystical Event’, ‘Romantic Event’, ‘Dream’ and ‘Metamorphosis’ (which takes and transforms a melody – one previously used in the flute quartet Lotuses). Originally written for Irvine Arditti and the Nieuw Ensemble of Amsterdam, this knotty but beautiful 14-minute work will be revived in December by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.

Mitteilungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung (Paul Griffiths), Nr. 31, April 2018

‘Messages’ in Helsinki Following her performance of Messages with the Gulbenkian in May 2017, long-time Harvey advocate Susanna Mälkki will conduct the work’s Finnish premiere in February, with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Helsinki Music Centre Chorus. One of Harvey’s most beautiful late works, Messages is a setting of a text that consists entirely of the names of Judaic and Persian angels. The 25-minue work for chorus and orchestra sees Harvey employing an line-up rich with tuned percussion, harps, pianos, celesta and cimbalom to create a glowing, iridescent soundworld.

PHOTO: JONATHAN HARVEY © MAURICE FOXALL

A quasi-operatic violin showpiece

Jonathan Harvey Selected forthcoming performances Tranquil Abiding Australian premiere 8.9.18, Bendigo International Festival of Music, Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo, VIC, Australia: Adelaide Symphony Orchestra/Eric Dudley

Moving Trees 23.9.18, Strasbourg; 26.9.18, Arsenal, Metz, France: Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse/Laurent Cuniot

String Quartet No.4 30.11.18, Reid Concert Hall, University of Edinburgh; 2.12.18, Woodend Barn, Banchory; 3.12.18, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow, UK: Hebrides Ensemble

Scena 9.12.18, Birmingham Conservatoire, UK: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group/Emilio Pomarico

Wheel of Emptiness 29.1.19, Zürich, Switzerland: Collegium Norum Zürich

Messages Finnish premiere 15.2.19, Music Centre, Helsinki, Finland: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Helsinki Music Centre Chorus/Susanna Mälkki

Pre-echo for JeanGuihen 23.2.19, Mozart-Saal, Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria; 17.3.19, Boulez Saal, Berlin, Germany: Jean-Guihen Queyras

Music as a form of breathing Breathing was a recurring theme for Harvey, and finds numerous varied manifestations across his output, from electronic representations, as in his 1991 opera Inquest of Love, to purely instrumental ones, like his masterful Tranquil Abiding for chamber orchestra (1998). The latter receives its Australian premiere at the Bendigo International Festival of Music in September, with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eric Dudley. This 14-minute work takes its name from a Buddhist term describing a state of single-pointed concentration and its backbone is made up of a simple oscillation between an inhalation on an upper note and an exhalation on a lower one. Overlaid with melodic fragments of increasing ornateness, this simple unifying device creates an organic and coherent trajectory through the work’s wave-like form and towards its limpid conclusion, where a gentle smattering of exotic percussion and string pizzicati (the latter withheld until this point for maximum effect) bring the music to a rest.

Thomas Adès Selected forthcoming performances

Thomas Adès ‘The Exterminating Angel’ in Denmark

Three Studies from Couperin

Following its world premiere at the 2016 Salzburg Festival, and critically acclaimed performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and New York’s Metropolitan Opera, The Exterminating Angel travelled to The Royal Danish Opera in the original Tom Cairns production. Robert Houssart conducted a brand new cast with great authority and understanding.

23.9.18, Salle Métropole, Lausanne, Switzerland: Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne/Jonathan Bloxham 1-2.11.18, Hessischen Rundfunks, Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Hessischer Rundfunk/François Leleux 19-20.2.19, Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany: The Knights/ Eric Jacobsen 5-7.4.19, Powell Hall, St Louis, MO, USA: St Louis Symphony Orchestra/ Gemma New

In Seven Days 26.9.18, Royal Festival Hall, London, UK: Kirill Gerstein/ London Philharmonic Orchestra/ Thomas Adès

Dances from Powder Her Face 18,20.10.18, Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, ON, Canada: Toronto Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Søndergård 16.11.18, Cultuurcentrum Hasselt; 17.11.18, Triangel, St Vith; 18.11.18, BOZAR, Brussels, Belgium: Orchestre National de Belgique 4.2.19, Royal Theatre, Victoria, BC, Canada: Victoria Symphony/ Christian Kluxen 7.2.19, Caird Hall, Dundee; 8-9.2.19, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, UK: Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Thomas Søndergård

Totentanz Finnish premiere 26.10.18, Helsinki Music Centre, Finland: Christianne Stotijn/Mark Stone/Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Adès French premiere 30-31.1.19, Philharmonie, Paris, France: Christianne Stotijn/Mark Stone/Orchestre de Paris/Daniel Harding

Polaris 7-8.11.18, Philharmonie, Paris, France: Orchestre de Paris/ Thomas Adès Hungarian premiere 26.1.19, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Budapest, Hungary: Concerto Budapest/Arvid Engegård 22-24.2.19, FL, USA: The Florida Orchestra/Michael Francis

Lieux retrouvés Hungarian premiere 25.11.18, Budapest Music Center, Hungary: Concerto Budapest/ Andras Keller

These Premises Are Alarmed 24,35,27.1.19, Copley Symphony Hall, San Diego, CA, USA: San Diego Symphony/Matthew Aucoin

Asyla 7.2.19, Konzerthaus, Berlin, Germany: Konzerthausorchester Berlin/ Johannes Kalitzke

A special edition of ‘The Tempest’ Faber Music is excited to announce the publication of a limited edition full score of The Tempest, featuring exclusive images from Adès’s manuscript score and sketches. Full details can be found on the back cover of this newsletter.

New works for Boston and LA The LA Philharmonic has announced an ambitious Adès dance project with The Royal Ballet and Wayne MacGregor as part of its 18/19 season. Conducted by Adès in July 2019, the evenings will include Outlier (MacGregor’s existing choreography to the Violin Concerto), In Seven Days, and a new score that the orchestra will have premiered with Gustavo Dudamel in May of that year. Adès is currently at work on a Piano Concerto for Kirill Gerstein and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which will be premiered in March 2019.

Second recording of ‘Paraphrase’ Ashley Fripp has become the first pianist other than Adès himself to record the fiendishly virtuosic Concert Paraphrase on Powder Her Face. A paraphrase somewhat in the manner of Liszt or Busoni, this brilliant, quick-witted reworking of music from four scenes of Adès’s scandalous – and hugely successful – first opera Powder Her Face is a tour de force. The fifteen-minute work was premiered by its composer in 2010, though few other pianists perform it complete. A launch concert is planned at the Royal OverSeas League, London on 18 September. ‘An exciting revelation…’ BBC Music Magazine (Oliver Condy), September 2018

‘Fripp captures all its insouciance, darkness and extravagance.’ The Observer (Fiona Maddocks), 15 July 2018

‘Adès’s distillation of his opera fits into classical tradition not only on account of quality… but in the way it reinvigorates the Lisztian genre of operatic paraphrase.’ The Sunday Times (Paul Driver), 22 July 2018

PHOTO: THOMAS ADÈS © SONNING PRIZE (AGNETE SCHLICHTKRULL)

Based on Luis Buñuel’s surrealist classic, this is a true ensemble opera, and the skill with which Adès delineates the many intricacies and undercurrents present over its densely-packed span is breathtaking. A masterfully deployed orchestra is coloured by guitar, piano and ondes martenot, the latter soaring above proceedings as an eerie manifestation of the force that ensnares the characters. ‘Adès’s most ambitious work yet and the Royal Opera’s most exciting venture for a long time… a genius thriller… It’s incredibly rich in music thrills.’ Berlingske (Søren Schauser), 25 March 2018

‘The grip of the music is unconventional… Like the dinner guests on stage, one is kept captivated by a mysterious power.’ Politiken (Thomas Michelsen), 25 March 2018

‘It’s masterfully done… Adès calculates the music’s effect with supreme power and authority.’ Frederiksborg Amts Avis (Knud Cornelius), 26 March 2018

‘It’s entertaining. It’s beautiful. An inspired construction… the opera has taken audiences and reviewers by storm since its 2016 premiere.’ Information (Camilla Marie Dahlgreen), 27 March 2018

‘An extraordinary piece of work… The music draws on an immensely broad range of styles, and much of the opera is characterised by irony.’ Peripeti (Lars Ole Bonde), 27 March 2018

‘The opera offers poignant and musically stunning moments, as well as a decent dose of humour. Adès’s music is catchy and full of beautiful details.’ Operapoint blog, 24 March 2018

From opera to concert platform Adès is creating a set of Three Berceuses from The Exterminating Angel for violist Lawrence Power. They have been commissioned by a new initiative called the Viola Commissioning Circle, and the first of the pieces will be premiered at a private launch on 19th September at 22 Mansfield Street, when Power will be joined by pianist Huw Watkins. Three Berceuses will be based on some of the opera’s most exquisite and memorable music – the first two drawing on the yearning melancholy duets of the doomed lovers Beatrice and Egardo, the last a version of Silvia’s eerie berceuse macabre from Act III (‘It’s very late now. Yoli, it’s bedtime’).

TUNING IN

Carl Vine ‘a work chock-full of colour’ ‘Vine structured the ideas as musical chunks thrown up against one another. But don’t be fooled, the final product is of course carefully refined and immaculately crafted… The work opened with the pianos at war, hurling chords at each other half a beat apart. However for most of the work the soloists were in conversation, echoing and dovetailing each other and enmeshed in the orchestral texture… Vine opted for light string textures and transparent scoring, allowing for moments of emotional intimacy and clarity… This is a work chock-full of colour and climax, and confirms Vine’s unerring ear for beauty.’

‘The Enchanted Loom’ The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s focus on the music of Carl Vine culminated at the end of August with the premiere of his Symphony No.8 ‘The Enchanted Loom’ conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Like Vine’s trombone concerto Five Hallucinations, this new symphony takes its inspiration from the goings-on in the brain. Its five movements conjure imagined states of brain function. Reviews will follow in the next issue.

Limelight (Rosalind Appleby), 13 May 2018

‘Strutt Sonata’ published Faber Music is pleased to announce the publication of Vine’s Strutt Sonata for cello and piano. Premiered at the 2017 Huntington Estate Music Festival the 15-minute work unfolds as a single movement, it includes a lyrical aria that returns later in darkly mirrored form, as well as a joyous presto finale.

Violin Concerto 23-24.2.19, Cincinnati Music Hall, OH, USA: Leila Josefowicz/Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Louis Langree

Piano Concerto world premiere 7-9.3.19, Symphony Hall, Boston, MA; 20.3.19, Carnegie Hall, New York City, NY, USA: Kirill Gerstein/Boston Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Adès european premiere 25-26.4.19, Gewandhaus, Leipzig, Germany: Kirill Gerstein/ Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/ Thomas Adès

Concert Paraphrase on Powder Her Face 13.3.19, Carnegie Hall, New York City, NY, USA: Thomas Adès/Kirill Gerstein

new work world premiere 10-12.5.19, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA, USA: Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra/ Gustavo Dudamel

Violin Concerto/In Seven Days/ new work 12-13.7.19, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA, USA: Leila Josefowicz/Kirill Gerstein/The Royal Ballet/Company Wayne McGregor/ Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra/ Thomas Adès/chor. Wayne McGregor

Vine is one of the most respected Australian composers working today, as shown by his recent 2018 Art Music Award for Excellence by an Individual. His orchestral music is increasingly performed internationally: his Percussion Symphony will be performed in Germany and Switzerland this November, whilst his Symphony No.7 receives its Estonian premiere in February, with Arvo Volmer conducting the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra.

Carl Vine Selected forthcoming performances Our Sons 22.11.18, Huntington Estate Music Festival, Mudgee, NSW, Australia: Taryn Fiebig/Australian National Academy of Music Chamber Orchestra/Damien Eckersley

Concerto for two pianos Vine’s concerto for two pianos, Implacable Gifts, was premiered in Perth on 11 May 2018 by outstanding international pianists Piers Lane and Kathryn Stott. Rory Macdonald conducted the West Australian and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras. ‘Chords surging across two pianos, backed by a fateful bass drum beat, exactly evoked the impact of his inspiration — a surrealist vision by Australian painter James Gleeson of a cruel sea disgorging random elements on its shore… From the dramatic opening movement, ‘Irresistible Urges’, through the narrative themed and lyrically meditative middle passages, ‘Folk Story’ and ‘Fairytale’, soloists and baton formed a tight triad to channel a complex work… In the finale, ‘Inevitable Conclusion’, as strings raced to catch pianos and percussion, the lyricism seemed to echo Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.’

Thomas Adès Selected forthcoming performances

Percussion Symphony

Gallipoli memorial revived Originally written for the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Reflections On Gallipoli tour in 2015, Vine’s Our Sons for soprano and strings, will be revived at the Huntington Estate Music Festival in November. The original soloist Taryn Fiebig will be joined by the Australian National Academy of Music Chamber Orchestra conducted by Damien Eckersley. The moving 12-minute work includes a setting of the words of Turkish General Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a tribute to fallen Anzac soldiers, inscribed on the memorial stone at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli.

24.11.18, Wehratalhalle, Todtmoos, Germany; 25.11.18, Martinskirche, Basel, Switzerand: Sinfonieorchester TriRhenum Basel/Julian Gibbons

Piano Trio 24.11.18, Huntington Estate Music Festival, Mudgee, NSW, Australia: Jayson Gillham/Dimity Hall/Julian Smiles

Symphony No.7 Estonian premiere 15.2.19, Estonia Kontserdisaal, Tallinn, Estonia: Estonian National Symphony Orchestra/Arvo Volmer

The Arrival of Implacable Gifts 11.4.19, Tucson Museum of Art, AZ, USA: ZOFO Piano Duet

The West Australian (David Cusworth), 13 May 2018

PHOTO: CARL VINE © KEITH SAUNDERS

Tom Coult Selected forthcoming performances

Tom Coult Dutch premiere of ‘Sonnet Machine’

Piano Trio “The Chronophage”

Sonnet Machine, Coult’s BBC Philharmonic commission from 2015-16 received its Dutch premiere as part of the Holland Festival, with Martyn Brabbins conducting the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Coult describes the piece as ‘a creative misunderstanding of sonnet form – 14 bits of music that “rhyme’’ in various ways, as if an early computer had arbitrarily applied the rules of sonnet form to a piece of music.’ Over the course of the work’s riproarious 10 minutes, whipcracks articulate many jolting gear changes and non sequiturs, whilst the front desks of violins and violas double on instruments whose scordaturas lend a blazing rawness to the openstring sonorities of the work’s arresting point of departure.

6.2.19, Trinity College, Cambridge, UK: Fidelio Trio

Études 24.4.19, Trinity College, Cambridge, UK: Daniel Pioro

Codex (Homage to Serafini) 20.6.19, Cadogan Hall, London, UK: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/ Cristian Macelaru

Benjamin Britten Selected forthcoming performances Paul Bunyan 3-8.9.18, Wilton’s Music Hall, London, UK: English National Opera/ Matthew Kofi Waldren/dir. Jamie Manton

Sacred and Profane 7.9.18, Wells Cathedral, UK: The Sixteen/Harry Christophers (UK tour)

Curlew River 15.9.18, Nova Hall, Tsukuba, Japan: Tsukuba Citizen Opera Committee/ Mami Karasawa

The Burning Fiery Furnace 21.9.18, Lammermuir Festival, UK: Scottish Opera/Derek Clark/ Jenny Ogilvie

Quatre Chansons Françaises 29.9.18, Rosenbergsalen Malmö Academy; 30.9.18, Konserthuset, Helsingborg, Sweden: Sarah Ioannides/Malmö Academy of Music Orchestra/Theodor Uggla

String Quartet No.3 8.10.18, Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany; 20.10.18, Snape Maltings Concert Hall, UK: Doric String Quartet

Young Apollo 17.10.18, Allerheiligen-Hofkirche, Munich, Germany: Lilian Akopova/ Münchener Kammerorchester/ Yuki Kasai 6.3.19, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, AZ, USA: Jeremy Denk/Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Three Divertimenti/ Temporal Variations 19.10.18, Britten Studio, Snape, UK: Tesla Quartet/Olivier Stankiewicz/ Alice Chenyang Xu

Phantasy in F Minor 20.10.18, Britten Studio, Snape, UK: Thalea Quartet/Isabel Charisius

A new work for the Arditti Quartet Coult’s new work for the Arditti Quartet was premiered as part of the opening concerts of the newly refurbished Purcell Room at London’s Southbank Centre in May 2018. Commissioned by the Hepner Foundation in memory of Leo Hepner, the 12-minute work is characterised by the unusual tunings of half of the instruments – the 2nd violin has all its strings tuned down a semitone, and the viola has all its strings tuned down a tone. This greatly expands the number of different pitches available to be played as open strings – unlike the conventional tuning of a quartet, this combination contains 16 unique strings – and all of the piece’s five movements are in some sense explorations of the distinctive timbre of open strings. It’s an ingenious work, perhaps Coult’s most compellingly original yet, taking in a fantastically wide range of emotions with his usual mixture of clarity and strangeness. ‘In his first (of many, let’s hope) string quartets, Coult made extensive use of open strings, creating new aural possibilities with fascinating results.’ The Observer (Fiona Maddocks), 3 June 2018

Studies in Canonic Form Coult has made an arrangement of Schumann’s Studies in Canonic Form Op.56 for the Britten Sinfonia Academy chamber orchestra. The 17-minute work was premiered in July. ‘These pieces show great contrapuntal skill and canonic technique, but the severity of the title belies the character of the music – this is music of great wit, charm, beauty and elegance,’ says Coult. ‘My arrangements aim to match these qualities through orchestral colour – sometimes highlighting the canonic structure, sometimes disguising it.’ Coult’s music has often involved canons, from his Beautiful Caged Thing for soprano and chamber orchestra to his Four Perpetual Motions for ensemble.

PHOTO: TOM COULT © MAURICE FOXALL

Sonnet Machine isn’t the only work of Coult’s to be revived in coming seasons: his Codex (Homage to Serafini) will be performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in their 18/19 Season, as part of the PRS Resonate Scheme.

Aldeburgh Opera A number of scenes from Coult’s chamber opera with the award-winning playwright Alice Birch, developed as part of their Jerwood Opera Writing Fellowship and supported by Snape Maltings, were showcased in April. The extracts, for four singers and ensemble of 13 players, showed a keen dramatic sense and bode well for the future of the work. Nicholas Kok conducted the Britten Sinfonia. The complete 90-minute opera is being commissioned by the Aldeburgh Festival and Music Theatre Wales, for performance at Snape and on tour in 2020. The opera is set in an insular town that runs like clockwork under their beloved clocktower. One night, an hour disappears. On day two, two hours are missing, on day three, three are gone. The drama unfolds over 24 increasingly short days, as time drains from the world, until the opera snaps shut as the final hour disappears. Alice Birch’s recent work includes the plays Ophelia’s Zimmer and Anatomy of a Suicide, both directed by Katie Mitchell, and a BAFTA-nominated screenplay Lady Macbeth directed by William Oldroyd).

Benjamin Britten ‘Sacred and Profane’ This season The Sixteen and Harry Christophers are touring Benjamin Britten’s Sacred and Profane across the UK. A collection of eight medieval lyrics composed in the winter of 1974-5, it proved to be Britten’s last work for unaccompanied voices. It was conceived as a virtuoso display piece for five solo voices though is now often performed with full choirs. Britten’s texts are a fascinating mixture of the devotional and the rumbustiously secular. The final song ‘A death’ is a wicked blend of horror and gallows humour.

TUNING IN

Colin Matthews Spanish premiere for vivid concerto In April Leila Josefowicz will give the Spanish premiere of Matthews’s Violin Concerto with the Orquestra Sinfónica de Galicia under Daníel Bjarnason. This dazzling and mercurial work was written for Josefowicz, with her distinctive musical personality in mind, and is one of Matthews’s most vivid scores. A sustained, high-flying lyricism is one of score’s hallmarks, and it inhabits the rich yet airy soundworld typical of his post-Debussy Préludes pieces. Cast in two movements of equal length, the 22-minute concerto is scored for an economical orchestra of only 36 string players, winds and seven brass and percussion. Flugelhorns replace trumpets, and the distinctive bass sonorities of the lujon are prominent.

Poetry of exile and paranoia Fascinating blueprint of early Mahler The Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, conducted by Gustavo Gimeno, have become the second orchestra to record Matthews’s orchestration of Mahler’s early Piano Quartet movement in A minor. Commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2009, and taking its cue from the sweeping gestures and oppressive mood of the original, this vivid reimagining intensifies the ominous atmosphere of this fascinating 12-minute work, creating savagely seething climaxes on a grand scale. Few composers are better placed to make such an orchestration than Matthews who, together with his brother David, collaborated with Deryck Cooke on a performing version of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony. More recently, he made a 12-player version of Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen for Ian Bostridge, who has performed it in Switzerland and South Korea. ‘What emerges from Matthews’s orchestral tapestry is no abortive Brahmsian essay but the blueprint of a Mahlerian voice well on the way to its first distinctive utterance in Das klagende Lied. The quartet texture is now laced with anticipations (or is it recollections?) of the early symphonies.’ Gramophone (Peter Quantrill), June 2018

This Pentatone release is only the beginning of the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg’s exploration of Matthews’s transcriptions. Earlier this year they recorded a specially-commissioned orchestration of Book 1 of Debussy’s Images. More details to follow in the next issue.

A new work for oboe octet Nicholas Daniel and the Britten Sinfonia will premiere a substantial 20-minute work for oboe octet at London’s Wigmore Hall in February. Commissioned by the Radcliffe Trust and Wigmore Hall, the octet will further expand Matthews’s output for the instrument: the two oboe quartets, Duologue and Night-Spell for oboe and piano (both commissioned by Daniel) and the recent solo work Figures, suspended. PHOTO: COLIN MATTHEWS © MAURICE FOXALL

In December the London Sinfonietta will premiere As Time Returns, a 20-minute setting of poems by Ivan Blatný. Scored for baritone and 12 players, it was commissioned with funds from the Koussevitzky Foundation. One of the leading Czech poets of his generation, Blatný defected to England in 1948, becoming a non-person in his own country – all references to him were expunged, and his poetry was black-listed. Life in exile was not easy – he suffered a mental breakdown soon after arrival, recovering sufficiently to work for a time as a journalist. From 1954 until shortly before his death he lived in mental institutions and care homes. ‘Blatný was not so much mentally ill as paranoid about being kidnapped and returned to Czechoslovakia’ says Matthews. ‘I am setting poems from the 1940s in translation as well as some of his later poetry, much of it composed in English as well as in a polyglot mixture of English, Czech and German.’

Nicholas Maw

Colin Matthews Selected forthcoming performances Pluto, the renewer 13.11.18, Athenaeum Theatre, Chicago, IL, USA: Lakeview Orchestra/Josh Mather

Mahler: “Nicht zu schnell” from Piano Quartet 15.11.18, Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid, Spain: Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg/ Gustavo Gimeno

As Time Returns world premiere 7.12.18, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London, UK: London Sinfonietta/Jessica Cottis

Debussy: La cathédrale engloutie 11-13.1.19, Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, PA, USA: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla 1-2.2.19, Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany: NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester/Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla

new work for oboe octet world premiere 6.2.19, Wigmore Hall, London, UK: Nicholas Daniel/Britten Sinfonia (plus touring)

Hidden Variables 20.3.19, Berlin, Germany: Ensemble UnitedBerlin/Catherine LarsenMaguire

Violin Concerto Spanish premiere 25-26.4.19, Galicia, Spain: Leila Josefowicz/Orquestra Sinfónica de Galicia/Daníel Bjarnason

Debussy: Minstrels 23,25.5.19, Atlanta Symphony Hall, GA, USA: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra/Donnald Runnicles

‘Roman Canticle’ In July a performance of Maw’s Roman Canticle at the Yellow Barn Music School provided an opportunity to reassess this perfectly-crafted work afresh. Subtitled ‘Two in the Campagna’, it adds voice to the standard trio of flute, viola and harp (familiar from Debussy’s Sonata) and was singled out by The Times for its ‘harmonic eloquence and rhythmic fervour’. Sculpting gracious, lyrical vocal lines from Browning’s famously unwieldy verse, Maw is once again shown to be a subtle and sensitive vocal writer. Light and breezy instrumental passages evoking sunny Italian climes rub shoulders with moments of intense, often yearning desire for something past. In the 9-minute work’s final moments Maw’s post-romantic language – voice and flute snagging expressively against consonant harp chords – proves the perfect foil to Browning’s poem, which expresses the intangibility of human love, the ‘infinite passion and the pain of finite hearts that yearn’. 13

George Benjamin Selected forthcoming performances

George Benjamin NYO perform ‘Dance Figures’

Palimpsests 8-9.9.18, Berliner Festspiele, Philharmonie, Germany: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/George Benjamin

Benjamin conducted the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain this summer, in a tour which culminated with a televised concert at the BBC Proms. The concert included his own Dance Figures alongside music by Ligeti, Ravel, Debussy and Mussorgsky.

6.3.19, Roundhouse, London, UK; 10.3.19, Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany: Ensemble Modern Orchestra/George Benjamin

Shadowlines 9.9.18, Berliner Festspiele, Kammermusiksaal, Philharmonie, Berlin: Florent Boffard

Sudden Time 12.9.18, Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany: Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra/Matthias Pintscher 16-17.11.18, Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany: Deutsche SymphonieOrchester Berlin/Robin Ticciati

Into the Little Hill 12.9.18, Berliner Festspiele, Kammermusiksaal, Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany: Susanna Andersson/Krisztina Szabó/Mahler Chamber Orchestra/George Benjamin 3.3.19, Alte Oper, Frankfurt, Germany; 5.3.19, Wigmore Hall, London, UK, 9.3.19, Philharmonie, Cologne, Germany, 11.3.19, Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany: Anu Komsi/Helena Rasker/Ensemble Modern/George Benjamin 11-20.4.19, Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet, Paris, France: Camille Merckx/Élise Chauvin/Ensemble Carabanchel/Alphonse Cemin/dir. Jacques Osinski (6 performances)

At First Light 21.9.18, Studio Zürich Brunnenhof, Switzerland: Collegium Novum/ Lin Liao 20.1.19, Kammermusiksaal, Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany: Berlin Karajan Academy/Gregor A. Mayrhofer 20.3.19, Berlin, Germany: Ensemble UnitedBerlin/Catherine LarsenMaguire

Written on Skin Chinese premiere 23.10.18, Beijing Music Festival; 25.10.18, Shanghai Symphony Hall, China: Shanghai Symphony Orchestra/Lawrence Renes 10.11.18, Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg 12.11.18, Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany: Mahler Chamber Orchestra/George Benjamin 9.5.19-19.7.19, Theater Ulm: Theater Ulm/Timo Handschuh/dir. Kay Metzger (12 performances)

Piano Figures 10.12.18, Vicenza, Italy; 11.12.18, Milan, Italy; 24.2.19, Groningen, Netherlands; 4.3.19, Rome, Italy; 5.3.19, Ferrara, Italy: Emanuel Ax

Upon Silence 31.12.18, Hall Barocker Stadtsaal, Tirol, Austria: Michaela Riener/ Hathor Consort

Asian premiere of ‘Written on Skin’ Six years after its premiere – and over 74 staged performances in 6 original productions later – the extraordinary global interest in George Benjamin and Martin Crimp’s Written on Skin shows no sign of subsiding. The opera’s status as the 21st century’s most performed opera will be cemented in October when it receives its Asian premiere at the Beijing Music Festival, with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lawrence Renes, with a subsequent performance in Shanghai. The performances were made possible by the generous support of the KT Wong Foundation.

Two major surveys in Germany For their 2018/2019 season the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation has planned a major focus on George Benjamin. Seven concerts (three of which will be presented in collaboration with the Musikfest Berlin) will feature works from across his output. Benjamin will conduct the Berliner Philharmoniker in his Palimpsests, and lead the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in both Into the Little Hill and Written on Skin. The Scharoun Ensemble perform Benjamin’s Octet, and pianist Florent Boffard plays Shadowlines. Meanwhile, the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie is presenting an equally impressive retrospective. Almost a decade in the hatching, it will include all three operas (with the German premiere of Lessons in Love and Violence) plus Palimpsests, Dream of the Song and Sudden Time, amongst other works.

‘Into the Little Hill’ A lyric tale in two parts for soprano, contralto and ensemble of 15 players (coloured by bass flute, two basset horns, mandolin, banjo and cimbalom), Into the Little Hill was Benjamin’s first collaboration with Martin Crimp. As well as Berlin’s September’s performance of this unsettling version of the Pied Piper story, Benjamin will also tour the work with Ensemble Modern in March. A new production of the work, directed by Jacques Osinski and conducted by Alphonse Cémin, opens at the Athénée Théâtre, Paris in April. PHOTO: GEORGE BENJAMIN © MATTHEW LLOYD

Premiered by Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony in 2004, and choreographed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker at La Monnaie, these nine miniatures marked a turning point in Benjamin’s output. The intricate surfaces of works like Palimpsests and Sudden Time are replaced here with a more direct and immediate mode of expression better suited to the stage. In that sense these pieces were an important precursor to Benjamin’s first operatic venture Into the Little Hill. In a similar way to the Boulez Notations, this 15-minute work is an elaboration (rather than a simple orchestration) of a number of piano pieces, from Piano Figures. Also included is Olicantus, Benjamin’s touching 50th birthday tribute to Oliver Knussen. ‘Clever changes of timbre... the delicate, cobwebby string passages in ‘Spell’; the woodwinds, in ‘Recit’ playing in twelfths to create a nazard organ-stop effect; the rich, fruity brass notes in ‘Interruptions’; some impressive brass hocketing in ‘Hammers’; a delicious rich cello ensemble in ‘Alone’; and a final close on a ghostly rumble of double basses punctuated by twinkles from harps and vibraphone.’ MusicOMH (Barry Creasy), 8 August 2018

‘An ever-shifting mosaic of textures and rhythms. The raucous, bluesy brass shone in ‘Hammers’, as did the more serene viola flight in ‘Song’...The low brass and strings that grumble intermittently Dance Figures carried over into a sort of ominous whisper at the start of Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand.’ The Artsdesk (Boyd Tonkin), 6 August 2018

‘Sudden Time’ ‘It was like sudden time in a world without time’ – lines from a Wallace Stevens poem, ‘Martial Cadenza’ which gave Benjamin the title for his orchestral tour de force, Sudden Time, which receives several performances in Germany later this year. In September, Matthias Pintscher conducts the Lucerne Festival Academy at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, whilst Robin Ticciati conducts two performances with Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in November. The 15-minute score is filled with vivid originality, from the extraordinarily high viola solo which closes the piece, to an individual and alluring passage for a group of four alto flutes and two garklein (sopranissimo) recorders which recalls the sound world of Antara. The texture throughout is conceived in linear terms, the audible harmony being created by the fusion of separate lines which occasionally coalesce in lucid moments of pulsed time.

TUNING IN

Martin Suckling obsession, violence and no way out Following their UK tour of Suckling’s Visiones (after Goya) in 2016, the Dark Inventions ensemble have released a recording of the piece. The catalyst for the 12-minute trio was a chilling image from Goya’s ‘Witches and Old Women’ album – three persons, bound together in an uncanny, seemingly weightless, dance. ‘There is a kind of beauty there, I think, and elegance, and poise, and some sweet melancholy,’ remarks Suckling, ‘but also obsession and violence and no way out.’

A tapestry of tolling bells As part of the Armistice Centenary commemorations, Martin Suckling is working with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra to create Meditation (after Donne), a new work for chamber orchestra and electronics which will take as its inspiration the massed ringing of bells as Armistice was declared. Suckling envisions ‘a simple song for orchestra, with performers and audience surrounded by a constantly evolving tapestry of tolling bells created by live electronics’. The 11-minute piece receives three performances in November conducted by Nicolas Altstaedt. More details can be found at armisticebells.com Meditation (after Donne) marks the end of Suckling’s time as Associate Composer with the SCO, a remarkably rich partnership which has seen the creation of a clutch of brilliant new works: storm, rose, tiger and Six Speechless Songs, and the dazzling Piano Concerto. The association also included a revival of Candlebird, his exquisite song cycle for baritone and ensemble.

‘This Departing Landscape’ In March the BBC Philharmonic will premiere Suckling’s substantial 20-minute orchestral work This Departing Landscape. ‘Morton Feldman used this phrase to highlight how music slips away from us even as we are hearing it’ explains Suckling. ‘The sometimes hyperactive energy of my new work is far removed from Feldman’s soundworld, but his characterisation of music’s elusiveness provided the starting point for a journey across an imaginary landscape in constant flux.’

In earlier works, like To See the Dark Between for piano and string sextet (2010), Suckling’s music emerges out of the resonance of an initial piano impulse. Visiones reverses this idea. ‘The resonance is a result of the music,’ Suckling states, ‘and often a destructive result at that. As the pianist hammers away in the topmost register of the instrument, a wash of white noise is created.’ This white noise also allows a secondary effect: ‘if keys are depressed as the pedal is released, these notes ring on gently. In this way, a bass note can be introduced without it actually being struck. To my mind, such an appearance is nothing short of magical.’ In the first of the work’s three sections, the piano taps out ecstatic pirouettes above the circling cello and clarinet. Second comes an increasingly mechanical lullaby. The last is a distorted memory of what has gone before: the piano dampened, the cello a crazed, fragmentary virtuoso, and the clarinet restricted to a simple pattern of soft multiphonics. The spinning dance intrudes, then overwhelms. Originally premiered at the 2015 Aldeburgh Festival by the stellar line up of Mark Simpson, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Tamara Stefanovich. ‘It’s a very poetic piece,’ noted Queyras. ‘One can hear a French influence. There is an element of Grisey in the play of the intervals and the manner in which each instrument develops its own ostinato, creating a kaleidoscopic effect. It’s a very successful work.’

George Benjamin Selected forthcoming performances (cont.) Viola, Viola 12.1.19, The Sage Gateshead, UK: members of Royal Northern Sinfonia

Dream of the Song 17-18.1.19, Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Bejun Mehta/Nederlands Kamerkoor/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/George Benjamin 29-30.3.19, Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany: Bejun Mehta/ NDR Chorus/NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester/George Benjamin

Lessons in Love and Violence German premiere 7-20.4.19, Staatsoper, Hamburg, Germany: Sly/Jarman/Orendt/Hoare/ Boden/France/Szabó/Róbertsson/ Orchestra of the Hamburg State Opera/Kent Nagano/dir. Kate Mitchell (5 performances) French premiere 14-26.5.19, Opéra de Lyon, France: Degout/Jarman/Orendt/Hoare/ Boden/Sawle/Szabó/Róbertsson/ Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lyon/ Alexandre Bloch/dir. Kate Mitchell (7 performances) US premiere October 2020, Lyric Opera of Chicago: Sir Andrew Davis/dir. Katie Mitchell Spanish premiere February 2021, Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona; April 2021, Teatro Real, Madrid, Spain: Josep Pons/dir. Katie Mitchell

Martin Suckling Selected forthcoming performances ‘Meditation (after Donne)’ World premiere 7.11.18, Younger Hall, University of St Andrews; 8.11.18, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh; 9.11.18, City Halls, Glasgow, UK: Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Nicolas Altstaedt

This Departing Landscape World premiere 9.3.19, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, UK: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/ conductor TBA

Other forthcoming projects include a work for organ and a set of songs for mezzo-soprano and piano.

PHOTO: MARTIN SUCKLING © TESSA OKSANEN; GOYA’S VISIONES

Julian Anderson Selected forthcoming performances

Julian Anderson An outstanding choral disc

String Quartet No.2

A new disc of Anderson’s choral music from The Choir of Gonville and Caius, Cambridge and their Music Director Geoffrey Webber has been named Album of the Week in the Sunday Times, and Editor’s Choice in BBC Music Magazine. Released on Delphian, the disc includes the first commercial recording of the Bell Mass alongside O Sing Unto the Lord, My Beloved Spake, I Saw Eternity and the Four American Choruses (the latter proves a fascinating complement to the existing recording by the much larger forces of the CBSO Chorus under Simon Halsey). More reviews will follow in the next issue.

*.9.18, IMS Prussia Cove, UK: IMS musicians

Alhambra Fantasy 18.9.18, Casa da Música, Porto, Portugal; 21.9.18, deSingel, Antwerp, Belgium; 22.9.18, Kölner Philharmonie, Germany: Remix-Ensemble Casa da Música/ Peter Rundel

Fantasias Portuguese and Finnish premieres 22.9.18, Casa da Música, Porto, Portugal: Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música/Brad Lubman 17.5.19, Helsinki Music Centre, Finland: Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Nicholas Collon

The Bearded Lady 15.10.18, Wigmore Hall, London, UK: Nicholas Daniel/Charles Owen

‘Fantasias’ in Helsinki and Porto Fantasias, Julian Anderson’s spectacular 23-minute orchestral showpiece from 2009 will receive its Portuguese and Finnish premieres this season, with the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. The thrilling work abounds in vivid contrasts, from the jagged brass fanfares with which it opens to the headlong rush of its dazzling finale. At its heart is an extended and evocative nocturne, overflowing with all manner of brilliantly imagined sounds which its composer describes as a ‘musical rainforest’. ‘One of Anderson’s most scintillating scores, rhythmically intricate, rich in unexpected and often eerie sounds, and with a vein of lyricism…’ The Evening Standard (Nick Kimberly), 9 August 2009

Remix tour ‘Alhambra Fantasy’ In September, the Remix Ensemble and Peter Rundel will perform Anderson’s Alhambra Fantasy in Porto, Cologne and Antwerp. With over 60 performances since its premiere in 2000 – this thrilling piece of ensemble writing, exuberant and dazzlingly detailed, is one of Anderson’s most popular pieces. Scored for 16 players (and lasting as many minutes), the work is dedicated to the memory of Gérard Grisey and is a vivid display of Anderson’s outstanding gift as an instrumental colourist.

Boston focus Anderson was Composer-in-Residence for the 2018 Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice at the New England Conservatory. The Callithumpian Consort directed by Stephen Drury presented over nine of his chamber and ensemble works including Book of Hours, Seadrift, and the String Quartet No.2 ‘300 Weihnachtslieder’. One highlight was Gabriela Diaz’s performance of Anderson’s 9-minute work for solo violin, Another Prayer. In September, Anderson will be in residence at IMS Prussia Cove, where players will work on his Second and Third String Quartets.

PHOTO: JULIAN ANDERSON © MAURICE FOXALL

‘My Beloved Spake is a wedding anthem of engaging directness… Bell Mass, a five-part “missa brevis” composed for Westminster Abbey, and an acoustically self-aware essay like so many by Anderson, builds the resonance of the cathedral’s bells into the texture in precise detail, to rich effect… I Saw Eternity, to a tiny slice of a Henry Vaughan poem, is five minutes of rapture.’ The Sunday Times (Paul Driver), 17 August 2018

‘Anderson’s Thebans, his most elaborate and ambitious musical statement to date, provides a penetrating analysis of human anxieties and aspirations in a world where god’s hold sway. It’s impossible not to sense similar qualities of these choral settings of Christian texts. Anderson gives full weight to the sense of wonder that religious beliefs can inspire… this programme reverberates with the richly coloured environments of stained glass, pealing bells and soaring architectural symmetry found in the great cathedrals and college chapels. Sung by an outstanding Cambridge choir and sensitively recorded… the result is tremendously rewarding. Anderson’s distinctive musical way of tempering the untroubled serenity to which true believers aspire is on full display in ‘Beautiful valley of Eden’ demonstrates Anderson’s skill at loosening the kind of fixities found in Byrd or Bach without undermining all sense of coherence… [Anderson’s] music is never more arresting than when imaginatively exploiting distinctions between the community – the choir as a collective entity – and individual solo voices, or when evoking bell-like resonance to maximum dramatic effect.’ Gramophone (Arnold Whittall), September 2018

In other recording news, the PRS Composers’ Fund has supported a project which will see both Anderson’s ballet The Comedy of Change and his oratorio Heaven is Shy of Earth released on disc. This will be the second Anderson portrait disc from the Ondine label, after the Gramophone Award-winning disc of orchestral and ensemble music back in 2007. A disc of chamber music, with the Nash Ensemble, will be recorded next year.

TUNING IN

David Matthews A love song for piano William Howard has recorded the exquisite solo piano piece that Matthews contributed to his ‘Contemporary Love Songs’ project. His sensitive account of the 4-minute work is available from Orchard Classics. ‘…basks in a in a post-Romantic glow’ BBC Music Magazine (Rebecca Franks), September 2018

Muriel Spark in music

75th birthday celebrations The 75th birthday of David Matthews was marked with several performances at the Presteigne Festival in August. Ruby Hughes sang the Three Housman Songs with the Festival Orchestra and George Vass, whilst the Variations for Piano, Ein Celloleben, and Four Australian Birds for solo violin all featured in chamber concerts. The festival also saw the unveiling of a film portrait by Barrie Gavin. Another highlight was a performance of the Fourth Symphony. The symphony features the vivid tango movement – marked ‘slightly manic’ – which has been the basis of many chamber transcriptions (eight and counting!).

Muriel Spark is best known for her darkly witty novels The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Ballad of Peckham Rye, but she began as a poet and it remained a constant throughout her creative life. The inscription she chose for her gravestone was the single word ‘poeta’. To mark the centenary of Spark’s birth in 1918, a new work for voice, piano and string quartet has been commissioned by her close companion Penelope Jardine. Entitled White Flame, the work will be premiered at the Purcell Room by mezzosoprano Victoria Simmonds and the Nash Ensemble on 13 October.

Peter Sculthorpe

PHOTOS: DAVID MATTHEWS © CLIVE BARDA; PETER SCULTHORPE

5.10.18, William Alwyn Festival, Holy Trinity Church, Blythburgh, UK: Sarah-Jane Bradley

Sonatina for viola and piano world premiere 5.10.18, William Alwyn Festival, Holy Trinity Church, Blythburgh; 8.10.18, Little Missenden Festival, St John the Baptist Church, Little Missenden, UK: Sarah Jane Bradley/Nathan Williamson

White Flame world premiere 13.10.18, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London, UK: Victoria Simmonds/Nash Ensemble

Double Concerto 17.10.18, Great Malvern Priory, Malvern, UK: Sara Trickey/SarahJane Bradley/English Symphony Orchestra/Kenneth Woods

Variations for Strings 17.11.18, Hereford Shirehall, UK: English Symphony Orchestra/ Kenneth Woods

Winter Remembered

Le Lac world premiere 28.5.19, Stratford ArtsHouse, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK: April Fredrick/Orchestra of the Swan/ Kenneth Woods

The English Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Swan are joining forces throughout 2018 and 2019 to celebrate Matthews’s 75th birthday. Entitled ‘David Matthews in the Heart of England’, the celebration will bring together musicians, festivals, and venues from across the Midlands.

Next, in October and November the English Symphony Orchestra will perform the Double Concerto and Variations for Strings. Then, in 2019, the project will move to Stratford-on-Avon’s ArtsHouse and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire for concerts by the Orchestra of the Swan. In April they will perform Winter Remembered, and in May soprano April Fredrick will join the orchestra for the premiere of Matthews’s Le Lac, a setting of Lamartine.

Darkness Draws In

2.4.19, Stratford ArtsHouse, Stratford-upon-Avon; 3.4.19, Birmingham Conservatoire, UK: Maxim Rysanov/Orchestra of the Swan/Kenneth Woods

In the heart of England

The inaugural event took place on 9 May at St George’s Bristol, when the ESO and Kenneth Woods premiered the Symphony No.9. In June, Matthews appeared as visiting composer at the Elgar Festival, Worcestershire’s newly launched celebration of the English composer. The programme included a performance of Matthews’s String Quartet No.6, and a new quartet arrangement of Elgar’s Sospiri. Matthews also presented the biannual A. T. Shaw Lecture on ‘Elgar’s Voice’.

David Matthews Selected forthcoming performances

Peter Sculthorpe Selected forthcoming performances Djilile/Chorale from First Sonata for Strings

Sculthorpe in Japan One of Peter Sculthorpe’s most attractive concert openers, From Oceania, will be performed in Japan this October, with Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kentaro Kawase. From Oceania is based upon the last part of Sculthorpe’s Music for Japan, which was written for the Australian Youth Orchestra to play at the Osaka 1970 Expo. It is in some ways similar in style to the Sun Music pieces, though the approach taken here is more experimental – with no melodic material and little harmonic movement; instead the orchestra is treated like one vast percussion instrument. From Oceania begins with percussion alone, before other instruments are gradually added, leading to a section marked ‘feroce’ and a climax consisting of an ear-splitting tone cluster spanning the entire orchestra.

23.10.18, Barbican Hall, London, UK: Australian Chamber Orchestra/ Richard Tognetti

First Sonata for Strings 5.12.18, Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre, VIC, Australia: Australian Chamber Orchestra/Richard Tognetti

From Oceania Japanese premiere 20.10.19, Suntory Hall, Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra/Kentaro Kawase

Tansy Davies Selected forthcoming performances

Tansy Davies 12 ensemble tour ‘Residuum’

Forgotten Game 2

Residuum, Davies’s 10-minute work for two solo violins, solo cello and strings from 2005, has been selected as part of the PRS Resonate Project. The London-based 12 ensemble will play it in London, Manchester and Bristol. Davies describes the work as ‘an imaginary replay of the residual energy of Dowland’s ‘Galliard to Lachrymae’, heard like an echo of ancient music in a modern time’.

11.9.18, The Hug and Pint, Glasgow; 12.9.18, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, UK: James Turnbull

Dune of Footprints/ What Did We See? Norwegian premieres 14.9.18, Ultima Contemporary Music Festival, Oslo, Norway: Norwegian Radio Orchestra/Karen Kamensek

Concertgebouw residency

Residuum 16.9.18, Milton Court, London 19.9.18, Stoller Hall, Manchester 28.9.18, St George’s, Bristol, UK: 12 ensemble

Song of Pure Nothingness 26.10.18, Wigmore Hall, London, UK: Andrew Watts/Ian Burnside 2.12.18, Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Karin Strobos/Reinild Mees

The Beginning of the World (arr. J Althuis) 1.12.18, Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Calefax

new work/saltbox world premiere 17.5.19, Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Asko|Schönberg Ensemble

new work world premiere *.5.19, The Sage Gateshead, UK: Royal Northern Sinfonia

new work for improvising singer and ensemble*/ neon/grind show (electric)/Loophole from Loopholes and Lynchpins/saltbox/ Undertow *world premiere 9.11.19, Kings Place, London, UK: Elaine Mitchener/London Sinfonietta

Christmas Eve 7.12.19, Kings Place, London, UK: The Choir of St Catherine’s College, Oxford/Edward Wickham

‘Between Worlds’ suite at BBC Proms When Between Worlds, Tansy Davies’s bold and highly individual response to the events of 9/11 premiered in 2014, the Evening Standard praised its ‘fabulously inventive aural fabric: exploding shards of sound frozen in a kind of cosmic aspic’. Now, a commission from the BBC has enabled Davies to create a 25-minute orchestral suite from the opera, radically increasing the orchestral forces, and in doing so further realising the vast, cosmic potential of the musical material. Premiered by the BBC Philharmonic under their Principal Guest Conductor Ben Gernon, What Did We See? is dominated by foreboding, veil-like textures for strings and harp. ‘Dark Dream’ recalls the whispers and whistles of the opera’s Shaman figure, before being engulfed in ferocious waves of orchestral sound. Later, the subtly shifting verdigris harmonies open out into ‘Dance of Air and Wire, for Earth’ where glockenspiel, string harmonics and flutes dance in the stratosphere, before descending back to earth for the ‘Tree of Life’. There, the music becomes more elegiacal, taking on a beautiful but disquieting luminosity. ‘Davies’s ear for texture is canny. Brass players breathe roughly, rhythmically into their mouthpieces – gasps for air, or the sound of a building exhaling in collapse? Either way, it’s horribly evocative, music denatured, reduced to naked sound. Glinting, metallic stillness dominates the first movement.’

Other events already announced include a performance of her Song of Pure Nothingness, as well as the reed quintet Calefax premiering a new transcription of The Beginning of the World (by their bass clarinet player Jelte Althuis) in December 2018.

Jolts and Pulses Following the huge success of Davies’s chamber opera Cave, and the extraordinary part Elaine Mitchener played in it, the London Sinfonietta and Kings Place have commissioned a new work for ensemble and improvising singer, to be premiered with Mitchener in November 2019. The work will be the centrepiece of a portrait concert entitled ‘Jolts and Pulses’ that will also include the Davies classics neon and grind show (electric), as well as the recently revised Undertow. Other upcoming projects include Hawk, a short Grade 6-level work, commissioned by London Music Masters for a collection of new violin and piano works, and a short orchestral encore. The latter has been commissioned by Royal Northern Sinfonia, who will premiere it at the Sage Gateshead in May as part of their 60th anniversary season.

‘Song of Pure Nothingness’ recorded

Ultima Festival

Andrew Watts – the countertenor who created the role of the Shaman in Davies’s opera Between Worlds – has recorded Song of Pure Nothingness with pianist Ian Burnside for release on NMC. A launch concert is scheduled at the Wigmore Hall for 26 October.

What Did We See? receives a second performance in September at Oslo’s Ultima Festival, where it will be heard alongside Davies’s work for string orchestra Dune of Footprints. Beguiling and richly sonorous, the latter work was inspired by the ancient underground river beds that cave-dwellers used as pathways. The 15-minute work, which forms the basis of the electronic component to her latest opera Cave, unfolds meditatively and is something of a departure for Davies, with quivering tremolos and an openness complementing her darkly lustrous harmonies.

Like Davies’s song cycle Troubairitz and her orchestral work Tilting, Song of Pure Nothingness is a product of her fascination with the Troubadours. This setting of a 11thcentury poem by Guillaume IX d’Aquitaine is a kind of riddle. ‘Perhaps it works on me like a mirror reflecting back unknowable secrets,’ says Davies. ‘Unearthing hidden pain and bringing dark things into the light, all the while supported by a hidden inner strength. It’s also funny, and completely without melodrama, which I find very attractive.’

The Artsdesk (Alexandra Coghlan), 26 July 2018

A residency at the Concertgebouw in their 18/19 season will see Davies residing in Amsterdam for several months, leading workshops with young composers and collaborating on special performances of her music by students of the Conservatorium of Amsterdam. To crown the residency, Davies will write a new work for the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble, to be premiered in May 2019.

PHOTO: TANSY DAVIES © RIKARD ÖSTERLUND

TUNING IN

Anders Hillborg ‘Bach Materia’ at the BBC Proms

A homage to Stravinsky Hillborg’s Mantra – Elegy, was premiered by Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra in April, with a US premiere at the Aspen Festival following in July. A homage to Stravinsky, the 7-minute work expands upon two emblematic chords from The Rite of Spring. ‘A short but fascinating homage to Stravinsky, expanding upon two famous chords and making them into something entirely new and different.’ The Aspen Times (Harvey Steiman), 24 July 2018

‘A concise and eventful work. Block chords and a swirling haze of strings and climactic brass unfold like a slow if dynamic processional…’ Classical Source (David Truslove), 21 April 2018

A second – more extensive – commission from the LPO (together with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and the Göteborgs Symfoniker) will be premiered in London in January 2019, with Marin Alsop conducting.

Waves, Pulse and Elastic Seabirds In August the Norwegian National Youth Orchestra toured Hillborg’s Eleven Gates to venues including Konserthaus Berlin, and Oslo Concert Hall. The four performances were conducted by Johannes Gustavsson. With surreal titles like ‘Meadow of Sadsongs’, ‘Toypianos on the Surface of the Sea’, and ‘Waves, Pulse and Elastic Seabirds’, each of the short ‘gates’ in this captivating 19-minute work opens onto a vivid and inventive soundscape. ‘Hugely entertaining, sonically enveloping music. Hillborg creates pools of liquid sound, beginning with a big, wet D-major string chord that moves to the winds as scales in the strings flutter through it… Hillborg’s compositional rhetoric is to create a series of unfolding scenes, more like Sibelius than Beethoven. The sounds are strange and captivating… his is a science fiction of our time – we recognize the strangeness.’

Hillborg seems to have an intuitive knack for getting the most out of his soloists, be it Martin Fröst in the now iconic Clarinet Concerto Peacock Tales, Lisa Batiashvili in the ravishing Violin Concerto No.2, or Pekka Kuusisto in Bach Materia, an inventive and witty companion piece to Bach’s Third Brandenburg Concerto. The latter received its UK premiere at the BBC Proms in August with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard, receiving a rapturous reception. A zany 15-minute work, Bach Materia contains numerous opportunities for the soloist to improvise. This spirit fits well with the Bach, the central Adagio of which consists of just two chords upon which the soloist elaborates. Bach Materia has received 16 performances since its premiere in March 2017, and a recording is due to be released on BIS ‘Very well received… Bach Materia brought to the fore the inventiveness and protean energy of Kuusisto. A moment to treasure was his dialogue with the SCO’s principal bassist where the latter didn’t just play but also vocalised his bass solo-ing in the manner of Slam Stewart. Kuusisto himself also sang, and later whistled.’ The Artsdesk (Sebastian Scotney), 7 August 2018

Malcolm Arnold ‘The Three Musketeers’ From October to November Northern Ballet are reviving their award-winning production of Malcolm Arnold’s The Three Musketeers. Sadly, it was on the day Sir Malcolm Arnold died that this full-length ballet, drawn from a dazzling range of his works, was premiered at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford. Years before, Arnold had toyed with the idea of writing a ballet on the colourful subject, and even made sketches, yet his fragile health prevented him from progressing it. It was John Longstaff, prompted by choreographer David Nixon, who, with the composer’s approval, devised a sequence of pieces from Arnold’s enormous catalogue, arranging them for a modest theatre orchestra. The composite score functions superbly, giving an exciting overview of the work of one of the 20th century’s most approachable composers. Featured Faber works include the Four Irish Dances, the Sonata for Flute and Piano, the Anniversary Overture, and The Fair Field Overture. Nominated for Best New Dance Production at the Olivier Awards 2008, and winner of the Best Dance Award at the M.E.N Theatre Awards 2007, the productions tours to to Nottingham, Newcastle, Sheffield and Canterbury.

Anders Hillborg Selected forthcoming performances Vaporised Tivoli 10.9.18, Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany: International Ensemble Modern Academy/Ulysses Ensemble/Lucas Vis

Exquisite Corpse 1-3.12.18, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland, OR, USA: Oregon Symphony Orchestra/Eivind Gullberg-Jensen

Peacock Tales (original version) 4-8.12.18, Maison symphonique de Montréal (and touring district), Montréal, QC, Canada: David Dias da Silva/Orchestre Metropolitain de Montréal/Alexander Shelley (millennium version) 27.2-1.3.19, Alte Oper, Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Martin Fröst/ Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra/Carlos Miguel Prieto

new work World premiere 16.1.19, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London, UK: London Philharmonic Orchestra/ Marin Alsop

Incantation/Primal Blues/Hyper Exit/ Hymn of Echoes 9-10.5.19, Grosser Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks, Frankfurt am Main; 11.5.19, Fulda: Germany: Martin Fröst

Malcolm Arnold Selected forthcoming performances Peterloo 13.9.18, Vodafone Events Centre, Auckland, New Zealand: Macleans College/Steve Miles

The Three Musketeers 4.10-3.11.18, Theatre Royal, Nottingham, UK: Northern Ballet/ chor. David Nixon (UK tour: 23 performances)

Four Irish Dances/ Four Cornish Dances 12.12.18, Vigo; 13.12.18, Santiago de Compostela; 14.12.18, La Coruña Spain: Orquestra Sinfónica de Galicia/Paul Daniel

Concerto for Clarinet No.2 3.3.19, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK: Katherine Lacy/Royal Tunbridge Wells Symphony Orchestra/ George Vass

LA Times (Mark Swed), 6 May 2006 PHOTO: ANDERS HILLBORG © MATS LUNDQVIST

Carl Davis Selected forthcoming performances

Carl Davis Chaplin on stage

The Lady of the Camellias

After the great success of Davis and Daniel de Andrade’s Nijinksy in 2015, the Slovak National Theatre have once again commissioned the pair, this time for a ballet based upon the life and work of Charlie Chaplin. Davis – whose silent film score work makes him the ideal composer for the project – will conduct the premiere of Chaplin, The Tramp on 15 March.

Italian premiere 15-22.9.18, Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, Italy: Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra/Nicola Giuliani/chor. Derek Deane (6 performances)

Safety Last 20.9.18, BOZAR, Brussels, Belgium: Brussels Philharmonic/Carl Davis 29.9.18, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, UK: Students from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama/ Tim Henty 9.11.18, Rudolf-Oetker-Halle, Bielefeld, Germany: Bielefelder Philharmoniker/Bernd Wilden 2.3.19, Butler Intermediate High School, PA, USA: Butler County Symphony Orchestra/Matthew Kraemer

The Phantom of the Opera 27.9.18, Stadthalle Reutlingen, Germany: Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen/Andreas Fellner

Wings 18.10.18, Huddersfield Town Hall, 20.10.18, Leeds Town Hall, UK: Orchestra of Opera North/Carl Davis

The Immigrant 20-24.11.18, Montpellier, France: Orchestre National de Montpellier/ Gwennolé Rufet (6 performances)

The Great Gatsby

A new ‘Gatsby’ for Pittsburgh Ballet Having already won plaudits in 2000 for his evocative score to a TV adaptation of The Great Gatsby, Davis is set to return to the world of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s brilliant fable of hedonistic excess and tragic reality of 1920s America in a new original ballet score for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Choreographed by Jorden Morris, the new show will open in February 2019, and should provide Davis ample scope to conjure both the shimmering Jazz Age, and the destructive obsession which forces Gatsby’s world to unravel.

Torsten Rasch Selected forthcoming performances A Foreign Field Psalm

‘La Dame aux Caméllias’ in Naples

20.9.18, Exeter Cathedral; 21.9.18, Truro Cathedral; 26.10.18, St Andrews Voices Festival, UK: Tenebrae/Nigel Short

Alexandre Dumas’s The Lady of the Camellias has inspired a wealth of plays, films, ballets and operas – most famously Verdi’s La Traviata. Davis’s ballet version was commissioned by the National Ballet of Croatia and premiered in 2008 and went on to sell out two successive seasons. The opulent score, which brilliantly encapsulates the story’s high emotions, will receive its Italian premiere in September at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, with choreography by Derek Deane.

8-17.2.19, Benedum Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA: Pittsburgh Ballet Theater/chor. Jorden Morris (7 performances)

Chaplin, The Tramp world premiere 15.3-25.5.19, Slovak National Theatre, Bratislava, Slovakia: Carl Davis, Dušan Štefánek/chor. Daniel de Andrade (5 performances)

Mein Herz brennt Russian premiere 9.11.18, Lensovet Palace, St Petersburg, Russia: Renatus Mészár/ Anna Thalbach/State Symphonic Orchestra “Tavrichesky”/Mikhail Golikov

Torsten Rasch

A classic of silent cinema In the coming months Harold Lloyd’s classic romantic comedy Safety Last! will receive four screenings with live orchestra, a testament to both the genius of Lloyd and Carl Davis’s ingenious score. Lloyd’s movies frequently contained ‘thrill sequences’ of extended chase scenes and daredevil physical feats, and this 1923 masterpiece is no different: Lloyd hanging from the hands of a clock high above the street is one of the most enduring images in cinema. The orchestration of Davis’s 74-minute score is based on the line-up of the Paul Whiteman Band (22 players), and is inspired by the popular music of the 1920s. Davis’s score to another Lloyd classic, An Eastern Westerner, has the same orchestration, so that the two films can be run as a double bill.

world premiere

‘The three giants of 20th-century art are, for me, Picasso, Stravinsky and Chaplin,’ says Davis. ‘Chaplin was a filmmaker in complete control of his art: conceiving, scripting, acting, directing, producing, editing and, strikingly, creating his own musical scores. His stimulus, as it is with all clowns, was the creation of a character – amusing, moving, whose fate constantly intrigues us. Whereas Buster Keaton was a frozen-faced stoic and Harold Lloyd had his empty-framed glasses, Chaplin had his “little tramp”, the ups-and-downs (mostly downs) of whose existence shaped a story of human resilience.’

PHOTOS: CARL DAVIS © JASPER FRY; TORSTEN RASCH © MAURICE FOXALL

‘A Foreign Field Psalm’ This summer a new 5-minute setting of Psalm 91 by Torsten Rasch was premiered at the Three Choirs Festival. The so called ‘Soldier’s Psalm’, Psalm 91 was carried on cards by many soldiers in WWI, and recited daily, as a prayer for protection. Rasch, who wrote a daringly paredback setting of the text to form the still centre of his 2014 cantata A Foreign Field (also premiered at the Three Choirs Festival), has made an altogether more elaborate setting for SATB double choir, which was unveiled by Tenebrae and Nigel Short and is now being toured across the UK. Explore the music of Carl Davis and Torsten Rasch on our Online Score Library: scorelibrary.fabermusic.com

TUNING IN

Matthew Hindson

John Woolrich

Ray Chen premieres Violin Sonata

Return of the Composers Ensemble

Taiwanese/Australian virtuoso and social media superstar violinist Ray Chen has premiered a new Hindson commission as part of his Musica Viva Australia national tour with pianist Julien Quentin. The Violin Sonata No.1 ‘Dark Matter’ lasts 16 minutes and is cast in two movements. In August it received 9 performances across Australia.

Since John Woolrich’s return to London just under two years ago, the Composers Ensemble has seen a burst of activity. Their next concert, in October, will include his own piano quartets Adagissimo and Sestina.

‘For this tour [Chen] plays his first commissioned piece. And what a moving thing it is. Written as Hindson’s father was in the advanced stages of a terminal illness, Dark Matter begins with an endless tune of an elegy that will surely become a standalone radio-friendly classic, likely to bring some to the verge of tears. The second movement then disrupts the sense of resignation, a do-not-gogentle-into-that-good-night howl of rage, confusion and occasional lucidity that’s an uncomfortable listen, but in a good way, for this is music on the verge of a nervous breakdown, the sense of impending loss palpable.’ The Australian (Martin Buzzacott), 14 August 2018

‘The piece opens with a genuinely heart-breaking eulogy, a slow movement bursting with the kind of emotive lyricism at which Chen excels. The second half draws upon the other meaning of ‘dark matter’ – that is, the invisible, unobservable matter that makes up most of our universe – and reaches astronomical heights. It is a truly impressive work that deserves to be heard again, and its explosive finale could have finished the evening convincingly.’ Limelight Magazine (Ben Wilkie), 17 August 2018

Goldners launch new duo A virtuosic duo for violin and cello has been commissioned and premiered by members of the Goldner String Quartet, one of the world’s leading chamber groups. The 5-minute 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 was launched by husband and wife duo, Julian Smiles and Dimity Hall on 15 July in the Wesley Music Centre, Canberra.

The latter takes its title from Monteverdi’s great madrigal sequence of 1610: ‘Lagrime d’Amante al Sepolcro dell’Amata’. It is in six main sections, behind each of which hovers the ghost of another piece – songs by Debussy, Schubert and Beethoven, a piano piece by Schumann, a little Stravinsky, and, finally and most openly, a fragment of Monteverdi’s own Sestina. The work ends with a gentle lullaby. Composed in 1997, Sestina was one of three Woolrich pieces commissioned by the Schubert Ensemble who, after disbanding, have set up a trust which will offer grants to encourage performances of works that they commissioned during their 35 years performing together. Details of how to apply can be found on their website.

Revisiting: ‘The Elephant from Celebes’ A hulking creature, part machine and part elephant, stands on a vast plain, gazing at a headless female nude. In the cloudy sky two fish are swimming and trails of smoke suggest that an aircraft has just been shot down. In The Elephant from Celebes, Woolrich’s gargantuan orchestral piece from 2005, the surreal elements of Max Ernst’s iconic painting find a thrilling musical equivalent. Witty writing for tubas and trombones and cascading, cadenza-like string lines characterise the resulting 20-minute work, which was premiered by the Britten-Pears Orchestra and Paul Daniel in 2005. The Guardian’s Rhian Samuel praised its ‘vivid colouring and characterisation’, before going on to suggest that its rhythmic vibrancy would make it a brilliant score for dance.

Matthew Hindson Selected forthcoming performances Nothing is Forever World premiere 16.9.18, City Recital Hall, Sydney; 17.9.18, Melbourne Recital Centre, VIC, Australia: ACO Collective

Rush 11-12.11.18, Loft, Q Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand: NZTrio 25.1.19, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, UK: Craig Ogden/ Manchester Camerata

Nintendo Music 12.11.18, Melbourne Recital Centre, VIC, Australia: Philip Arkinstall/ Kristian Chong

Rave-Elation 1.1.19, Komische Oper, Berlin, Germany: Orchestra of Komische Oper Berlin/Ainars Rubikis

The Rave and the Nightingale 18-19.3.19, Kammermusiksaal, Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany: Quartetto Energie Nove/Deustches Kammerorchester Berlin/Markus Poschner

John Woolrich Selected forthcoming performances Ulysses Awakes 16.9.18, Milton Court, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, UK: Jennifer Stumm/12 ensemble 19.9.18, Stoller Hall, Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester; 28.9.18, St George’s, Bristol, UK: Maxim Rysanov/12 ensemble

Pianobooks II, VI, VII, IX, XII, XIV, XV World premiere of XV 13.10.18, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK: Clare Hammond

Adagissimo/Sestina 26.10.18, Stapleford Granary, UK: Composers Ensemble

‘Nothing is Forever’

Ulysses Awakes/ Italian Songs

Hindson’s latest orchestral work is to be unveiled on 16 and 17 September. Nothing is Forever is his second commission from the enterprising Hush Foundation, whose mission is to bring music, literature and the arts to patients, families and staff of medical organizations throughout Australia.

16.11.18, Lancing College, UK: Stane Street Sinfonietta/Steve Dummer

The 6-minute work for string orchestra features on the Hush Foundation’s 18th CD release ‘Collective Wisdom’, which aims to connect with adolescent patients, in particular. It will be premiered live in two events in Sydney and Melbourne, in performances by the ACO Collective.

IMAGE: MAX ERNST’S ‘THE ELEPHANT CELEBES’ (1921)

A Book of Studies Set 1 15.11.18, Chichester Assembly Room; 15.3.19, St Michael’s Church, Alnwick, UK: Magnard Ensemble

Schumann: Gesänge der Frühe 25.3.19, Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid, Spain: Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid/Christian Zacharias

NEW WORKS Stage Works GEORGE BENJAMIN

TANSY DAVIES

Lessons in Love and Violence (2015-17) opera in two parts. 90 minutes Text: Martin Crimp (Eng) 8 Singers: Baritone/Soprano/Baritone/Tenor/High Tenor or Haute-contre/High Coloratura soprano/Mezzo-soprano/Bass-baritone 2(I+II=picc).2.ebcl.2(I=A+ebcl.II=A+basset horn).bcl.3(III=cbsn) – 4.2(I+II=ptpt).2.btrbn.cbtrbn.0 – perc(4): 2 crot/5 t.bells/2 gongs/4 timp/2 bongos/2 SD/talking drum/2 tombaks/2 TD/2 tumbas/BD/claves/3 mokubios/2 tpl.bl/3 tgl/2 tamb/3 susp. cym/whip/2 pairs of machine cast/2 vibraslaps/4 guiros – 2 harps – cel – cimbalom – strings (suggested 10.8.8.8.6 double basses require low C extensions) Co-commissioned and co-produced by the Royal Opera Covent Garden London, Dutch National Opera Amsterdam, Hamburg State Opera, Opéra de Lyon, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona and Teatro Real Madrid FP:10.5.2018, Royal Opera House, London, UK: The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House/George Benjamin/dir. Katie Mitchell Full score and parts in preparation Text 0-571-54055-4 and first edition vocal score 0-571-54054-6 on sale

Cave (2017-18) a chamber opera in eight scenes for mezzo-soprano, tenor and ensemble with electronics. 60 minutes Text: Nick Drake (Eng) cl(=bcl).bsn(=cbsn).hn.harp.vln.db – live electronics (1-2 operators): sampler/effects applied to the vocal performers FP: 20.6.2018, The Printworks, London, UK: Mark Padmore/Elaine Mitchener/London Sinfonietta/Geoffrey Paterson/dir. Lucy Bailey Commissioned by the London Sinfonietta and the Royal Opera Full score, vocal score and parts for hire

Orchestra TANSY DAVIES

MARTIN SUCKLING

What Did We See? (2018) an orchestral suite from ‘Between Worlds’. c.25 minutes 3(III=picc).3.3(II=ebcl.III=bcl).2.cbsn – 4.3.2.btrbn.1 – timp – perc(3) – harp – strings FP: 25.7.2018, BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, London, UK: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/Ben Gernon Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 to mark the 70th Anniversary of the Third Programme Score and parts in preparation

Meditation (after Donne) (2018) chamber orchestra and electronics. c.11 minutes 2222 – 2200 – bells (electronic audio samples: 1-2 operators) – strings FP: 7.11.2018, Younger Hall, St Andrews, Scotland, UK: Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Nicolas Altstaedt Commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Generously supported with funds from the Cruden Foundation and RVW Trust. The composer gratefully acknowledges the support of a Philip Leverhulme Prize from the Leverhulme Trust during the composition of this piece Score, parts and sampler files in preparation

DEBUSSY orch. COLIN MATTHEWS Images Book I (2017-18) orchestra. c.14 minutes 2(I=optional picc.II=picc).afl.2.ca.2(I+II=cl in A).bcl.2.cbsn – 4231 – timp – perc(3) – 2 harps – cel – strings FP: Recording 3-5 July 2018, Philharmonie Luxembourg Commissioned by Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg & Philharmonie Luxembourg Score and parts in preparation

JOHN HARLE RANT! (2018) soprano saxophone and orchestra. 4 minutes 2(II=picc).2.2.2 – 4.2.2.btrbn.1 – timp – perc(1): xyl/glsp – pno – harp – strings FP: 12.6.2018, Gothenburg, Sweden: Jess Gillam/Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra/Santtu-Matias Rouvali Score and parts for hire

KEATON HENSON Six Lethargies (2018) string orchestra (10.8.8.7.4). 75 minutes FP: 20.07.2018, Barbican Hall, London, UK: Britten Sinfonia/Mark Knoop Commissioned by the Barbican Centre, London and Sydney Opera House for Vivid LIVE Score and parts for hire

MATTHEW HINDSON Nothing is Forever (2018) string orchestra. 6 minutes FP: 16.9.2018, City Recital Hall, Sydney, NSW, Australia: ACO Collective Commissioned by The HUSH Foundation Score and parts for hire

DAVID MATTHEWS Recessional and National Anthem (2018) orchestra and SATB choir. c.8 minutes Text: God Save the Queen (Eng) SATB 3.3(III=ca).3.2.cbsn – 4431 – fanfare brass, Group A: 4 tpt.3 trbn Group B: 4 tpt.3 trbn – timp – perc(3) – harp – organ – strings FP: 23.7.2018, Ely Cathedral, UK: Gabrieli Consort & Players/Paul McCreesh Commissioned by the Gabrieli Consort & Players Full score, vocal score and parts for hire

ANNA MEREDITH Five Telegrams (2018) SATB chorus & large orchestra, with additional youth brass & percussion, & projected visuals. 24 minutes. Text: From a British Field Service Postcard, World War One (Eng). 4(III=IV=picc).3.2.bcl.3(III=cbsn) – 6.4.2.btrbn.euph.1 – timp(2 sets) – perc(5) – 2 harp – cel – organ – strings Youth Ensemble: 10 trbn.youth choir.4 euph.6 tpt.6 perc FP: 12-13.7.2018, BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, London, UK: 59 Productions/National Youth Choir of Great Britain/BBC Proms Youth Ensemble/BBC Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo Co-commissioned by BBC Radio 3, BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, and 14:18 NOW Full score, vocal score and parts for hire

CARL VINE Implacable Gifts (2018) two pianos and orchestra. 22 minutes picc.1.1.ca.1.bcl.1.cbsn – 4.2.2.btrbn.1 – timp – perc(2) – harp – 2 pno – strings FP: 11.5.2018, Perth Concert Hall, WA, Australia: Piers Lane/Kathryn Stott/West Australian Symphony Orchestra/Rory MacDonald Commissioned by Geoff Stearn for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and co-commissioned by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Score and parts for hire The Enchanted Loom (2018) Symphony No. 8 for orchestra. c.25 minutes picc.2.2.ca.2.bcl.2.cbsn – 4.3.1.btrbn.1 – timp – perc(4) – harp – strings FP: 30.8.2018, Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra/Sir Andrew Davis Commissioned by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Score and parts in preparation

Strings BEETHOVEN arr. COLIN MATTHEWS Lento assai from String Quartet No.16 Op.135 (1998) string orchestra. c.7 minutes Score and parts for hire

MADDALENA CASULANA arr. COLIN MATTHEWS Il Vostro Dipartir (2015) string orchestra. 5½ minutes Score and parts for hire

Ensemble ANDERS HILLBORG Fanfare (2002 rev. 2018) brass instruments and percussion. c.2 minutes 3 tpt.4 hn.3 trbn.btrbn.tuba – perc(3): tamb/susp.cym/BD FP: 2.6.2002, Skeppsholmen, Stockholm, Sweden: Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra/Niklas Willén Score and parts for hire

Chamber DVORÁK arr. DAVID MATTHEWS Love Songs (2009) arranged for high voice and string quintet. 18 minutes Text: Gustav Pfleger-Moravský (Czech) FP: 14.7.2018, Penarth Chamber Music Festival, All Saints Church, Penarth, Wales: Rebecca Evans/Lesley Hafield/David Adams/ Rebecca Jones/Alice Neary/Chris Wescott Score and parts on special sale from the Hire Library

SCHUMANN orch. TOM COULT

DANNY ELFMAN

Studies in Canonic Form Op. 56 arranged for chamber orchestra. 17½ minutes 2(II=picc).2.2.2 – 1200 – perc(1): susp.cym/vib/glsp/crot (ad lib.) – harp – strings FP: 12.7.2018, St Andrew’s Hall, Norwich, UK: Britten Sinfonia Academy Commissioned by Britten Sinfonia Score and parts for hire

Piano Quartet (2017) piano and string trio. 25 minutes FP: 6.2.2018, Radford University, Radford, VA, USA: Berlin Philharmonic Piano Quartet Jointly commissioned by Berlin Philharmonic Piano Quartet and the Lied Center for Performing Arts Score and parts for hire

NEW PUBLICATIONS AND RECORDINGS Chamber (cont.)

New Publications

New Recordings

ELGAR arr. DAVID MATTHEWS

THOMAS ADÈS

Sospiri (2018) string quartet. c.5 minutes FP: 2.6.2018, Worcester Guildhall, Worcester, UK: Zoe Beyers and Friends Score and parts on special sale from the Hire Library

The Tempest (limited edition)

Score 0-571-53872-X GEORGE BENJAMIN

MATTHEW HINDSON

Lessons in Love and Violence

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 (2018) violin and cello. 5 minutes FP: 15.7.2018, Wesley Music Centre, Canberra, ACT, Australia: Dimity Hall/Julian Smiles Commissioned by the Australia Council for the Arts Playing score on special sale from the Hire Library

Vocal score 0-571-54054-6 Text 0-571-54055-4

Violin Sonata No.1 – ‘Dark Matter’ (2018) violin and piano. 16 minutes FP: 9.8.2018, Musica Viva Australia tour, Newcastle Conservatorium, NSW, Australia: Ray Chen/Julien Quentin Commissioned for Musica Viva Australia by Jane Mathews AO, Peter Lovell and Jan Minchin Piano score and part on special sale from the Hire Library

COLIN MATTHEWS Hidden Agenda (2017-18) Piano Trio No.2. c.11 minutes First two movements FP: 28.4.2017, Winchester Chamber Music Festival, UK: London Bridge Trio Complete premiere: 4.5.2018, Winchester Chamber Music Festival, UK: London Bridge Trio Commissioned by the Winchester Chamber Music Festival with financial support from the Friends of the Festival together with Hinrichsen Foundation and Winchester City Council Score and parts in preparation

DAVID MATTHEWS String Quartet No.13 (2015) string quartet and 4 singers (SATB). c.17 minutes Text: D.H Lawrence - ‘Green’ and Sun in Me’ (Eng); ‘Lux Aeterna’ from the Requiem Mass (Latin) FP: 19.7.2018, Wilton’s Music Hall, London, UK: Kreutzer Quartet for the Kreutzer Quartet in memory of Peter Sculthorpe Full score, vocal score and parts in preparation White Flame (2018) mezzo-soprano and piano quintet. c.20 minutes Text: Muriel Spark – Five Poems from Collected Poems (Eng) FP: 13.10.2018, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London, UK: Victoria Simmonds/ Nash Ensemble Commissioned by Penelope Jardine for the Nash Ensemble Full score, vocal score and parts in preparation

Instrumental FRANCISCO COLL Rizoma (2017) violin and cello. 4½ minutes FP: 30.7.2018, Gstaad, Bern, Switzerland: Patricia Kopatchinskaja/Sol Gabetta Commissioned by Patricia Kopatchinskaja Score in preparation

TANSY DAVIES Hawk (2018) violin and piano. 2½ minutes Commissioned by London Music Masters for Many Voices, a collection of new violin and piano works for young people, in the charity’s 10th Anniversary year Score and part in preparation

ANDERS HILLBORG Prélude (1998) from the opening of ‘Peacock Tales’. solo clarinet. c.3 minutes Score on special sale from the Hire Library

OLIVER KNUSSEN Study for “Metamorphosis” (1972 rev. 2018) solo bassoon. c.5 minutes FP: April 1972, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA, USA: Vincent Ellin Rev. version: 14.2.2018, Paul Sacher Auditorium, Basel, Switzerland: Patrick Gallois Written at the request of the bassoonist Vincent Ellin for his recital at New England Conservatory in Boston, April 1972, the present version is dedicated to the memory of Knussen’s dear friend of 40 years, the composer Alan Stout (26.11.1932 1.2.2018) Score in preparation

£250

BENJAMIN BRITTEN

£34.99 £9.99

SIMON DOBSON Battles (wind band)

Score and parts 0-571-57244-8 Score 0-571-57245-6

£100 £24.99

HOWARD GOODALL Invictus: A Passion

Vocal score 0-571-53653-0

£12.99

88 No.1 (piano)

£9.99

DANIEL HALL Smoke Sketches (brass band)

Score and parts 0-571-57246-4 Score 0-571-57247-2

£44.99 £10.99

CARL VINE Strutt Sonata (cello and piano)

Score and part 0-571-54063-5

Nocturnal after John Dowland (transcribed for Lute) Jakob Lindberg BIS BIS-2082 Temporal Variations Marika Lombardi/Nathalie Dang Brilliant Classics 95435

JESSICA CURRY So Let Us Melt London Voices The Chinese Room (digital download/LP)

MICHAEL DAUGHERTY

JONNY GREENWOOD

Score 0-571-52226-2

Concert Paraphrase on Powder Her Face Ashley Fripp Willowhayne Records WHR053

£14.99

Dreamachine/Reflections on the Mississippi Evelyn Glennie/Amy Porter/Carol Jantsch/Albany Symphony Orchestra/David Allan Miller Naxos 8.559807

MATTHEW HINDSON Lounge Music Deborah de Graaff/Tonya Lemoh Rags, Bags & Tangos (digital download) Nintendo Music Jason Noble/Scott Davie Jason Noble 0784927459218 (digital download) Rush/1915 Benaud Trio ABC Classics 4817164

MAHLER arr. COLIN MATTHEWS ‘Nicht zu schnell’ from Piano Quartet Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg/Gustavo Gimeno Pentatone PTC 5186 651

COLIN MATTHEWS Meditation Tabea Debus TYXArt TXA18105

ANNA MEREDITH Anno Scottish Ensemble/Anna Meredith (electronics) Moshi Moshi MOSHICD87 MOSHILP87 Concerto for Beatboxer and Orchestra MaJiKer/Alyusha/Grace Savage/Hobbit/Mc Zani/Matthew Featherstone/ Southbank Sinfonia/Gerry Cornelius NMC DL201712 (digital download) Eighth Grade (original motion picture soundtrack) Columbia Records 587393

MARTIN SUCKLING Visiones (after Goya) Dark Inventions Dark Inventions Limited D1-1702

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Aurora Orchestra/Nigel Short Signum Classics SIGCD557 Symphony No.3 (Pastoral) Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew Manze Onyx 4161

CARL VINE Piano Trio ‘The Village’ Benaud Trio ABC Classics 4817164

‘Meredith has skilfully transmuted raw actuality into a distilled, at times near weightless elegy: no naive pretence that, a century on, we can or should recreate that suffering but an invitation to meditate and remember. The delicate plucked strings and harp of ‘Redaction’, with hushed sputters of steel pan, was especially effective, with the spiky, brassy angularity of ‘Codes’ following in urgent contrast. Meredith has made within it a radiant choral piece for the National Youth Choir that could stand alone, son without lumiere.’ The Observer (Fiona Maddocks), 22 July 2018

Meeting Vivaldi head-on Commissioned by the Scottish Ensemble in 2016, Anno for strings and electronics is Meredith’s astonishing 50-minute reinterpretation of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. To coincide with six performances at the Edinburgh Fringe (accompanied by Eleanor Meredith’s visuals), a recording of Anno has been released on the Moshi Moshi label.

Meredith’s extraordinary ‘Five Telegrams’ Five Telegrams, Anna Meredith’s collaboration with 59 Productions, opened both the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh International Festival to enormous acclaim, spectacularly melding an inspired score with mesmeric digital projections both within and outside the concert halls. Jointly commissioned by the two festivals and 14-18 NOW, and scored for choir and orchestra, the work explores themes of communication used in WWI (including telegrams sent by young soldiers), machines, codes, censorship, propaganda and reconciliation. The 24-minute work – a sonic and visual feast – was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall and broadcast live on TV and radio. Sakari Oramo conducted the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, BBC Proms Youth Ensemble and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. It was also the subject of the first ever Virtual Reality Prom. The work went on to open the Edinburgh Festival, with visuals projected onto the Usher Hall in front of a crowd of 15,000. ‘The lingering images come from Meredith’s music – the clashing, grinding riffs, and occasional moments of tender intimacy; shorn of cosmetics, it’s strong enough to stand on its own.’ The Guardian (Andrew Clements), 13 July 2018

‘A powerful work and one that surely has a life.’

‘A constantly startling and boundary-breaking composer.’ The Skinny (Tallah Brash), 13 August 2018

‘Anno vaults between pastoral pomp and Meredith’s trademarks… thrillingly nauseous.’ The Guardian G2 (Laura Snapes), 17 August 2018

‘Traverses genre boundaries without so much as a downwards glance.’ iPaper (Fiona Shepherd), 17 August 2018

Genre-busting ‘Varmints’ live with orchestra The volume and exhilaration levels on Meredith’s award-winning debut album ‘Varmints’ have been ratcheted up even further with the addition of live orchestra. Southbank Sinfonia under Simon Dobson joined Meredith’s 6-piece band at a sold-out Queen Elizabeth Hall in April, before transferring to the Edinburgh Festival. It will be revived in Birmingham Town Hall on 5 October. ‘I loved every mad minute… this event delighted in smashing boundaries with breathtaking confidence… Building from a simply repeating triad into a mad polymetric cacophony, [Nautilus] has a brashness that belies its compositional subtlety. With the players on click tracks, there are often several pulses happening simultaneously, overlapping, the pounding drumbeat continually in and out of kilter with the orchestra. The effect is thrilling…’ The Arts Desk (Bernard Hughes), 30 April 2018

Bachtrack (Mark Pullinger), 14 July 2018

‘A lambent magnificence certainly needing to be seen to be believed… More than substantial, Five Telegrams came over as monumental in its deployment — very deft — of a minimalist repetitive tutti manner. The music, violent, brassy, percussive, had a block-like, even granitic quality, in contrast to the restlessly darting lasers… sheer impact was everything… young musicians, dotted round the hall, performed from memory and had no objection, presumably, to being bathed in remarkable extravagances of light…’ The Sunday Times (Paul Driver), 22 July 2018

‘A spectacular and brilliantly conceived start to the season.’

Jess Gillam launches John Harle’s ‘RANT!’ Classic Brit winner and BBC Young Musician of the Year finalist Jess Gilliam has premiered a new work for soprano saxophone and orchestra by John Harle. RANT! lasts 5 minutes and formed part of Gillam’s international debut when she launched it with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Santtu-Matias Rouvali on 12 June. She includes it in a number of forthcoming programmes in versions with string orchestra (Manchester Camerata, premiering in November) and with piano (including her US debut at the Phillips Collection, Washington DC on 3 February 2019).

The Telegraph (Ivan Hewett), 14 July 2018

‘The pièce de résistance… an extraordinary new work.’ The Independent (Michael Church), 16 July 2018

Henson’s Lethargies thrill sold-out Barbican

Greenwood’s first published piano work

In July, Keaton Henson’s largest and in many ways his most personal statement to date, Six Lethargies, premiered to a sold-out Barbican in London. Mark Knoop conducted the strings of Britten Sinfonia. Over a span of some 75 minutes, this eagerly-anticipated work explores themes and issues surrounding anxiety and depression. Henson’s own well-documented struggles are addressed head-on over six-movements, providing a moving insight into the condition. As part of a unique experiment, the emotional states of selected audience members were monitored throughout the performance via bio-metrics, their changes in mood affecting the lighting in real time. Six Lethargies was jointly commissioned by the Barbican Centre and Sydney Opera House (for Vivid LIVE). It receives its Australian premiere in May 2019 and is soon to be recorded for future release.

New agreement with Michael Daugherty Faber Music is delighted to announce a new sub-publishing agreement with multiple Grammy® Award-winning US composer Michael Daugherty. The agreement covers all music published under his own imprint – Michael Daugherty Music – in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. We have enjoyed a long and happy association with Daugherty’s music since 1993 through our representation of his works included in the Peermusic catalogue. The new agreement includes all Daugherty works written since 2011, including his most recent orchestral piece, Night Owl and Tales of Hemingway for cello and orchestra (which receives its Estonian premiere on 26 October). Two concertos, Dreamachine (percussion) and Reflections on the Mississippi (tuba) feature on a new Naxos recording from the Albany Symphony and David Alan Miller with soloists Dame Evelyn Glennie and Carol Jantsch. Upcoming projects include: an Amelia Earhart-inspired violin concerto for Anne Akiko Meyers and the National Symphony Orchestra; an orchestral work inspired by the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing for the Pacific Symphony; and a tone poem for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Elfman – Violin Concerto and Piano Quartet Recording sessions took place earlier this summer for Danny Elfman’s Violin Concerto ‘Eleven Eleven’, with Sandy Cameron and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under John Mauceri. It will be released by Sony Classical, along with Elfman’s recent Piano Quartet, which was commissioned and premiered by the Berlin Philharmonic Piano Quartet in 2017. The concerto will receive numerous performances this coming season by the Virginia Symphony, Colorado Symphony and Royal Scottish National Orchestra (who will include the work on their forthcoming US tour in April 2019). The Piano Quartet is also now available to be taken up by other ensembles. On 28 September the Oak Tree Group perform it in Topanga Canyon, California. PHOTO: KEATON HENSON

88 (No.1) is now available in print for the first time. Originally premiered in 2015 by Antoine Françoise, as part of a London Contemporary Orchestra Soloists Concert in Geneva, it was later revised and premiered by Katherine Tinker in another LCO Soloists concert in Budapest that same year. The work is cast in two movements, marked ‘slow’ and ‘fast’. Greenwood writes that ‘it’s inspired by Glenn Gould and the serious mechanics of the thing.’ Meanwhile, Greenwood’s iconic score to There Will Be Blood was screened live by the New York Philharmonic, with two performances on 12 and 13 September under the baton of Hugh Brunt.

Goodall’s ‘Invictus: A Passion’ premieres Howard Goodall’s emotionally-charged choral work, Invictus: A Passion has premiered on both sides of the Atlantic and has just been released on The Sixteen’s ‘Coro Connections’ label. The ninemovement piece seeks to address one of the most dramatic religious stories through the lens of a diverse, modern world. Texts written, or inspired by, women form a narrative that describes human suffering and persecution, but also emphasises the human capacity for love and humility in the face of tyranny. These messages are brought to life with the emotional clarity and sweeping force typical of Goodall. The 55-minute work is scored for soprano and tenor soloists, SATB choir and small orchestra of 14 instruments. Goodall conducted the first performance in Houston, Texas on Palm Sunday, and the work is the result of a commission from long-time Goodall advocates, St Luke’s United Methodist Church (Director, Sid Davis). Prior to this, the work was recorded by Stephen Darlington and the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford with soloists from The Sixteen accompanied by The Lanyer Ensemble. These forces then gave the European premiere at St John’s Smith Square, London on 25 May, which was broadcast on Classic FM.

Oriana residency for Curry The London Oriana Choir has appointed BAFTA-winning composer Jessica Curry as its Composer-in-Residence for the 2018-19 season. Curry will write three works for the choir over the coming year, the first will be for the choir’s Christmas concerts. Meanwhile, Curry’s latest video game for The Chinese Room, So Let Us Melt, has garnered three trophies at the Game Audio Network Guild awards in San Francisco. The game was conceived for Google Daydream’s VR software, and Curry’s score perfectly blends choir, strings and electronics to create a new aural soundscape to complement the breathtaking on-screen worlds.

Choirs eagerly take up ‘Wassail!’ Alexander L’Estrange’s award-winning community choral work, Wassail! Carols of Comfort & Joy, is set to gain new admirers this year, with several choirs already programming the 45-minute piece in the USA and UK. Following its premiere in 2017, by over 1000 staff and students of its commissioners United Learning, Wassail! went on to scoop ‘Best Classical Music Education Initiative’ at the prestigious 2018 Music Teacher Awards. The vocal score is now in print and the work has been recorded on the Andagio label. 25

Faber Music is delighted to announce the launch of Faber Alt., a new division representing a roster of alternative, non-classical and crossover artists. A launch event and showcase was held on 10 May at The Water Rats, Kings Cross. Faber Alt. provides a professional rights management service across the globe, promoting artists for sync, commissions and other creative opportunities. Additionally, it draws on in-house expertise to create bespoke, special edition books, a recent example being Keaton Henson’s mixed media ‘The Tallowmere Annual’. The Faber Alt. roster features artists including Henry Green, Jonny Greenwood, Anna Meredith and Valgeir Sigurðsson. Recent signings include Mesadorm, a five-piece collaborative project fronted by Blythe Pepino (formerly of Art Pop trio, Vaults) and JJ Draper, a London-based singer-songwriter who recently opened for RHYE’s sold-out London shows. Further information can be found at faberalt.com

Another of Faber Alt.’s most recent signings is the Brighton-based art rock quintet, Phoria. Phoria gained recognition for their colourful, visually evocative soundscapes with the release of two EPs, ‘Bloodworks’ (2013) and ‘Display’ (2014). Support from BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music followed, along with millions of Spotify streams. The band released their debut album Volition in 2016 to critical acclaim. The multifaceted sounds of Phoria are illustrated by the recent single ‘Mass (Re-Imagined)’, which showcases the band’s classical roots, followed by the recent hypnotic double A-side, ‘When Everything Was Mine’/‘RROTOR’. ‘We are delighted to have signed Phoria to our roster, because of the sophistication and sheer musicality of their songs,’ comments Richard Paine, Director of Commercial Rights and Business Affairs. ‘They epitomise the kind of act that we have set out to sign – those of true originality, creating music of the highest quality.’ The band are currently recording their second album, which is set for release in 2019, and will embark on a UK tour this November.

Media & Film

Television news

Ivor Novello Award for Dan Jones

Faber Music Media composers have had a busy year so far, with numerous critically acclaimed programmes airing over the summer. The BBC’s Welsh drama Keeping Faith features an original score by Laurence Love Greed, and is currently showing on BBC 1. The new series of the sci-fi hit Humans, scored by Sarah Warne, aired on Channel 4 in early summer and Hidden/Craith, with music by John Hardy, has been well received on both BBC 4 and BBC Wales. The BBC’s feature-length adaptation of King Lear, with an all-star cast including Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, boasts original music by the Oscar-winning Stephen Warbeck, and Alex Baranowski provided a stirring orchestral arrangement of the Russian folk song ‘Ochi Chernye’ for the BBC’s World Cup campaign, with bass Sir John Tomlinson. Marc Sylvan also takes special note, with his music for the gameshows Pointless, Hardball, The £100k Drop and Tipping Point airing simultaneously on BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV and Channel 4!

We are thrilled and delighted to announce that Faber Music composer Dan Jones triumphed in the television category for his score for The Miniaturist at the Ivor Novello Awards ceremony on 31st May. Having been double-nominated (his score for the BBC’s SS-GB being the second nomination), it was his score for the BBC’s adaptation of Jessie Burton’s novel set in seventeenth-century Amsterdam that most pleased the judges. This is Jones’s third Ivor Novello Award win, and the fifth for Faber Music. Dan was also nominated at this year’s Music and Sound Awards, again for The Miniaturist in the Television Category, and also for Sound Design for his work on the film Lady Macbeth.

PHOTOS: RICHARD PAINE, FABER MUSIC’S DIRECTOR OF COMMERCIAL RIGHTS AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS, WITH DAN JONES AT THE IVOR NOVELLO AWARDS

Bärenreiter focus: the music of Beat Furrer Black on Black nero su nero, the title of Furrer’s new orchestral work speaks of gradations of darkness, the nuancing of light, and the stratification and intensification of pigments. This dramatic and imposing 18-minute work was premiered by the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna under Cornelius Meister on 14 June. Jointly commissioned by the ORF Radio, the Philharmonie Essen and the Philharmonie Luxembourg, the work comprises two great sections framing a slow central part. What emerges is an inexorable development culminating in a bright, frenetic blaze of sound.

Violet Snow The Austro-Swiss composer Beat Furrer, who this year was awarded the prestigious Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, has left an indelible mark on modern music, as a composer, conductor, founder of influential institutions such as Klangforum Wien and Impuls Akademie Graz, and as a much sought-after teacher. His inimitable work reveals a composer of both formidable analytic powers and great sensuality. One of his central concerns is to relate drama through music, and his works are noteworthy for their effective structures of tension and fracture.

Zeit mit Furrer This Summer the Salzburg Festival presented ‘Zeit mit Furrer’, a cycle of four concerts devoted to his work. Furrer conducted his music theatre work Begehren, after the Orpheus myth, with Klangforum Wien, the vocal ensemble Cantando Admont and soloists and the focus concluded with a special interpretation of the music theatre piece Wüstenbuch. Scenes of the latter were combined with the actress Isabel Karajan reading fragments from the ‘Todesarten-Projekt’. Chamber pieces included ira-arca for flute and double bass, invocation VI for soprano and bass flute, and intorno al bianco for clarinet and string quartet.

The main focus of Furrer’s creativity is music theatre, with classic pieces such as Begehren and FAMA losing none of their magnetic attraction. In January, Furrer’s latest opera Violetter Schnee, after Vladimir Sorokin, opens at Berlin’s Staatsoper Unter den Linden, in a production by Claus Guth. Matthias Pintscher conducts a cast that includes Anna Prohaska and Gyula Orendt. The opera begins with the world in a state of emergency: five people are trapped in perpetual snowdrifts. Time appears to stand still. Jacques remains apart, affirming the snowfall and the nothingness that he dedicates himself to. Peter und Silvia are gloomy, fearful and pessimistic. Jan and Natascha attempt to keep a perspective, continue to hope and remain active, believing that a new era will come. The ability to communicate becomes visibly more difficult for all of them. When a stranger appears and speaks she initially triggers euphoria, followed by deep isolation. Nothing, however, is stronger than the sun. The group is obliterated in the violet illumination of the snow.

Faber Music is the exclusive hire agent for Bärenreiter in the UK

A New Release from Faber & Faber THE SILENT MUSICIAN – Why Conducting Matters Mark Wigglesworth A conductor is one of classical music’s most recognisable figures. Rarely though does such a wellknown profession attract so many questions. The Silent Musician is not intended to be an instruction manual for conductors, nor is it a history of conducting. It is for all who wonder what conductors actually do, and why they matter. Exploring their relationships with the musicians and the music, and the public and personal responsibilities they face, leading conductor Mark Wigglesworth writes with engaging honesty about the features of his art: precision, charisma, intuition, diplomacy and passion. 4 October 2018 | 0-571-33790-3 | Hardback £14.99 Also forthcoming: THOMAS ADÈS: FULL OF NOISES Conversations with Tom Service 6 September 2018 | 0-571-27898-5 | Paperback £10.99 SCHUMANN The Faces and the Masks by Judith Chernaik 20 September 2018 | 0-571-33126-0 | Hardback £20 FRYDERYK CHOPIN: A Life and Times by Alan Walker 1 November 2018 | 0-571-34855-8 | Hardback £30.00 MUSIC LESSONS: The College de France Lectures by Pierre Boulez 1 November 2018 | 0-571-33427-8 | Hardback £30.00

A Special Edition of ‘The Tempest’ HEAD OFFICE Faber Music Ltd Bloomsbury House 74–77 Great Russell St London WC1B 3DA www.fabermusic.com Promotion Department: +44(0)207 908 5311/2 promotion@fabermusic.com

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Thomas Adès’s The Tempest, one of the most captivating and successful operas of recent years, is available for the first time as a limited edition full score. This must-have publication provides a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a piece of musical history.

Responding to librettist Meredith Oakes’s clear, ingenious refashioning of Shakespeare into formalised rhyme schemes, Adès has created a new kind of tonal language that is both direct and communicative but also indelibly contemporary. This limited edition full score is the perfect showcase of the opera’s breath-taking scope and beauty.

The unique cased score also includes exclusive images from Adès’s original handwritten score and sketches. Each of the 250 copies is signed and numbered by the composer, and features a striking cover image and endpapers by artist Claire Burbridge.

‘A masterpiece of airy beauty and eerie power’

From the turbulent orchestral prelude with which it begins, and Ariel’s stratospheric ‘Five fathoms deep’, to the radiant quintet of reconciliation in its final act, The Tempest conjures up a wholly compelling musical world.

The New Yorker (Alex Ross) Limited Edition Full Score | 0-571-53872-X | £250.00 thetempest.fabermusic.com

Alfred Music Publishing Co. Customer Service P.O. Box 10003 Van Nuys CA 91410-0003, USA Tel: +1 (818) 891-5999 sales@alfred.com Written & devised by Sam Wigglesworth with contributions from Tim Brooke, Lauren Beech and Rachel Topham Designed by Sam Wigglesworth COVER IMAGE: OLIVER KNUSSEN © MAURICE FOXALL

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