Ecological Alarm
Texts from A Midsummer Night’s Dream & Sonnet 43 by Shakespeare adapted by Cathy Milliken Song text and musical material to Wall Song in part by the choirs, shaped by Cathy Milliken
Regard our small earth. Regard our waste, regard our exploitation. Regard our blue earth turning brown with dust, regard our oceans smothered with plastic, The wild-fires, the storms and changes in our seasons. Regard nature and find her beautiful; set her free. Monitor the nests of birds, check the harvest, breathe nature’s sweet air. Set her free. Nature Aria
Introduction Prologue So just to say, make yourselves at home, We come of good will and not to offend You won’t have to laugh or do anything strange, Nor will we use force to decide how to end. No need to fear swords! There’ll be music and song, No need to fear lions! Let’s have the tongs and the bones. Fairy Rondel Brrr. Brrrrrr. Philomel, with melody, Lulla, Lulla, Lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby.
These are forgeries of jealousy… With thy brawls thou hast disturbed our sport. Therefore the winds, piping to us in vain, As in revenge have sucked up from the sea Contagious fogs Garbage, much refuse, and diseases. Listen! Much garbage, refuse, seething plastic, plastic! The moon, Pale in her anger, washes the air… That diseases have spread. When a cruel long winter has frozen the earth, And nature imprison’d seeks in vain to be free.
Walls Regarding walls: do they protect? Think of any tall wall, any stone wall, any ugly loamy rough cast wall; Any signature wall – Dividing neighbours,
east and west, land and sea, north and south. Keeping us inside, impenetrable. Now think of a wall with a chink to blink through. A miracle! Walk through! Look at the stars, look at the moon. Wall Song Stone, stone on stone. Stone in stone, set in stone. CITY LIT INCLUSIVE CHOIR Stopped, stranded I am. lost, blocked and trapped… stuck…not good! hard stone, cant climb over, cant move … not good! a million bricks in my way, shivering, I am. standing before walls. I want to go out! I want to see further! I want to join friends! Let me out, let me out. feels like home, all things woolly and soft looks like home all things cheery, in place Tucked in I am. embraced warm embraced safe. Freedom is green. SING TOWER HAMLETS Our fortress, closed doors, strong haven, our home, Protected, blanketed, surrounded with warmth. Gathered together, at ease, guard down, We can dream, safe and sound”.
Trapped in this prison, Hiding from fear, Alone and enclosed, Let us out! Let us out! We want to be free to breathe peaceful air Why can’t we move forward; no entry they say We’ve felt loneliness, heartache, fear and despair Let’s stand and push, a million bricks in our way O thou, oh wall, O sweet O lovely wall, Show me thy chink to blink through with mine eye. And through wall’s chink may I my love seek… Lit by the moon and by the stars.
Past the wit of a man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass if he go about to expound this dream. Methought I was – there is no man can tell what. Methought I was – and methought I had – but Man is but a patched fool if he will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, Man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, Not his heart to report what my dream was.
Love and Absence
Imagination
Oh Vile Wall
Regarding imagination. Regard imagination as a thing, as a creature untamed. See how it splurts, stutters, stumbles, refuses to move, hobbles, hiccups, Then forms, flies. Watch it expand, dive, swoop, hurtle as it bodies forth. What is your favourite place, – describe it! Write it!
When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see, For all the day they view things unrespected; But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee, And, darkly bright, are bright in dark directed. Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright, (…) How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made By looking on thee in the living day, (…) And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.
Oh wicked wall, through who, I see no bliss, Curst be thy stones for thus deceiving me O wicked wall, such a strict judge! No chink, no word to convey loves wings. Alas! Alas!
Visions Regarding visions: Without which we do not smile or desire? Regarding visions: We do dream. We do wish. We do desire and let the mind wander and play-act into the unknown. We may not know the vision we have created; We may not follow the visions of the poet’s pen. But dreams must play on, they must! Michael’s Vision I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream,
Imagination (Insertion of texts by the Audience) And as imagination bodies forth The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing. A local habitation and a name. Imagination, imagination bodies forth.
Regarding absence: The hot knife’s thrust of the nights darkness. The blinding haze of the bright day’s indifference. Regarding love: To be, to act, to love or not. Impossible love? Who can tell? All days are nights to see till I see thee, And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me. Nights bright, bright days (from Sonnet 43)
Epilogue If we shadows have offended, Think but this and all is mended; That you have but slumbered here While these visions did appear… So good night unto you all, Sweet friends to bed until we call, Give us your hands if we be friends; And we all shall restore amends.
WHAT’S IN THE BAG? BIOGRAPHIES London Sinfonietta London Sinfonietta is one of the world’s leading contemporary music ensembles. Formed in 1968, we have commissioned over 450 works and premiered hundreds more. Our ethos is to experiment constantly, challenging perceptions, stretching our audiences’ imaginations, and often working with them as creators of our events. We hold a leading position in education work. We believe that arts participation is transformational and relevant to all, and we enact these values through our schools’ programme Sound Out, the free, online composition programme, Composition Challenges, and unparalleled training opportunities for young performers and conductors. We have broken new ground by launching a new digital Channel, featuring videos and podcasts about new music, in addition to a significant back-catalogue of recordings dating back over 50 years. Michael Cox* flute Melinda Maxwell oboe Emma Burgess clarinet Lois Au bassoon Timothy Ellis horn Ryan Linham trumpet Byron Fulcher* trombone Jonathan Morton* violin Hilaryjane Parker violin Paul Silverthorne* viola Tim Gill* cello Markus van Horn double bass Joe Richards percussion Clíodna Shanahan piano Huw Davies electric guitar *London Sinfonietta Principal Player
BIOGRAPHIES Cathy Milliken composer Born in Brisbane and based in Berlin, Milliken is a versatile performer and member of Ensemble Extrakte Berlin. Milliken is known for her improvisations using oboe and voice. Her commissioners include Southbank Centre, Staatsoper Berlin, Donaueschinger Musiktage and Musica Viva. International participatory compositions include Umculo Festival, Future Labo, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and Munich Biennale. Recipient of the Prix Italia and the APRA AMCOS/AMC Art Music Award, Milliken was also Associate Composer of Adelaide Symphony Orchestra from 2018-20. Helena Rasker soloist Dutch contralto Helena Rasker’s career encompasses the operatic stage, the concert platform and the recital hall across a vast and expanding repertoire. She has enjoyed working with many notable conductors including Sir Antonio Pappano; Sir George Benjamin, Reinbert de Leeuw, Jaap van Zweden; Laurence Cummings, Marc Albrecht and Yannick Nézet-Seguin. Michael Schiefel soloist Inspired by a desire to join the emerging post-Wall jazz scene, Michael Schiefel moved to Berlin in the early 1990s to study at the city’s renowned University of the Arts. Since then, he has dazzled his fans at home and abroad with an array of solo and band projects that have yielded a dozen albums over the past decade. Jonathan Stockhammer conductor In just a few years, Stockhammer has made a name for himself in the worlds of opera, symphonic repertoire, and contemporary music. As a superb communicator, he has a great talent not only for presenting concerts but also for working on an equal footing with a variety of performers – whether they are young musicians and rappers or stars such as Imogen Heap or the Pet Shop Boys.
Cathy Milliken
Cathy Milliken’s
Night Shift extended version world premiere
An Evening for Audience, Ensemble, Soloists and Choir Feel free to participate or simply relax and listen. Firstly we will rehearse, then after a short interval, we will perform Night Shift together.
Helena Rasker soloist Michael Schiefel soloist Jonathan Stockhammer conductor Sing Tower Hamlets Leanne Sedin conductor City Lit Inclusive Choir Sam Poppleton conductor
Introduction Tuning Overture Prologue Fairy Rondel
WELCOME
Welcome to this concert of Cathy Milliken’s Night Shift which is the fifth CONNECT commission offered to composers who are asked to create a new work which requires public participants in its performance.
Ecological Alarm Interlude 1 Nature Aria Walls Wall Song Oh Vile Wall Visions Michael’s Vision Imagination Audience Text Writing Imagination Love and Absence Interlude 2 Nights bright, bright days Epilogue Epilogue
WHAT’S IN THE BAG? BIOGRAPHIES
Fairy Rondel
a small shaker
Wall Song & Oh Vile Wall
fingerlights turn on by pushing forward the side button
Nature Aria
Michael’s Vision Imagination
Love and Absence
whirley tubes (only some people seated on the aisle) either stones, which are played first, or later, bells
We are hugely grateful to the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne for their vision in supporting this series. And not least to the public and audiences who have participated, including those tonight. Andrew Burke Chief Executive and Artistic Director
paper to rub together and foil to crumple softly
cards and pens for writing
The spirit of engaging the audience has been at the heart of the London Sinfonietta’s work ever since it began – realised through programming, performance location, recordings and now digital work, as well as direct interventions in schools, communities, prisons and hospitals.
With thanks to
About
“When my cue comes, call me, and I will answer.” For Bottom, the weaver with acting ambitions from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, participation is the first duty of the audience. A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the first works that explicitly focuses on the subject of performing art by laypersons, In Night Shift, Shakespeare's play within a play becomes the starting point for a piece in which the audience performs alongside the onstage musicians, helping to form the final version of the piece as they go. Night Shift begins in a relaxed rehearsal led by the conductor. The audience has sound-making objects and together with the ensemble, soloists and choirs, fine-tunes the piece. After a short interval, there is the performance. Audience members should feel free to listen to each other, as well as participating in the sounds and music. Night Shift is conceived in chapters that stem from A Midsummer Night’s Dream but which also highlight contemporary issues. The wall sections of the music were created especially for this performance in collaboration with the two choirs,
using their own reflections on walls, borders and what they mean to us.
with beautiful acoustic, making sound and listening to music together.
When I first began to think about the work, I was very excited about basing it around A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I was attracted to the format of the play within the play, as well as the artisans’ earnest measures to bring their play to performance. This suggested to me a take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream that allowed rehearsal during the performance.
The sounds that the audience could make became natural and vital elements of the scoring. This meant the audience part was not separate but became part of the acoustic fabric and atmosphere of the piece, making my initial fears irrelevant.
I have also always been captivated by Titania’s raging monologue which recounts terrible ecological imbalances owing to the jealousy of her husband, but also in a larger sense to the faults in human nature and our impact on our environment so relevant today. As I began composing, it became clear to me that the challenge would lie in realising the multifaceted layers involved. There were all the elements of audience participation, creative choir participation, contemporary musical work, ensemble, and the two soloists to consider. After a time quietly sitting and imagining the sounds of the piece, I went beyond worrying about all these aspects and if I was considering them equally (giving each enough attention), and really began to enjoy the challenges posed. The process of composing started to flow and make sense. Here is a wonderful group of musicianslisteners-partakers, in a beautiful hall
I love sitting listening to random events in any natural soundscape; be it a city, the sea, frogs in a pond, or distant alpine bells. Or are they in fact random – perhaps all are in a deep discussion with one another that we are not privy to? This spatial listening is evident in other pieces I have written, such as Paloma for violin and tape, an early piece that centred around Italy
Calvino’s reflections on bird sounds and whether they were random tweets or a language. We may never know, but it does not lessen the joy of listening to a landscape of calls and chirps. I have also devised many projects with amateur music makers where I have used the spatiality of more homogenous sounds produced by people, instruments, electronics to suggest a world of acoustic chance correspondences.
NIGHT SHIFT
Now this is not new but it fascinates me and I hope in Night Shift to pass on my fascination but also achieve a coherence of action and sound and music and above all, joy amongst all performers partaking in Night Shift.
London Sinfonietta is grateful to Arts Council England for its generous support of the ensemble, as well as the many other individuals, trusts and businesses who enable us to realise our ambitions. The work of the London Sinfonietta is supported by the John Ellerman Foundation, and this performance is supported by the Southbank Centre, with the friendly support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. This concert was produced by the London Sinfonietta in association with Ensemble Modern, Remix Ensemble Casa da Música and Asko|Schönberg. CONNECT – The Audience as Artist is an initiative funded by ART MENTOR FOUNDATION LUCERNE in collaboration with London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Asko|Schönberg and Remix Ensemble Casa da Música
Cathy Milliken LondonSinfonietta
About CONNECT The CONNECT programme has, over the past six years, commissioned five new pieces of contemporary music aiming to directly involve audiences as artistic participants from their seats and also alongside professional musicians on-stage in realising each composition. The commissions are In the Midst of the Sonorous Islands by Christian Mason (2016), The Sonic Great Wall by Huang Ruo (2016), The Gender Agenda by Philip Venables (2018), ORANGO by Oscar Bianchi (2018), and Cathy Milliken’s Night Shift (2021). Each new work has received at least four Europe-wide performances as a result of a collaboration between four ensembles – the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Asko|Schönberg and Remix Ensemble Casa da Música – who share a fascination for connecting audiences with new music. CONNECT is made possible by the generous support and vision of Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne.
@Ldn_Sinfonietta LondonSinfonietta @london.sinfonietta
UPCOMING CONCERTS SOUND OUT LIVE
Inspiring the next generation of composers in this concert for schools and young people Thu 24 March, online
TAPESTRIES
Kaleidoscopic and sensually colourful music from George Lewis and Alex Paxton Thu 31 March, Queen Elizabeth Hall
LEANING EAST
Celebrating contemporary musical life in Poland with two world premieres Wed 27 April, Queen Elizabeth Hall
LONG SONG OF SOLITUDE
Claude Vivier’s masterpiece Lonely Child, plus a new work by Nicole Lizee inspired by Vivier Fri 6 May, Queen Elizabeth Hall
ILLUSIONS
Philip Venables’ and David Hoyle’s anarchic and uncompromising multimedia performance piece Sun 3 July, Southbank Centre
To book tickets please visit londonsinfonietta.org.uk or southbankcentre.co.uk