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Aurora Orchestra
Katia & Marielle Labèque
Vanessa Wagner Oliver Coates
Stephen Cleobury
The Smith Quartet
A Winged Victory for the Sullen Carducci Quartet Juice Vocal Ensemble
Thomas Gould
Fidelio Trio
London Sinfonietta The Sixteen
Joanna MacGregor
‘I am interested in perceptible processes. I want to be able to hear the process happening throughout the sounding music.’ Steve Reich
As composer John Adams wrote, ‘When an art form seems particularly inflated and prolix, springcleaning is in order’. What we call the Minimalist movement emerged on the West Coast of America in the early Sixties. But it wasn’t the only such reaction to complexity. In 16th-century England, the elaborate melismas of Byrd contrast with the simple word-setting of Tallis; the vast choral edifices of Taverner are built with the simplest of plainsong. After Wagner’s Ring cycle came the short, sharp shocks of Janacˇék and Bartók; for every Schoenberg there is a Stravinsky, for every Ligeti an Arvo Pärt. So in Minimalism Unwrapped we have chosen to look at ways in which composers have wiped the slate clean across time, from the earliest plainsong to the latest creations of today. There will be the radical visions of Moondog, Terry Riley’s joyous In C, and Steve Reich will join us for a day devoted to some of his seminal works, as will Gavin Bryars for his ground-breaking Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet. There will be surveys of the chamber music of Philip Glass and Michael Nyman, and a showcase of the best of the Bang on a Can group, as well as David Lang’s poignant Little Match Girl Passion. But there will also be a stream of choral concerts featuring great works of the Renaissance, along with masterpieces by Arvo Pärt and John Tavener, and new work from Nico Muhly, Graham Fitkin, Mikhail Karikis, Oliver Coates, Scanner and Nik Bärtsch. We welcome musicians and speakers who played a part in the birth of Minimalism, as well as performers who have made this repertoire their own, including the London Sinfonietta, Smith Quartet and Fidelio Trio, the Labèque sisters, Joanna MacGregor, Juice Vocal Ensemble, Piano Circus and Aurora Orchestra. We’re taking a long look at Minimalism, we hope you’ll join us...
Peter Millican
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the music of demystification Minimalism was a wholesale rejection of the European modernism in the 1960s. Its extreme distillation reconnected with pre-Classical music, while its use of pulse and tonality reconnected with a public. The influence of a clutch of experimental composers in the Bay area of California has been profound and far-reaching, as Igor Toronyi-Lalic explains.
‘Music Like None Other On Earth,’ blazed the San Francisco Chronicle 50 years ago. It wasn’t the kind of hyperbole one normally got from Alfred Frankenstein, their sober, bespectacled, pipe-smoking music critic. But then Terry Riley’s In C was no normal composition. The movement we have come to know as Minimalism had been kicking around on the West Coast of America in sound art form since around 1959. It was, however, only with Riley’s audaciously straightforward In C, premiered at the San Francisco Tape Music Center in 1964, that Minimalism hit the big time. Boosted even further by a 1968 Columbia recording, In C became the first Minimalist work to enter the contemporary repertory and the first to begin to propagate the tenets of a new musical language that would come to dominate the aural landscape. Riley’s work was also the first piece of avant-gardism that anyone could remember being written in the key of C. In this way Minimalism was like every other -ism before or since: a rebellion against what had come before. On the other side of the barricades lay European modernism. Minimalists rejected the angst of the old world (what Philip Glass would call ‘crazy creepy music’). They rejected the modernists’ invisible games. They rejected their theatricality. ‘I don’t know any secrets of structure that you can’t hear,’ wrote Steve Reich in his 1968 Minimalist manifesto Music as a Gradual Process. The Minimalists wanted to demystify, democratise and Americanise contemporary music. They also wanted to stick two fingers up to other more basic tenets of Western art music. Out went development and harmony. In came stasis, repetition and rhythm. At Minimalism’s heart was a principle that had recurred throughout music history. As composer John Adams has noted, each era, in fact, has its Minimalists and its Maximalists, its simplifiers and its complicators. Webern versus Stockhausen; Chopin versus Scriabin; Bruckner versus Mahler; Mozart versus Beethoven. The American Minimalists simply took the distilling instinct to an extreme. And much of this extreme distillation led directly to pre-modern music. Minimalism was to some extent the moment Western classical music re-entered the monastery. All of the American Minimalists eventually went down a religious road. Riley and Young embraced yogic meditation, Glass Tibetan Buddhism and Reich Orthodox Judaism. Other Minimalists melded spirituality and music even more explicitly. Composers like John Tavener, Arvo Pärt and Henryk Górecki, who allowed belief to shape structure, were christened the Holy Minimalists.
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Even more important than the spiritual dimension, however, was Minimalism’s link to pop. Minimalism was the moment popular music erupted into the classical tradition. Young’s drones came from John Coltrane and Miles Davis. Riley and Reich’s loops came from fiddling around with chart songs. The first rhythmic and melodic patterning came from the folk music of Africa (for Reich) and Asia (for Riley and Glass). And many of the pioneers started their careers as jazzers. La Monte Young and Terry Jennings were saxophonists, Terry Riley a ragtime pianist, Steve Reich a drummer. The compliment has been repaid. Today Minimalism has become the reference point for popular music. The best Minimalist programmes then must be a mess of genres, a tangle of high and low, East and West, notated and improvised, acoustic and electronic. Minimalism has always been a broad church. The first work to be defined as Minimalist wasn’t. Michael Nyman used the word in a 1968 Spectator review of Cornelius Cardew’s undeniably experimentalist The Great Learning. And histories of Minimalism usually begin with the music of Erik Satie and Morton Feldman, both of whom had quite different musical aims from those of the Minimalists but ended up creating music of a similarly coiled quality. Classic Minimalism begins roughly with Dennis Johnson’s five-hour November (1959) and ends with Philip Glass’s five-hour Music in 12 Parts (1974). (Minimalism has rarely applied its principles of distillation to length.) But the addictive, essential, universal quality of the tropes of Minimalism meant that the story was never going to end there. The first to catch wind of what was going on across the Atlantic were the anti-establishment British experimentalists. Leading members of this scene such as Howard Skempton, Gavin Bryars, John White, Michael Parsons and Michael Nyman soon began to apply ever more ordered, insistent and Minimalist processes to their experimental material. Then came the second and third waves in America. These post-Minimalists – composers such as John Adams, William Duckworth, Nico Muhly and the Bang on a Can group – have taken us even further from core minimal aesthetics and pushed Minimalism into a rapprochement with Romanticism and even modernism. Most of the first wave have followed into this fertile Post-minimalism terrain too, allowing their work to teem with extra-minimal references. So to draw on everything from plainsong to Brian Eno to Scanner is the only responsible thing to do with a movement like Minimalism, which is as much a stance on the world as a coherent set of principles. Minimalism’s greatest act of rebellion was the way it exploded classical music. Out towards the furthest reaches of the earth. And back into the distant past. To do Minimalism justice, then, you must be a Maximalist, which is just what this Unwrapped series aims to be. 7
a tone, a process terry riley
In C hit me as a full-blown composition and I wrote it down all on one piece of paper. I was interested in music from a performer and improviser’s point of view, not in a score. I had travelled in Morocco and seen how families of instrumentalists worked together. I wanted to develop a musical framework back in America that would bring us all together, rock musicians, jazz musicians and classical players – I called up all my friends to join in. I made the piece as flexible as possible, so that any community of musicians could come together to perform it. I eliminated the need for a conductor so that we could all listen in to the core of the music. In the diverse patterns we could weave a fabric that would be different every time. I saw it as a kind of musical alchemy or magic. I was seeking a spiritual direction for music, in that you lose the sense of self and give yourself up to this labyrinth of sound. It was the beginning of something in American music; it codified a lot of ideas, showed how it could be done. No other piece quite landed on me in that way ever again.
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‘I was seeking a spiritual direction for music, in that you lose the sense of self and give yourself up to a labyrinth of sound.’
sat 10 jan London Sinfonietta Riley: In C sat 23 may Vanessa Wagner & Murcof Metamorphosis sun 27 sep CHROMA Minimalist Masterworks sun 25 oct Mikhail Karikis & Juice Vocal Ensemble 102 Years out of Sync fri 30 oct Tom Kerstens’ G Plus Ensemble Ignite sun 20 dec Aurora Orchestra Riley: In C
In C by Terry Riley
1952
1957
1960
1961
1964
Moondog Theme
La Monte Young for Brass
Richard Maxfield Amazing Grace for tape
James Tenney Analog No.1 Noise Study
Terry Riley In C 9
Drumming by Steve Reich
fri 13 feb Aurora Orchestra Pulse: Steve Reich sat 14 feb London Sinfonietta Steve Reich – in person wed 4 mar The Smith Quartet European Mavericks thu 5 mar The Smith Quartet plays Bang on a Can fri 25 sep FitkinWall Lost
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thu 26 nov Piano Circus with Juice Vocal Ensemble Fitkin: Log, Line, Loud
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
Steve Reich It’s Gonna Rain
Philip Glass String Quartet No.1
Steve Reich Piano Phase
Christopher Hobbs Measuring Means
Gavin Bryars The Sinking of the Titanic
‘I love the idea that pulse is home, even if it’s not audible; that underlying, latent pulse is very powerful.’
pulse graham fitkin
From an early age I found myself drawn to pulse, more than melody. I love the idea that pulse is home, even if it’s not outwardly displayed or audible; that underlying, latent pulse is very powerful. I like a decent amount of tension and resolution in music, and creating tension around a pulse by going in and out of phase is very exciting. As a child I was thrilled by the Rite of Spring, with its intricate rhythms, and by the hammering of Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians. Philip Glass’s Music in 12 Parts was also huge for me: there’s something pleasing about the motoric energy of those works, just as there is in Vivaldi and Scarlatti. Drumming was amazing; my teacher Louis Andriessen’s Hoketus was the Dutch answer to it. I’m just trying to find my way of approaching it, even now. In my earlier works, like Log and Loud, the excitement is in the overt, pulsing momentum, now I’m more interested in what happens around a beat, what you leave out, the process of peeling back… Keeping a pulse sounds like a facile, easy thing, as if it was an automatic pop music beat, but it’s absolutely not. To perform my piano works one needs punch, not volume, it has to live; there’s a special skill in finding the essence of a pulse. I always say to students, let’s take the ‘beat’ out and see what we have left. For instance, to perform Reich’s Piano Phase is a mesmerising experience: you get lost in the repetition, the rhythmic complexity, you can’t keep track it, you have to enter a zone and things start emerging you never knew were there, a hidden meta-layer, like a psycho-acoustical effect, and it’s different every time.
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the return of diatonic harmony stephen montague
Of course, Minimalism was a reaction against the post-Webern onslaught of serialism. In the 1960s and 70s young American composers like me were steeped in the orthodoxies of European modernism. We all felt it was worthy, it could be analysed ad infinitum, and it was tough medicine that helped you grow – but it was hard to love. I met Terry Riley in 1968, what a breath of fresh air! Here was a gentle, laid-back man from the downtown scene who brought love and affection back into music. Obsessive personalities like Steve Reich, Philip Glass and lesser-known colleagues like Phil Niblock and Jon Gibson were transforming repetition, modality, tonality and simplicity into a new, userfriendly drug. These new-old ideas allowed me to reconnect with the 18th- and 19th-century music I loved and refreshed my interest in those wonderful old sounds and harmonies. Pieces started to get performed, musicians wanted to play this music, girls liked it – what a gift!
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Fundamentally, I believe we are hard-wired to respond best to the first 6 partials of the overtone series, and that triads are the bedrock and building stones of Western music. Minimalism gave us permission to use old scales and harmonies in a new and exciting way, and allowed me to tell the story I wanted to tell to an audience I wanted to reach. Of course, there’s always the danger the trope becomes the crutch, and these processes eventually became just one tool for most of us as we shaped our musical language. But I know Minimalism helped rescue a disheartened audience from the log-jam at new music’s exit door.
‘Minimalism gave us permission to use old scales and harmonies in a new and exciting way.’
sat 10 jan Contextualising ‘Minimalism’ with Stephen Montague fri 13 feb Aurora Orchestra Pulse: Steve Reich sat 14 feb London Sinfonietta Steve Reich – in person sat 18 apr O/Modernt Kammarorkester Action.Passion.Illusion thu 22 oct David Lang’s The Little Match Girl Passion fri 27 nov Aurora Orchestra – Tavener The Protecting Veil
The Protecting Veil by John Tavener
1995
1996
1999
2001
Howard Skempton Chamber Concerto
John Adams Hallelujah Junction
Michael Nyman Balancing the Books
Michael Gordon Potassium
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sat 10 jan London Sinfonietta Riley: In C fri 13 feb Aurora Orchestra Pulse: Steve Reich sat 14 feb London Sinfonietta Steve Reich – in person fri 17 apr Katia & Marielle Labèque Adams: Hallelujah Junction sat 23 may Vanessa Wagner & Murcof Metamorphosis Adams: China Gates
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fri 27 nov Aurora Orchestra – Visions Adams: Shaker Loops
grubbing for roots
Shaker Loops by John Adams
john adams
‘It felt like the pleasure principle had been invited back into the listening experience.’
I had grown up listening to jazz and then later found myself surrounded by the pounding, insistent rhythms and simple harmonic language of rock. That genuinely native music felt to me like my own genome, and I wanted above all to be able musically to intone those roots, just as the great American writers like Whitman, William Carlos Williams, Kerouac and Ginsberg had found poetry in the speech of the common person. What appealed to me about those early works of Minimalism was that they did not deconstruct or obliterate the fundamental elements of musical discourse such as regular pulsation, tonal harmony, or motivic repetition. Indeed, they did the opposite: they embraced pulsation and repetition with almost child-like glee. To me it felt like the pleasure principle had been invited back into the listening experience.1
1977
1977
1978 –83
1981
Michael Nyman In Re Don Giovanni
Arvo Pärt Fratres and Tabula Rasa
John Adams Shaker Loops
Morton Feldman Patterns in a Chromatic Field
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slow mutation nico muhly
One of the strange things about Minimalism as a term is that there is no agreed-upon definition of what it is. Most composers accused of writing it do, in some way, deny it; others embrace it as a starting point but not as a defining characteristic. I have always liked the idea of Minimalism being music that relies on some combination of large repetitive structures, visible structures, and patterns allowed to repeat under slow processes. Of course, this definition explodes the minute you want to apply it to something, but it’s a temporary place to park the car. I still have the largest room in my house reserved for the great Minimalist masterpieces of the 60s and 70s — Music in 12 Parts, Music for 18 Musicians, In C. My encounters with those pieces were terrifying and mentally seismic; it hadn’t occurred to me that the structure of a piece of music could be so clear, but without the minute-by-minute narration of the Romantics. The idea that the patterns — what, in other music might be considered background — were themselves foregrounded, and then subjected to slow and powerful processes of addition, subtraction, and subtle mutation — was thrilling to me and still gives me chills. Of course, this music didn’t spring up out of the blue. Indeed, we find such pattern-making in Ravel, in Debussy, in Stravinsky, in Gabrieli. Reich counts Pérotin as a huge influence on his music (most audible in the eerie and delicious Proverb, but also in the later oratorio Three Tales, with its distended canti firmi), and with Glass, we see the direct influence of the rhythmic possibilities in the classical musics of the Asian subcontinent.
‘The idea that repeated patterns were subjected to slow and powerful processes of addition, subtraction, and subtle mutation still gives me chills.’
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For me, growing up as a chorister, I always found a direct connection between the 1970s and the 16th- and 17th-century composers. The interest in allowing slow structural change to determine the emotional agenda is something we find in, for instance, Robert Parsons’s (c. 1535–1571/2) Ave Maria, in which each subsequent entrance of the trebles outlines a scale in enormous slow motion, or in any of the In Nomine settings by Tye or Gibbons, or in the grand repetitive chaconne structures in Purcell. It’s the deployment of big structure for maximum gain: the hidden seam of a repeat becoming itself an emotional focal point.
1982
1982
1983
1985
Michael Nyman The Draughtsman’s Contract
Arvo Pärt St John Passion
Michael Parsons October Dance
Steve Reich New York Counterpoint
Patterns in a Chromatic Field by Morton Feldman
fri 9 jan Oliver Coates & Danny Driver Feldman: Patterns in a Chromatic Field thu 5 feb Fretwork – In Nomine Muhly: New work fri 13 feb Aurora Orchestra Pulse: Steve Reich sun 25 oct Mikhail Karikis & Juice 102 Years out of Sync fri 18 dec Fretwork Taverner & Tavener sun 20 dec Aurora Orchestra Riley & Beethoven: In C
wed 4 mar The Smith Quartet Bryars: Quartet No. 1 fri 22 may The Duke Quartet Bryars: Quartet No. 2 thu 24 sep Fidelio Trio Nyman: Piano Trios sat 26 sep The Smith Quartet: Nyman Complete String Quartets & In Re Don Giovanni Transatlantic Encounters with Howard Skempton sun 27 sep CHROMA Bryars: Wonderlawn sat 24 oct G. Bryars Ensemble & Addison Chamber Choir: Cadman Req.
In Re Don Giovanni by Michael Nyman
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1987
1988
1989
1992
John Tavener The Protecting Veil
Steve Reich Different Trains
Graham Fitkin Log, Line, Loud
Steve Martland Patrol
who’s going to play? gavin bryars
In the late 1960s and early 70s, there was a community of experimental musicians in Britain playing with whatever resources we had between us, long before we encountered the Americans. We were working with loops, overlays, fragments, repetition, which then locked into what Reich, Riley and Glass had been doing. The established music organisations were not interested in our work, so we created our own ensembles, selfhelp collectives. In America, Terry Riley played saxophone and keyboards as a soloist with loops; Reich played keyboards and percussion and created his own group. Over here, we helped each other out. You cannot imagine the hostility there was to our work. We were not played on the BBC and on the first recording of Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet in 1975, the orchestral musicians specifically asked that their names were nowhere on the sleeve because it would damage their reputations! When Reich came over in 1972 he couldn’t afford to bring all his own musicians over, so he toured Drumming with four of us Brits: Cornelius Cardew, Chris Hobbs (subsequently Michael Parsons), Michael Nyman and me. We did a European tour and I played marimba, glockenspiel and eventually graduated to the tom-tom parts. We had no real knowledge of percussion and struggled to assemble the marimba when it was delivered to Nyman’s house. But there was a virtuoso core, and Reich had an astonishing ability to hold things rock steady.
‘The established music organisations were not interested in our work… You cannot imagine the hostility.’
We were all aiming for this unified sound with blended sonorities, rather than diverse textures. It was practical for Reich to write for piano and keyboards, and subsequently percussion, as that’s what he had access to. But we often had more incongruous line-ups with tuba, tenor horn, piano, bass which we learnt to blend and make sound as natural as possible. While the Americans had this pushy, highly amplified, rock sound, there was a self-deprecating side to the British music. Nowadays most of the early Minimalist pieces could be computer-programmed in minutes, but the crude technology became part of the process. Two battery-operated cassette players would naturally diverge, for example, and John White wrote pieces for toy pianos, or four sunrise organs from Woolworths: you could switch off the power and they would groan their way down, which became a feature of the work. The whole aesthetic was to get away from the complex, the high-minded, the high-powered. Like many others I worked in an art college, not a conservatoire or university music department; we were viewed as ‘dangerous’. It took until the late 1980s before music institutions started to accept us.
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choral icons harry christophers
There’s a sense both in Renaissance music and in the works of the ‘Holy Minimalists’ of stripping things away, of going back to bare bones, finding the essence. This is soul music of a special kind. Their works share an intense stillness. In our programmes we are going back to the roots of Western music, plainsong. The Tudor composer John Sheppard, for example, used just one piece of plainsong to build the extraordinary Gaude, gaude, gaude Maria, which gives it its floating stillness, despite the elaborate structure. Like Sheppard, John Tavener and Morten Lauridsen use long sustained bass-lines, like drones, which underpin a whole edifice. Tallis can construct extraordinary technical structures, mathematically worked-out, as in the Miserere, with its series of canons, augmentations and diminutions, but he can also write something as luminously simple as the Puer natus with static harmonies, simple imitation and a stillness which nevertheless allows for a richness of sonority: you can see where Lauridsen got his ideas from. There’s also a connection between the way Pérotin and Léonin set syllables over long time spans and the way Steve Reich does in The Desert Music, for example. There are funky rhythmic repetitions in both. In John Tavener’s music, by contrast, there’s a powerful concept of the icon, of music as an object; his pieces are marked by simplicity, as is Howard Skempton’s beautiful There is no rose. Arvo Pärt has a distinctive voice, he is the ultra-Minimalist: you stare at his scores and it looks like there’s almost nothing there. In fact, it’s very sophisticated, but to perform it, you need a vision. When you get under the surface, it subtly changes, comes alive with a startling intensity. Minimalism has been a route into spirituality for many of these composers – from Tavener to Reich to Pärt. The music in these choral concerts is spiritual in intent, and, perhaps for that reason, timeless.
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‘You stare at a Pärt score and it looks like there’s almost nothing there. When you get under the surface, it comes alive with a startling intensity.’
1993
1993
1993
1994
Julia Wolfe Early that summer
Graham Fitkin A Small Quartet
Erkki-Sven-Tüür Action, Passion, Illusion
Morten Lauridsen O Magnum Mysterium
Magnificat by Arvo Pärt
wed 7 jan / thu 10 dec The Sixteen Plainsong / Spirituality wed 4 feb / fri 23 oct The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge Plainsong Vespers / Pärt: St John Passion sat 18 apr O/Modernt Kammarorkester Action.Passion.Illusion fri 27 nov Aurora Orchestra – Visions: Tavener, Pärt & Adams sat 28 nov Endymion & EXAUDI perform Pärt: Music for Meditation sat 19 dec Platinum Consort Pärt: Magnificat + Victoria, Palestrina, Ockeghem and more
thu 8 jan Joanna MacGregor Satie, Stravinsky, Cage & Pärt fri 9 jan Oliver Coates & Danny Driver Feldman: Patterns in a Chromatic Field sat 14 feb London Sinfonietta Steve Reich – in person thu 16 apr Carducci Quartet Glass: The Five String Quartets fri 17 apr Katia & Marielle Labèque: Adams, Glass & Moondog thu 24 sep Fidelio Trio Nyman: Piano Trios
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1971
1971
1971–74
1972–76
1974–76
Steve Reich Drumming
Gavin Bryars Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet
Philip Glass Music in 12 Parts
Louis Andriessen De Staat
Steve Reich Music for 18 Musicians
String Quartet No. 3 Mishima by Philip Glass
performing the patterns katia labèque
Performing Minimalist scores is much harder than you’d imagine. The music of Philip Glass, for example, casts its spell over an audience, who feel its hypnotic power, but as we have to grapple with his complex rhythmical language, the fact that left hand and right hand are doing different patterns that don’t seem to relate to each other – it takes hours and hours of rehearsal to find the right way to articulate his language. You need to develop a new relationship with time, and an enriched conception of rhythm. We have to be so focused, so wide awake to play it, there’s no question of chilling out! But there’s a strong lyricism underlying his music, including Four Movements for Two Pianos. In the last movement it is a little like entering a spiral in which you can lose yourself.
‘We have to be so focused, so wide awake to play the music of Philip Glass, there’s no question of chilling out!’
Each composer is so different: La Monte Young’s music may seem simple but controlling the dynamic level is a challenge. Terry Riley demands that we listen in and adapt to each other constantly, a communal experience and lots of fun. Moondog is the father of them all, for me. He came from ‘elsewhere’, had the purest mind and surest instinct. He showed composers like Philip Glass and others a way forward, through his weird, simple, anticonventional music. I find it fascinating the way that young musicians from very different backgrounds, in rock and pop and electronics, are drawn to Minimalist music. We only started playing this repertoire in 2011 at our Kings Place series! I had not taken it seriously until then. I now see how courageous these composers were in the 1960s to go so absolutely against the grain of their time, and to develop a new, parallel music movement from first principles. It needed to happen; a provocation sufficiently extreme to move things on.
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life as material steve reich Using the voice of individual speakers is not like setting a text – it’s setting a human being. A human being is personified by his or her voice. If you record me, my cadences, the way I speak, are just as much me as any photograph. When other people listen to that they feel a persona present. When persona begins to spread and multiply and come apart, as it does in It’s Gonna Rain, there’s a very strong identification of a human being going through this uncommon magic.2 What particularly interests me about using spoken language, as opposed to setting a text to music for voices to sing, is what could be called the ‘documentary’ aspect of recorded voices. The particular voices of my governess, the porter, and the Holocaust survivors in Different Trains tell the actual story of a period in history just before and just after World War II. There is no singer’s ‘interpretation’, but rather this: people bearing witness to their own lives. Their speech melody is the unpremeditated organic expression of events they lived through.3 So many of my works are vocal pieces, though in very different ways. Sometimes they’re recorded words, with or without instruments; sometimes it’s singing words, sometimes it’s vocalise. I realised that many of my best pieces do, in fact, use a singing or speaking voice. In Drumming, for instance, there’s a relationship between singing and mallet percussion, where the women’s voices imitate the sounds of marimbas. In Different Trains, the viola imitates the sound of a woman talking – the roles are reversed.4
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fri 13 feb Aurora Orchestra Reich: Double sextet; New York Counterpoint sat 14 feb London Sinfonietta Steve Reich – in person + Study Day sun 15 feb Carducci Quartet Reich: Different Trains & WTC 9/11 thu 5 mar The Smith Quartet plays Bang on A Can Reich: Triple Quartet mon 23 mar Poet in the City Less is More mon 11 may Poet in the City Haiku: Small is Beautiful
‘Using the voice of individual speakers is not like setting a text – it’s setting a human being.’
Different Trains by Steve Reich
2001
2005
2007
2008
Howard Skempton Adam lay y-bounden
Meredith Monk Stringsongs
Nico Muhly Seeing is Believing
David Lang The Little Match Girl Passion
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Hollow by Scanner
sun 11 jan Scanner: Tavener Deconstructed/ Reconstructed fri 6 feb A Winged Victory for the Sullen ATOMOS sun 19 apr Cyptic Nights presents Oliver Coates sat 23 may Vanessa Wagner & Murcof Metamorphosis fri 13 nov London Jazz Festival 2015 Kings Place Residency: Nik B채rtsch sun 29 nov NONCLASSICAL The Rise of the Machines
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2008
2010
2010
2013
Phillip Glass Four Movements for Two Pianos
Gavin Bryars It Never Rains
Steve Reich WTC 9/11
Scanner Tavener Deconstructed/ Reconstructed
‘Minimalism didn’t demand a certain skill set, it was a beautiful idea that you could set into play, and watch unfold’
mix/remix scanner
You could say my introduction to Minimalist music processes was through Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, which I saw on Blue Peter as a child – it had the repetitions, rhythmic patterns – and playfulness. When I was 16, I read Wim Mertens’ American Minimal Music, which opened my ears. I started messing around myself, making tape loops and slowing things down – and realised I could do what I wanted. Minimalism didn’t demand a certain skill set, it was a beautiful idea that you could set into play, and watch unfold. As a studio-based creator I had no limitations, I didn’t need a grant or a certificate. In the late 1970s Italian producer Giorgio Moroder worked with disco diva Donna Summer to produce the seminal I Feel Love which wrapped an orgiastic vocal around a Minimalist melodic pulsing thread. The sequencing itself echoed the melodic threads of Minimalism and would go on to inspire many others. So much has been filtered through Minimalism: Glenn Branca, The Velvet Underground, Radiohead, The Orb, Aphex Twin… and Reich has now ‘sampled’ Radiohead in his turn. In the rave culture of the 1990s events would run for extended times, exhausting even the most hardened listener, so chill-out rooms developed, where beatless, ambient music was played at a lower volume. These spaces took on an almost therapeutic healing role. Eclectically-minded DJs were freed from the restrictions of dance music and could embrace everything from classical to Minimalist and avantgarde music. That’s where my own productions would be experienced. I once heard Reich’s It’s Gonna Rain at full volume as a warm-up to a Sonic Youth gig: it was so powerful, really sinister. Much of my own work has taken inspiration from sounds around me, often taking environmental sounds that might be considered ugly and making something beautiful out of them. As the years pass, one’s concept of what is noise and what is music grows ever more complex. 27
calendar 2015 january wed 7 jan
The Sixteen
The Power of Plainsong Plainsong Viderunt omnes Léonin Viderunt omnes Sheppard Gaude, gaude, gaude Maria Tallis Miserere nostri Victoria Salve Regina a5 Plainsong Salve Regina Pérotin Notum fecit Dominus (Viderunt omnes) Sheppard Libera nos, salva nos I & II Sheppard In manus tuas I Tallis Iam Christus astra ascenderat Sheppard In manus tuas III Victoria Salve Regina a8 The Sixteen Harry Christophers conductor Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £24.50 – 49.50 | Savers £9.50 See also thu 17 dec.
thu 8 jan
Joanna MacGregor
Satie, Stravinsky, Cage & Pärt Satie Gymnopédies Nos 1 & 2 (1888) Pièces froides (1897) Sports et divertissements (1914) Arvo Pärt Für Alina (1976) Für Anna Maria (2006) Stravinsky Sonata for piano (1924) Satie Music for Entr’acte (1924; dir. René Clair) (Film screening + live performance) Cage Cheap Imitation I (1969) Satie Mort de Socrate (Part III from Socrate; 1917–18) Gymnopédie No. 3 (1888) Joanna MacGregor OBE piano Kate Howden mezzo-soprano (Socrate) Joseph Havlat piano (Entr’acte) Tom Lee & Feargus Brennan percussion Actors from Drama Centre London
Hall One 7.30pm | approx. 90’ no interval Online Rates £14.50 – 29.50 | Savers £9.50 See also sun 19 apr.
sat 10 jan
Study Day with Stephen Montague
Contextualising ‘Minimalism’ Stephen Montague composer with Christina McMaster piano Chris Brannick percussion The idea of ‘minimalism’ in art and music has been around for centuries. What we now call Minimalist music sprouted in America in the mid-1960s, taking root in fertile soil outside the joyless post-Webern aesthetic that pervaded American academia. Drugs, Sex and Rock’n’Roll had arrived and a haze of creativity wafted through the downtown galleries of New York and San Francisco. Tonality was cool again. La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Philip Glass took their Minimalism from those art spaces to international concert halls worldwide. How did this happen, and why? Were the early Minimalists real originals or just potheads swinging from a lower branch of the musical family tree? This study day will not only contextualise Minimalism by tracing its antecedents through Eastern, Western and African cultures, but will include demos, historic recordings, live performance, and audience participation in a process piece. St Pancras Room 10.30am – 4pm | with breaks Online Rates £39.50; incl. coffee/tea
London Sinfonietta
february wed 4 feb
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge Plainsong Vespers for Henry VI
Programme to include: Fayrfax Magnificat Regale Hacomplaynt Salve Regina and further selections from the Old Hall Manuscript (c. 1420) and Eton Choirbook (c. 1500)
This event marks the 500th anniversary of the completion of the stone fabric of King’s College Chapel, founded by King Henry VI.
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge Stephen Cleobury conductor ‘A crowning glory of our civilisation’ Sir Peter Maxwell Davies Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £24.50 – 49.50 | Savers £9.50 See also fri 23 oct.
thu 5 feb
Fretwork In Nomine
(co-commissioned by Kings Place and Fretwork)
Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 34.50 | Savers £9.50 See also fri 13 & sat 14 feb
Feldman spent many years working in the New
Hall Two 4pm Online Rates £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Scanner
London Sinfonietta + special guests
fri 9 jan
Oliver Coates cello Danny Driver piano
‘Scanner manages to inject a form of music that is often distant and impersonal with warmth, human frailty and humour.’ The Guardian
sun 11 jan
Michael Nyman In C Interlude (2005) + other works made in celebration of In C Terry Riley In C (1964)
A celebratory performance of one of the works which helped define a new style of composition.
Patterns in a Chromatic Field Feldman Patterns in a Chromatic Field for cello and piano (1981)
the use of electronics and live instrumentation. Turning original themes inside out to create a new space where the music can be heard afresh, this is a mournful and vivid soundportrait of an inspiring figure.
JS Bach Canon triplex a6, BWV 1076 Parsons Ut re mi fa sol In Nomine III Stonings In Nomine Tye In Nomine XIII: Trust A Ferrabosco II Hexachord Fantasia a4 Tye Sit Fast a3 Michael Nyman Balancing the Books (1999) A Ferrabosco I Di sei bassi Taverner Quemadmodum a6 Baldwin Proporcions to the Minim Coockow as I me walked Picforth In Nomine Gavin Bryars In Nomine (after Purcell) (1995) Nico Muhly New work
In C
Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 34.50 | Savers £9.50
Oliver Coates & Danny Driver
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York textile industry and the amassed spectral harmonies revealed through Patterns have been compared to the shimmer of dye variation in the colourful Central Asian rugs he admired.
Tavener Deconstructed/Reconstructed New music based on the music of John Tavener (1944–2013), expanding, diffusing and amplifying his work through rewritings with
Fretwork viol consort Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 29.50 | Savers £9.50 See also fri 18 dec.
fri 6 feb
A Winged Victory for the Sullen ATOMOS
A collaboration between Stars Of The Lid founder Adam Wiltzie, and composer Dustin O’Halloran, who have recently wrapped up the musical score for ATOMOS, the latest Random Dance production (Oct 2013) by choreographer Wayne McGregor. ATOMOS will be the duo’s second full-length studio album. ‘Absolutely heavenly’ BBC6 Music Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £19.50 | Savers £9.50
fri 13 feb
London Sinfonietta
Steve Reich and Minimalism – Secondary Schools Concerts Join the London Sinfonietta musicians and Steve Reich to explore the elements of Minimalism through his works Clapping Music, Electric Counterpoint and New York Counterpoint. Reich’s style has had a profound influence on popular music since the 1970s. Hall One 11am & 1pm | Each concert 50’ Tickets £5 each See also sat 10 jan & sat 14 feb. Demand may be high due to popularity, and places may be limited for each school applying. To enquire about booking, please email together@londonsinfonietta.org.uk
Aurora Orchestra Pulse
Programme to include: Pérotin Beata viscera Steve Reich New York Counterpoint (1985) Stravinsky Concerto for two pianos (1935) JS Bach ‘Den Tod niemand zwingen kuntt’ from Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 4 Reich Double Sextet (2007) Timothy Orpen clarinet Aurora Orchestra Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 34.50 | Savers £9.50 See also fri 27 nov & sun 20 dec.
sat 14 feb
Study Day
The Music of Steve Reich – in association with the Society for Minimalist Music The vibrant music of Steve Reich attracts large audiences worldwide, many of whose members would not regard themselves as traditional concertgoers. Originating in New York and
San Francisco in the early 60s, Minimalist music has demonstrated an enduring power to engage new listeners. This study day offers some of the latest insights into the processes, context and development of Reich’s music through cutting-edge research presented by members of the Society for Minimalist Music. St Pancras Room 10am – 4pm Online Rates £39.50 (incl. coffee/tea)
London Sinfonietta & Steve Reich Steve Reich – in person
Steve Reich Clapping Music (1972) Four Organs for four electric organs and maracas (1970) Mallet Quartet for two marimbas and two vibraphones (2009) Sextet for percussion and keyboards (1984) Steve Reich London Sinfonietta Sound Intermedia Hall One 8pm Online Rates £19.50 – £39.50 | Savers £9.50 See also sat 10 jan & fri 13 feb.
sun 15 feb
Carducci Quartet plays Reich
Different Trains & WTC 9/11 Also part of COFFEE CONCERTS
Steve Reich Different Trains for string quartet and tape (1988) WTC 9/11 for string quartet (2010) + Q & A with Steve Reich, hosted by Philip Cashian Carducci Quartet Matthew Denton violin Michelle Fleming violin Eoin Schmidt-Martin viola Emma Denton cello Playing of constant variety, a masterclass in unanimity of musical purpose.’ The Strad Hall One 11.30am | approx. 60’; no interval Online Rates £19.50; incl. a cup of coffee/tea Savers £9.50 | without drink See also thu 16 apr.
mon 16 feb
Steve Reich Masterclass The master of minimalism, famous for his streamlined efficiency and precision, imparts his wisdom to the Royal Academy students as they perform an eclectic range of his works. Duke’s Hall, Royal Academy of Music, 11am | Tickets £5 from the Academy’s Box Office 020 7873 7300 www.ram.ac.uk
This workshop is preceded by a concert performance of Reich’s Drumming on Sunday 15 February at 3pm, when the composer will be presented with an Honorary Doctorate of the University of London.
march wed 4 mar
The Smith Quartet
European Mavericks: post-Minimalist works for string quartet Gavin Bryars String Quartet No. 1 Between the National and the Bristol (1985) Graham Fitkin A Small Quartet (1993) Louis Andriessen ...miserere... (2006–07) Wayne Siegel New work (world premiere) Martland Patrol (1992) The Smith Quartet Ian Humphries violin Rick Koster violin Nic Pendlebury viola Deirdre Cooper cello ‘Britain’s answer to the Kronos.’ The Guardian Hall One 8 pm Online Rates £14.50 – 29.50 | Savers £9.50 See also thu 5 mar & sat 26 sep.
thu 5 mar
The Smith Quartet plays Bang on a Can
Michael Gordon Potassium (2001) Meredith Monk Stringsongs (2005) Julia Wolfe Early that summer (1993) David Lang Ark Luggage (2012) for soprano and string quartet Steve Reich Triple Quartet (1999) The Smith Quartet Else Torp soprano ‘[Reich’s] Triple Quartet is played to perfection’ The Independent on Sunday Hall One 8pm Online Rates £14.50 – 29.50 | Savers £9.50 See also wed 4 mar & sat 26 sep.
mon 23 mar
Less is More
Poet in the City presents… An event exploring the poetry and music of Minimalism. Emerging from modernism’s groundbreaking energy in the early 1900s, Minimalists from Ezra Pound to William Carlos Williams sought to reshape and distil the human experience. Presenting live poetry and chamber music, this unique event will explore the way art absorbed and interpreted this striking form. Hall Two 7pm | Online Rates £9.50 See also mon 11 may.
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april
sun 19 apr
sat 23 may
Oliver Coates
presented by Cryptic Nights
Murcof & Vanessa Wagner
thu 16 apr
Carducci Quartet plays Glass
Programme to include: Edmund Finnis Across White Air for cello and reverb Oliver Coates & Chrysanthemum Bear Peace Has Assembled From Every Direction + sonic collage of material resulting from Oliver Coates’ British Council/PRS for Music Foundation residency in Hong Kong
Programme to include: Cage In a landscape (1948) John Adams China Gates (1977) Arvo Pärt Variations for the Healing of Arinushka (1977) Philip Glass Metamorphosis II (1988) Feldman Piano Piece 1952 Glass Metamorphosis IV (1988)
‘An itinerant love letter to the instrument… of deep resonance and fleeting harmonies’ The Wire
‘I discovered Murcof’s music on the occasion of a screening of Lang’s Metropolis for which he created “live” music’, and I was immediately fascinated by its rich, sensual textures, by the mystery, the magic that it emanated…’ Vanessa Wagner
The Five String Quartets Philip Glass String Quartet No. 3 Mishima (1985) String Quartet No. 1 (1966) String Quartet No. 4 Buczak (1989) String Quartet No. 2 Company (1983) String Quartet No. 5 (1991) Carducci Quartet ‘Bringing these works to life requires a multitude of nuances and spotless intonation and the Carducci Quartet flawlessly meets the challenge.’ The Strad Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 29.50 | Savers £9.50 See also sun 15 feb.
may
fri 17 apr
mon 11 may
Katia & Marielle Labèque Adams, Glass & Moondog
John Adams Hallelujah Junction (1996) Philip Glass Four Movements (2008) + A selection of Moondog pieces arranged by ubunoir Katia & Marielle Labèque pianos with ubunoir David Chalmin guitar, electronics & vocals Raphael Seguinier drums & electronics ‘The best piano duet in front of an audience today’ The New York Times Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £19.50 – 39.50 | Savers £9.50
sat 18 apr
O/MODERNT Kammarorkester
Action.Passion.Illusion Erkki-Sven Tüür Show for string orch. (1993) Minimalistic Improvisations Arvo Pärt Tabula Rasa for two violins, prepared piano & chamber orchestra (1977) Pérotin Viderunt omnes (arr. for strings) (c. 1200) Philip Glass Symphony No. 3 for strings (1995) Pärt Silouans Song for strings (1991)
Haiku: Small is Beautiful
Vanessa Wagner piano Murcof electronics Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £19.50 | Savers £9.50
september
Poet in the City presents…
thu 24 sep
From its Japanese origins to its modern imitators: this event will explore the fascinating history and legacy of a timeless and bite-sized classic. In the age of Twitter and darting attention spans, we take a closer look under the skin of Haiku. This is poetry which pares language and image down to their barest bones; small on the outside, imaginatively limitless underneath.
Fidelio Trio plays Nyman
Hall One 7pm | Online Rates £9.50 See also mon 23 mar.
fri 22 may
The Duke Quartet Hunting: Gathering
Programme to include: Gavin Bryars String Quartet No. 2 (1990) Max Richter Infra 8 (2010) Kevin Volans String Quartet No. 2 Hunting:Gathering (1987)
Piano Trios 1992–2010
Michael Nyman Poczatek (2010) The Photography of Chance (2004) Yellow Beach (2002) Time Will Pronounce (1992) Performance to be complemented by an exclusive screening of some of Michael Nyman’s short films. ‘Insistent, motivic reiterations, leavened with lyricism and compassion… given fine performances.’ BBC Music Magazine Fidelio Trio Darragh Morgan violin Robin Michael cello Mary Dullea piano Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 29.50 | Savers £9.50
fri 25 sep
‘If you thought only the Kronos could do justice to this music, think again: the Duke’ John Armstrong, BBC Music
FitkinWall
‘Hugo has a rare ability to convey a profound understanding of the music and shed light on its spiritual intent.’ Arvo Pärt
The Duke Quartet Louisa Fuller violin Rick Koster violin John Metcalfe viola Sophie Harris cello
Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 34.50 | Savers £9.50
Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 29.50 | Savers £9.50
Based on music originally written for aerial theatre company Ockham’s Razor, Lost is a new work by Graham Fitkin, whose ‘glimmering veil of music builds to a tingling climax’ The Independent Graham Fitkin & Ruth Wall harps, autoharp, Moog & red box
Hugo Ticciati violin, director Thomas Gould violin O/MODERNT Kammarorkester
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Hall Two 4pm Online Rates £14.50 | Savers £9.50 See also fri 9 jan & thu 22 oct.
Metamorphosis
Lost
Graham Fitkin Lost (London premiere)
‘Beautiful and distinctive’ The Guardian Hall One 7.30pm | approx. 60’; no interval Online Rates £14.50 – 29.50 | Savers £9.50
sat 26 sep
Study Day
Minimalism – Transatlantic Encounters Howard Skempton, Christopher Hobbs, Sarah Walker & Colin Matthews Just as Minimalism was emerging on America’s West Coast, experimental British musicians were exploring curiously similar territory. This day offers a rare chance to meet two of those composers, Christopher Hobbs and Howard Skempton, who will explain how the two cultures reflected and enriched each other. Hobbs and BBC Radio 3 broadcaster and pianist Sarah Walker discuss the influence of the American experimentalists on British composers in the 60s, 70s and beyond, while Colin Matthews assesses the impact of Minimalism on the music that followed, and the extent to which it liberates or confines. St Pancras Room 10.30am – 4pm | with breaks Online Rates £39.50 incl. coffee/tea
The Smith Quartet plays Nyman
Kilar Orawa (1986) + works by Michael Nyman, Philip Glass and Joby Talbot CHROMA Ian Watson accordion Christian Forshaw saxophone, clarinet Steve Gibson percussion Elena Hull bass A programme curated from an accordionist’s point of view, bringing a fresh performance perspective to minimalist masterworks. ‘Played with tremendous virtuosity and focus’ The Daily Telegraph Hall Two 4pm Online Rates £14.50 | Savers £9.50
october thu 22 oct
The Little Match Girl Passion presented by Cryptic
JS Bach Jesu, meine Freude (Motet No. 3 in E minor, BWV 227) David Lang The Little Match Girl Passion for four voices (SATB) each playing simple percussion (2008)
The Complete String Quartets – I
Josh Armstrong director and designer
Michael Nyman String Quartet No. 4 (1995) In Re Don Giovanni (1991)
Nicola Corbishley, Anna Crookes (Bach only), Clare Wilkinson, Chris Watson & James Holliday singers
The Smith Quartet ‘… the superb Smith Quartet’ The Times Hall One 5pm | approx. 60’; no interval Online Rates £14.50 | Savers £9.50 | Offers available See also wed 4 & thu 5 mar.
The Smith Quartet plays Nyman
The Complete String Quartets – II Michael Nyman String Quartet No. 1 (1985) String Quartet No. 2 (1988) String Quartet No. 3 (1990) String Quartet No. 5 Let’s not make a song and dance out of it (2011) The Smith Quartet Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 29.50 | Savers £9.50
sun 27 sep
CHROMA Ensemble
Minimalist Masterworks with Accordion Michael Nyman CHROMA commission (world premiere) Gavin Bryars Epilogue from Wonderlawn (1994)
‘Saturated with symbolism... artful, sobering... timely stuff’ The Guardian Hall One 8pm Online Rates £14.50 – 34.50 | Savers £9.50 See also sun 19 apr.
fri 23 oct
Gavin Bryars Lauda (con sordino) (2002) Lauda 40 ‘Madonna Santa Maria’ (2011) Lauda 44 for choir & ensemble (world premiere) It Never Rains (2010) Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet (1972) Lauda: The Flower of Friendship (2009) Cadman Requiem (1989) Pre-concert talk: Gavin Bryars in conversation with David Wordsworth Addison Chamber Choir David Wordsworth conductor Gavin Bryars double bass with the Gavin Bryars Ensemble Pre-concert talk – St Pancras Room 6.30pm Performance – Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 29.50 | Savers £9.50 Pre-concert talk is FREE, but requires separate tickets. Contact Box Office to reserve a seat.
sun 25 oct
Mikhail Karikis & Juice Vocal Ensemble 102 Years out of Sync
Programme to include: Video interview with La Monte Young Scelsi Sauh I & II for two female voices (1973) Mikhail Karikis 102 Years out of Synch + an Indian Raga and works by Meredith Monk, Claudia Molitor and other contemporary composers Shining a different light onto Minimalism, this event gives a brief glimpse into the movement’s connections with Indian music and presents feminist perspectives. Hall Two 4pm Online Rates £14.50 | Savers £9.50
fri 30 oct
Tom Kerstens’ G Plus Ensemble
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Ignite
Arvo Pärt St John Passion (1982)
Programme to include: Gabriel Jackson Fantasy with Anniversary Chorale for solo guitar (2013) John Metcalfe Three Pieces for two guitars, string quartet & percussion (2008/09) Fairlight Hills for two guitars, string quartet & percussion (2012) Laurence Crane Prelude for solo guitar (2006) Michael Parsons Theme and Variation (2006) Max Richter Take these broken wings for two guitars, string quartet & percussion (2008) + work by Joby Talbot
Pärt: St John Passion
Edward Grint baritone (Jesus) Andrew Staples tenor (Pilate) The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge Stephen Cleobury conductor Hall One 7.30pm | approx. 70’; no interval Online Rates £24.50 – 49.50 | Savers £9.50 See also wed 4 feb.
sat 24 oct
Gavin Bryars Ensemble & Addison Chamber Choir
Cadman Requiem and other works
Also part of LONDON GUITAR FESTIVAL 2015
Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 29.50 | Savers £9.50
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november thu 5 nov – sat 7 nov
London International Festival of Exploratory Music 2015 The 2015 edition of this inspiring and boundrycrossing festival will focus on Minimalism.
Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 34.50 | Savers £9.50 See also fri 13 feb & sat 20 dec.
Venue, time and pricing to be announced
sat 28 nov
fri 13 nov & sat 14 nov
Endymion & EXAUDI perform Pärt
Nik Bärtsch Also part of London Jazz Festival Kings Place Residency 2015 Following his previous visits to Kings Place, Nik Bärtsch returns for a special residency for the EFG London Jazz Festival. The programme will include Mobile Extended – the UK debut of Bärtsch’s new group plus string quartet. This purely acoustic quartet combines ingredients of funk, new classical music, and Japanese ritual music – a sound world of raw poetry, propelled by obsessive motion, and an ambient lyricism. With collaborations with British artists, workshop and discussions... ‘The motto Ritual Groove Music is not accidental in Bärtsch’s music; it reconciles minimal music with funk, Steve Reich with James Brown, Lennie Tristano with Japanese Noh-music.’ du – Die Zeitschrift für Kultur Venue, time and pricing to be announced
thu 26 nov
Piano Circus with Juice Vocal Ensemble Patrick Brennan New work for six pianos and female voices Louis Andriessen De Staat for female vocal quartet and large ensemble (1972–76) World premiere of new transcription by Piano Circus for six pianos and voices
Graham Fitkin Log, Line, Loud for six pianos (1989–91) Piano Circus Juice Vocal Ensemble Hall One 8pm Online Rates £14.50 – 29.50 | Savers £9.50
fri 27 nov
Aurora Orchestra
Visions: Tavener, Pärt and Adams
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Leonard Elschenbroich cello Thomas Gould violin John Reid piano Aurora Orchestra Nicholas Collon conductor
Tavener The Protecting Veil for solo cello and strings (1988) John Adams Shaker Loops for string septet (1978) Arvo Pärt Spiegel im Spiegel for violin and piano (1978)
Music for Meditation
Arvo Pärt Fratres for string quartet (1977/89) Ein Wallfahrtslied (Pilgrim’s Song) for tenor and string quartet (1984; rev. 1996) Summa for string quartet (1977/1991) Stabat Mater for soprano, alto, tenor & string trio (1985) EXAUDI Endymion A programme that showcases Pärt’s own style of ‘tintinnabuli’ or ‘little bells’ minimalism for both instruments and voices Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 29.50 | Savers £9.50
sun 29 nov
NONCLASSICAL
The Rise of the Machines Programme to include: Minimal electronic works by Raymond Scott and Brian Eno, plus Leon Michener’s Klavikon project + NONCLASSICAL DJs playing seminal minimal electronic works during the interval and after the concert Leon Michener prepared piano Nonclassical Synth Ensemble
Skempton Adam lay y bounden (2001) Morten Lauridsen O magnum mysterium (1994) Tavener Today the Virgin (1989) Mouton Nesciens mater The Sixteen Harry Christophers conductor Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £24.50 – 49.50 | Savers £9.50 See also wed 7 jan.
fri 18 dec
Fretwork
Taverner & Tavener Taverner Missa Gloria tibi trinitas (?1520s) Tavener Nipson for countertenor and viol consort (1998) The Hidden Face for countertenor, oboe & viol consort (1996) Iestyn Davies countertenor Nicholas Daniel oboe Fretwork viol consort ‘The finest viol consort on the planet’ The Evening Standard Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – £34.50 | Savers £9.50 See also thu 5 feb.
sat 19 dec
Platinum Consort A Perfect Love
Arvo Pärt Magnificat (1989) Lassus Alma Redemptoris mater a8 Ockeghem Alma Redemptoris mater a4 Morales Veni, Domine, et noli tardare Richard Bates O magnum mysterium (world premiere) Pärt 7 Magnificat-Antiphonen (1988/1991) Scheidt Puer natus Betlehem Victoria Alma Redemptoris mater a8 Bates Seven Responses for Advent
Hall Two 4pm Online Rates £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Platinum Consort Scott Inglis-Kidger director
december
‘This is singing that brings great pleasure.’ International Record Review
thu 10 dec
Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 34.50 | Savers £9.50
The Sixteen
Spirituality and Holy Minimalism Plainsong Puer natus est nobis Tallis ‘Gloria’ from Puer natus est nobis Tavener The Lamb (1982) Tavener ‘O, do not move (1991) Howard Skempton There is no rose Arvo Pärt The Deer’s Cry (2007) Tallis Videte miraculum Plainsong Nesciens mater Lambe Nesciens mater Pärt Morning Star (2007)
sun 20 dec
Aurora Orchestra In C
Terry Riley In C (1964) Beethoven Symphony No. 1 in C, Op. 21 Aurora Orchestra Nicholas Collon conductor Hall One 7.30pm Online Rates £14.50 – 34.50 | Savers £9.50 See also fri 13 feb & fri 27 nov.
£9.50 Saver Seats can only be purchased online and are limited in availability. You are guaranteed a seat. Its location will be allocated by the Box Office. Tickets may be collected at any time during the hour before the performance. access Kings Place aims to be accessible to everyone, and all performance spaces offer suitable seating for wheelchair
journey Kings Place is situated just a few minutes’ walk from King’s Cross and St Pancras stations, one of the most connected locations in London and now the biggest transport hub in Europe. public transport The Transport for London Journey Planner provides live travel updates and options on how to reach Kings Place quickly and accurately. You can also call London Travel Information on +44 (0)20 7222 1234.
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hall one Assigned Seating – Choose your own seat when booking.
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Kings Place 90 York Way London, N1 9AG
returns policy Tickets cannot be refunded or exchanged, except where an event is cancelled or abandoned when less than half of the performance has taken place.
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in person Box Office Opening Hours: Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri & Sat 12–8pm; Tue 10–5pm; Sun 12–7pm (closed Bank Holidays). Box Office Opening Hours are subject to change.
taking pictures The use of cameras, video or sound recording equipment is strictly prohibited during performances, concerts and exhibitions. Kings Place may take pictures during your visit that are later used for promotional purposes.
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by phone Kings Place Box Office +44 (0)20 7520 1490
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online Secure online booking 24 hours kingsplace.co.uk
arriving late We will endeavour to seat latecomers at a suitable break in the performance, although this may not always be possible and in some instances latecomers may not be admitted at all. Tickets are non-refundable.
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group bookings Buy six or more tickets per event, and save 20%. Group discounts are available through the Box Office only and are not bookable online. May not be applicable for some events and subject to availability.
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Please add £2 per ticket to the online price if booking by telephone or in person. Kings Place do not charge any additional booking or postage fees.
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Battlebridge Basin
Tickets for all performances from £9.50 online. Tickets are cheaper if booked online. (The online ticket prices are shown in the listings.)
users. Please inform the Box Office Staff of any access requirements when booking. There is an induction loop at the Box Office Welcome Desk to assist those with hearing aids. An infrared system is installed in Halls One and Two, with hearing advancement headsets available for audience members who do not use a hearing aid. Neck loops are also available to use with hearing aids switched to the ‘T’ position. All areas of Kings Place are accessible to those with Guide & Hearing Dogs.
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tube The nearest tube station is King’s Cross St Pancras, on the Circle, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City, Piccadilly, Northern and Victoria lines. The station has step-free access from platform to street level. The quickest way to Kings Place is via the new King’s Boulevard. You can also walk up York Way. bus The bus route to York Way is the 390. Other services running to nearby are routes 10,17, 30, 45, 46, 59, 63, 73, 91, 205, 214, 259 & 476. car Kings Place is easily accessible and clearly signposted in the immediate area. The building is outside the Congestion Charge Zone. The nearest car park is at St Pancras Station on Pancras Road, open 24 hours, 7 days including Bank Holidays. bike There is a Barclays Bike Hire Docking Station on Crinan Street. For its latest status and cycling routes please visit: tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling or call: +44 (0)20 7222 1234.
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food & drink Rotunda Bar & Restaurant is the perfect place to dine and enjoy a drink when attending a performance. With our waterside setting, and a range of dining options including a full à la carte menu, great value pre-performance menu, light post-performance supper, as well as our selection of smaller nibbles and bar food, there is something to suit everybody. However if it’s just a drink you’re after, Rotunda also has a great range of beers and wine for a pre- or post-performance tipple. +44 (0)207 014 2840. If you just want a quick bite, the Green & Fortune Café is ideal, serving a selection of daily hot specials, soups and our hot carvery rolls alongside salads, sandwiches and our cakes which are all made fresh every day. +44 (0)0207 014 2850. The Concert Bar is situated adjacent to the concert halls. Place your interval order at the bar prior to the start of the performance and your drinks will be waiting for you.
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credits
editor-in-chief Helen Wallace art director & photographer Moira Gil editorial team Michael Green Emrah Tokalaç Alice Clark (web) Lindsay Garfoot (web) printer Indigo press perspex Hamar Acrylics, with special thanks to Terry hamaracrylic.co.uk image credits p. 3 Peter Millican © Nick White; p. 6 Terry Riley © Christopher Felver; p. 9 Graham Fitkin © Steve Tanner; p. 10 Stephen Montague © Kate Mount; p. 13 John Adams © Margaretta Mitchell; p. 14 Nico Muhly © Samantha West; p. 17 Gavin Bryans © Gautier Deblonde; p. 18 Harry Christophers © Marco Borggreve; p. 21 Katia Làbeque © Umberto Nicoletti; p. 22 Steve Reich © Wonge Bergmann; p. 25 Scanner © supplied photo.
inside front cover Aurora Orchestra © Ben Edwards; Katia & Marielle Làbeque © Umberto Nicoletti; Vanessa Wagner © Balazs Borocz; A Winged Victory for the Sullen © Mehdi Zollo; Oliver Coates © Phil Sharp; Juice Vocal Emsemble © Dannie Price; The Sixteen © Molina Visuals; The Smith Quartet © Hugo Glendinning; Stephen Cleobury © supplied photo; The Fidelio Trio © Sophie Dennehy; Carducci Quartet © Andy Holdsworth; Thomas Gould © Laura Bodo Lajber; Joanna MacGregor © Paul Hansen. publisher credits The excerpts on pp. 13 & 22 were quoted from the following sources: 1. John Adams, Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life, by permission of Faber & Faber Ltd: London, 2008. 2. 3. Steve Reich: Writings on Music, 1965-2000; Early Works (1965-68) and Music and Language (1996, Du Magazine) by permission of Oxford University Press, USA. 4. Steve Reich, Notes accompanying Works 1965–1995 (Nonesuch Records: 7559-79451-2). p.1 Steve Reich’s quote by permission of Oxford University Press, USA.
score installations credits pp. 6–7 In C by Terry Riley; pp. 8–9 Drumming by Steve Reich; pp. 10–11 The Protecting Veil by John Tavener; pp. 12–13 Shaker Loops by John Adams; pp. 14–15 Patterns in a Chromatic Field by Morton Feldman; pp. 16–17 In Re Don Giovanni by Michael Nyman; pp. 18–19 Magnificat by Arvo Pärt; pp. 20–21; String Quartet No. 3 Mishima by Philip Glass; pp. 22–23 Different Trains by Steve Reich; pp. 24–25 Hollow by Scanner.
Chromatic Field and Arvo Pärt: Magnificat, Universal Edition AG; Robin Rimbaud (Scanner) for his work Hollow. With special thanks to Meg Monteith (The Music Sales Group), Bettina Tiefenbrunner (Universal Edition AG) & Mike Williams (Boosey & Hawkes). selected concerts recorded by
music publisher credits Inspired by the selected pieces, the ten installations were artistically conceived, created and photographed by Moira Gil – with kind permission granted and perusal scores provided by: John Adams: Shaker Loops and Terry Riley: In C, Associated Music Publishers, Inc. (BMI); Steve Reich: Different Trains and Drumming, Boosey & Hawkes (an Imagem Company); Michael Nyman: In Re Don Giovanni, John Tavener: The Protecing Veil and Philip Glass: String Quartet No. 3 Mishima, Chester Music Limited (part of the Music Sales Group); Morton Feldman: Patterns in a
© Kings Place 2014–2015 All material is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved. The greatest care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information in this magazine at the time of going to press, but we accept no responsibility for omissions/ errors. The views expressed in this print are not necessarily those of Kings Place.
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scores
The visual representations show a section of each score. A small number of lines are selected to portray 10 of the fundamental characteristics of minimalist music.
1. a tone, a process | In C, Terry Riley (bar #3)
2. pulse | Drumming, Steve Reich (part 4, bar #589)
3. the return of diatonic harmony | The Protecting Veil, John Tavener (bar #13–15)
Silence Saxophone Drums 1 Drums 2 Drums 3 Solo Cello
4. grubbing for roots | Shaker Loops, John Adams (part II, Hymning Slews, bar #13–16)
Violin I Cello Violin 2 Viola Piano Trumpet in C Electric Bass Guitar Soprano Alto Base Radio Loop Ringtone
5. slow mutation | Patterns in a Chromatic Field, Morton Feldman (p. 21, 3rd stave)
6. who’s going to play? | In re Don Giovanni, Michael Nyman (bar #46–49)
7. choral Ikons | Magnificat, Arvo Pärt (bar #38–40)
et
mi
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se -
ri
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cor
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di
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a
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us
8. performing the patterns | String Quartet No. 3 Mishima, Philip Glass (mvmt IV: 1962, Body Building, bar #26–29)
9. life as material | Different Trains, Steve Reich (I. America – Before the war, bar #59–64)
from
Chi- ca - go
from
Chi - ca - go
to New Yo - rk
10. mix /remix | Hollow by Scanner (Original score provided by Scanner)
online savers £9.50 | kingsplace.co.uk/minimalism
2015
wed 4 mar
The Smith Quartet European Mavericks
wed 7 jan
The Sixteen
The Power of Plainsong thu 8 jan
Joanna MacGregor
Satie, Stravinsky, Cage & Pärt fri 9 jan
Oliver Coates & Danny Driver Patterns in a Chromatic Field sat 10 jan
Study Day with Stephen Montague Contextualising ‘Minimalism’
London Sinfonietta In C
sun 11 jan
Scanner
The Smith Quartet
Pärt: St John Passion sat 24 oct
mon 23 mar
Gavin Bryars Ensemble & Addison Chamber Choir
Poet in the City presents…
sun 25 oct
plays Bang on a Can
Less is More thu 16 apr
Carducci Quartet plays Glass
The Five String Quartets
Cadman Requiem and other works
Mikhail Karikis & Juice Vocal Ensemble 102 Years out of Sync fri 30 oct
fri 17 apr
Tom Kerstens’ G Plus Ensemble
Adams, Glass & Moondog
thu 5 nov – sat 7 nov
Katia & Marielle Labèque sat 18 apr
O/MODERNT Kammarorkester
Action.Passion.Illusion
Ignite
London International Festival of Exploratory Music 2015 fri 13 nov & sat 14 nov
Nik Bärtsch
Tavener Deconstructed/ Reconstructed
sun 19 apr
London Jazz Festival Kings Place Residency
wed 4 feb
presented by Cryptic Nights
thu 26 nov
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge Plainsong Vespers for Henry VI thu 5 feb
Fretwork In Nomine fri 6 feb
A Winged Victory for the Sullen ATOMOS fri 13 feb
London Sinfonietta
Steve Reich and Minimalism – Secondary Schools Concerts
Aurora Orchestra Pulse
sat 14 feb
Study Day
The Music of Steve Reich
London Sinfonietta & Steve Reich Steve Reich – in person sun 15 feb
Carducci Quartet plays Reich
Different Trains & WTC 9/11 mon 16 feb 38
thu 5 mar
fri 23 oct
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Steve Reich Masterclass
Oliver Coates mon 11 may
Piano Circus & Juice Vocal Ensemble
Poet in the City presents…
fri 27 nov
Haiku: Small is Beautiful fri 22 may
Aurora Orchestra
Hunting: Gathering
sat 28 nov
The Duke Quartet
Visions: Tavener, Pärt and Adams
Murcof & Vanessa Wagner
Endymion & EXAUDI perform Pärt
Metamorphosis
Music for Meditation
thu 24 sep
sun 29 nov
Fidelio Trio plays Nyman
Klavikon
sat 23 may
Piano Trios 1992–2010 fri 25 sep
FitkinWall Lost
sat 26 sep
Study Day with Howard Skempton
NONCLASSICAL thu 10 dec
The Sixteen
Spirituality and Holy Minimalism fri 18 dec
Fretwork
Taverner & Tavener
Minimalism – Transatlantic Encounters
sat 19 dec
The Smith Quartet plays Nyman
A Perfect Love
Platinum Consort
The Complete String Quartets
sun 20 dec
sun 27 sep
In C
CHROMA Ensemble Minimalist Masterworks thu 22 oct
The Little Match Girl Passion presented by Cryptic
Aurora Orchestra