Boosey & Hawkes

Reich, Adams, Andriessen: minimalist masters in the UK

(September 2009)

A feast of musical minimalism is to be savoured this autumn, with major works by Adams, Reich and Andriessen presented by the London Sinfonietta and the Huddersfield Festival, each with the participation of the composer.

John Adams
The London Sinfonietta opens its 2009/10 season with a concert conducted by John Adams on Sunday 27 September at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, featuring theUK premiere of Son of Chamber Symphony. The new work, composed in 2007, is a successor to Adams’s Chamber Symphony (1992) which has received over 300 performances in the past 15 years. The ‘Son’ was co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall, Stanford Lively Arts and San Francisco Ballet who presented dance performances choreographed by Mark Morris last year.

Set in three movements, like father like son, the new work is a thrilling workout testing the virtuosity of the chamber ensemble, with intricate rhythmic processes and mercurial humour, plus the refinement of instrumentation and symphonic scope developed by the composer over the past decade. The first movement of Son of Chamber Symphony is driven by a manic Beethovenian energy, while melodies unfurl in the central movement over flowing chords and avian interjections, swept away by the dancing pulses and arpeggios of the finale.

> www.southbankcentre.co.uk/music/modern-classical/productions/london-sinfonietta-27-09-09-46752

Steve Reich
The London Sinfonietta joins forces with Steve Reich, Bang on a Can and Synergy Vocals for a performance of Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians at the Royal Festival Hall on 31 October. With its driving riffs, hypnotic sonorities and epic architecture, the 55-minute work is acknowledged as a minimalist classic, which opened up new possibilities for Reich and succeeding generations of composers. The first half, performed by Bang on a Can, includes Clapping Music, Electric Counterpoint and Sextet.

> www.southbankcentre.co.uk/music/productions/london-sinfonietta-31-10-09-46779

Louis Andriessen
The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festivals celebrates Louis Andriessen’s 70th birthday year with a day of events on 25 November. A new trio version of Passeggiata receives its UK premiere at the 2pm afternoon concert, together with other chamber works performed by singer Cristina Zavalloni, violinists Monica Germino and Heleen Hulst and pianist Gerard Bouwhuis, all who have worked closely with the composer.

At 6 pm two short Andriessen films are screened including his collaboration with Hal Hartley on The New Math(s). The 8 pm evening concert sees piano duo Gerard Bouwhuis and Cees van Zeeland joining Icebreaker in a programme of Andriessen classics and miniatures, include De Staat, De Snelheid and Hoketus which heralded a major minimalist voice in Europe, and music by Andriessen’s musical mentor Igor Stravinsky.

Andriessen will be attending the events in Huddersfield which also include the launch of a new piano album of eight pieces, Image de Moreau, published by Donemus and distributed by Boosey & Hawkes.

> www.hcmf.co.uk

> Weitere Informationen zum Werk: Son of Chamber Symphony

Photos: Adams (Margaretta Mitchell), Reich (Wonge Bergmann), Andriessen (Francesca Patella)

> Nachrichtensuche

Melden Sie sich an für Updates und Angebote per E-Mail

ZUR REGISTRIERUNG

CANDIDE -

Wiederaufnahme von Leonard Bernsteins musikalischer Farce an der Staatsoperette Dresden (ab 4. Nov.). Studienpartitur und Klavierauszug des Werkes sind im Handel erhältlich.

LESEN SIE MEHR

Orchester- und Bühnenwerke