Gregor A Mayrhofer: Recycling Concerto presented in London
Britten Sinfonia gives the London premiere of Gregor A Mayrhofer’s Recycling Concerto at a Barbican concert on 12 March, with percussionist Vivi Vassileva and the composer on the rostrum.
“Make music, not trash!” is the motto for Gregor A Mayrhofer’s concerto for recycled percussion and orchestra, receiving its first London performance on 12 March in a Britten Sinfonia programme conducted by the composer. The work has been travelling widely since 2022 with solo percussionist Vivi Vassileva and was introduced to the UK by Britten Sinfonia that summer at the Aldeburgh Festival. Following the Barbican performance the ensemble travels with the concerto to Saffron Hall in Saffron Walden on 13 March.
Various new percussion instruments were developed for the piece, all made from recycled materials. Nothing new is purchased - all percussion sounds are created only from discarded materials that would otherwise go to waste. The “sound material” for the solo instruments consists of foils, plastics, recycled glass, scrap metal - all these materials that would only burden our planet receive a new life and meaning in the Recycling Concerto.
Used plastic containers become drums, discarded glasses and bottle caps become shakers, used coffee capsules turn into rustling chimes. However, these materials that we would normally consider trash can create more than just rhythm, they can even be transformed into melodic instruments. Used plastic bottles can be tuned by air pressure through a valve in the lid, becoming a kind of recycled marimba.
“…the Recycling Concerto is a powerful aural and visual statement about our impact on the environment.”
The Big Issue
> Further information on Recycling Concerto
> Watch an extract of Recycling Concerto
Alongside the Recycling Concerto, the Britten Sinfonia’s programme offers two other works exploring the theme of nature and conservation: Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and Rautavaara’s Cantus Arcticus which is subtitled Concerto for Birds and Orchestra.
Gregor A Mayrhofer's music has been performed by the Bavarian State Opera, the Bavarian Radio, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Cologne Philharmonic, the Residentie Orkest Den Haague, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Arctic Philharmonic, the Asasello Quartet, and the Schwetzingen Festival. He has received further commissions from the Munich Biennale, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Hanover State Opera, and the Tyrolean Festival Erl, among others.
Photo: Vivi Vassileva as soloist in Recycling Concerto