at lunch one LONDON WIGMORE HALL Friday 17 November 2017, 1pm part of the EFG London Jazz Festival 2017

Transcription

1 at lunch one THOMAS HANCOX flute, bass flute JOY FARRALL clarinet, bass clarinet NIK BÄRTSCH piano ROGER LINLEY double bass JAMES WOODROW electric guitar SARAH KIRKLAND SNIDER Pale as Centuries MARK BOWLER (OPUS2017 winner) Deep Green (world premiere tour) JUDD GREENSTEIN City Boy NIK BÄRTSCH 9_3_7 (world premiere tour) 8 mins 7 mins 12 mins 10 mins LONDON WIGMORE HALL Friday 17 November 2017, 1pm part of the EFG London Jazz Festival 2017 CAMBRIDGE WEST ROAD CONCERT HALL Tuesday 21 November 2017, 1pm NORWICH ST ANDREW S HALL Friday 24 November 2017, 1pm Would patrons please ensure that mobile phones, watch alarms, and any other electrical devices that may be audible are switched off. No recording or photography is allowed in the auditorium.

2 introduction For this programme Britten Sinfonia and I have chosen pieces for an instrumental lineup that represents a touch of classical chamber music and indie groove music, from pop to minimal and jazz. The pieces Pale As Centuries by Sarah Kirkland Snider and City Boy by Judd Greenstein were originally written for the NOW Ensemble from Brooklyn, New York, an ensemble which combines influences of classical chamber music and independent pop music. These days they share their unique blend of different musical influences with a host of international young composers and musicians. This generation of musicians grew up with fewer ideological boundaries compared to the old times of new classical music. The programme explores different ways of working with, and blending new ideas. The flow of rhythms and time is one characteristic, which in each way or another, is present in all of the pieces in this concert. The trio Deep Green by Mark Bowler is based on an odd meter rhythm and its counterpoints that dance through the piece. My piece 9_3_7 is inspired by odd metre and overlapping patterns as rhythmical structure which Judd Greenstein used in his piece City Boy. Like this, 9_3_7 works with spins and mechanisms of minimal groove music. Also Pale As Centuries by Sarah Kirkland Snider uses patterns and cycle combinations, but in a more narrative sense. Stravinsky once said, that every new piece of music is a comment on the ones that were written before. In this programme we can follow this idea of process and progress very directly with our ears. The listeners may add to this, based on their own cerebral and emotional library of musical experiences! sarah kirkland snider (b. 1973) Pale as Centuries (2011) Pale as Centuries for flute, clarinet, electric guitar, piano and bass is a musical collage which combines diverse (and sometimes seemingly mismatched) melodic fragments building in urgency and intensity, falling away into ornate tranquillity before building up again. Pale as Centuries was commissioned by the NOW Ensemble and recorded for their album Dreamfall, released on New Amsterdam Records in May 2015, which also featured another work in this programme Judd Greenstein's City Boy. explore at lunch Pre-concert talk London, 12.15pm Dr Kate Kennedy talks to Nik Bärtsch and OPUS2017 winner, Mark Bowler, about their new works. This talk will be released as a podcast following the concert, available via Post-concert event Cambridge, 2.15pm Nik Bärtsch and OPUS2017 winner, Mark Bowler discuss their new works with Cambridge University s Tim Watts. Nik Bärtsch

3 mark bowler (b. 1980) Deep Green (2017) My goal for Deep Green was to write a piece of groove music in mixed-metre. This offered some interesting challenges as groove music is often based on familiarity through rhythmic repetition, but this piece would have an asymmetrical pulse that changed speed as the piece developed. The rhythmic ostinati around which the piece is constructed are derived from various folk dances from eastern Europe, particularly the Bulgarian rachenitsa, a dance in 7/8 time. These asymmetrical patterns are coupled with more familiar western European dance rhythms and repeated, creating new metric structures. At the beginning of the writing process I had been exploring Ligeti's Piano Etude No. 2: Cordes à vide. Ligeti's thematic fifths found their way into the harmonic make up of Deep Green and can be heard from the outset in the double bass and clarinet parts. The piece is in a modified ternary form: initial material develops through a changing modal landscape, culminating in a pizzicato solo on the bass; the middle section is a quasi-waltz with dilated phrasing, building slowly before suddenly taking to the skies and falling back to earth (and to the bottom of the range of each instrument); the final section begins with a solo on flute followed by a fragmented recapitulation. The problem with a piece of music that wants to drive unceasingly onward is how to bring it to a close: what if the machine does not want to be stopped? Sometimes one must pull out the plug The name Deep Green is borrowed from a new tidal energy technology, currently under development, which uses the undulations of an underwater kite to produce predictable, renewable power. Deep Green was co-commissioned by Britten Sinfonia and Wigmore Hall following the OPUS2017 competition. The commission was made possible by the generosity of donors to Britten Sinfonia's Musically Gifted campaign. Wigmore Hall acknowledges the support of André Hoffmann, president of the Fondation Hoffmann, a Swiss grant-making foundation. Mark Bowler OPUS2017 has been generously supported by the Boltini Trust. mark bowler Mark Bowler is a British composer of orchestral, chamber and vocal music. Through his music he explores ideas relating to symmetry & geometry, chromaticism and aesthetically moderated patterns & processes. With an interest in the folk tradition, found materials are often a key component to his work. Mark s work has been performed recently by the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge; Bournemouth Sinfonietta Choir; and Ligeti Quartet, who recorded his Quartet for Strings for release on One Glass Eye Records. Mark graduated with a BA (1st class Hons) in Music Composition from Coventry University and is currently on a postgraduate composition course studying with Matthew King at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He studies privately with John Lely.

4 judd greenstein (b.1979) City Boy (2010) City Boy was written to be the 2nd movement of the Change Trilogy, comprising Folk Music, Change, and this work, City Boy. It's the middle movement, and is largely a response piece to Folk Music, with that piece's opening oscillation inverted. Unlike the gradual builds of the two pieces that surround it, City Boy moves rapidly from one idea to another (relatively fans of Zappa, Brittelle, Babbitt, or Brian Wilson will be disappointed), and explores territory that is motivically related to both Folk Music and Change, but quite different in tone. City Boy was commissioned by Nimbus Dance Works with funds from the American Music Center. Judd Greenstein nik bärtsch (b.1971) 9_3_7 (2017) 9_3_7 was inspired by patterns found in Judd Greenstein's City Boy, a piece for the same line-up. While I was studying his piece, I noticed that his basic rhythmic patterns in 3 and 7 never appear together. Since in my music, rhythmic cycles and polyrhythmic spins are essential, I explored the potential of these patterns by combining, blending and melting them with one of my own in 9 as formal counterpoint (from the piece Modul 51). In the context of this programme created together with Britten Sinfonia, I also wanted to clothe the rhythmic patterns, melodically. But each costume is tailored to the structure of each of these fabulous pattern creatures. So when the creatures are dancing, the flow of the groove should be visible in the movement of the clothes. 9_3_7 was co-commissioned by Britten Sinfonia, NOW Ensemble and Wigmore Hall. The commission was made possible by the generosity of donors to Britten Sinfonia's Musically Gifted campaign and the Stanley Johnson Foundation. Wigmore Hall acknowledges the support of André Hoffmann, president of the Fondation Hoffmann, a Swiss grant-making foundation. Nik Bärtsch

5 nik bärtsch Born in 1971 in Zurich, Nik Bärtsch is a pianist, composer and producer. Nik had instruction in piano and percussion from the age of 8 and in 1997 he graduated from the Musikhochschule Zürich. From he took studies in philosophy, linguistics and musicology at the University of Zurich. Ongoing work as a pianist and composer includes being leader of Mobile and the zenfunk quartet Ronin. Nik has also been an instructor for Practical Aesthetics at the Musikhochschule Zürich/Winterthur ( ). Nik Bärtsch is co-founder of the music club Exil in Zurich (2009), founder of the label Ronin Rhythm Records, a platform for creative groove music (since 2006). He is also co-founder and co-artistic director (together with Judd Greenstein and Etienne Abelin) of the indie-classical festival, Zurich Apples and Olives (2014). Nik has an interest in the influence and the combination of music and movement, especially in the following Bodytechniques: Aikido, Feldenkrais, and Gyrotonic and he trains at Kokoro Aikido Dojo in Zurich. Nik has held residencies, workshops and lectures at several institutions including Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London; Musikhochschule für Musik und Theater, Leipzig; Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Zürcher Hochschule der Künste; Conservatorio di Musica Trieste, Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, and ETH Zürich. britten sinfonia Britten Sinfonia is one of the world s most celebrated and pioneering ensembles. The orchestra is acclaimed for its virtuoso musicianship, an inspired approach to concert programming, which makes bold, intelligent connections across 400 years of repertoire, and a versatility that is second to none. Britten Sinfonia breaks the mould by not having a principal conductor or director, instead choosing to collaborate with a range of the finest international guest artists from across the musical spectrum, resulting in performances of rare insight and energy. Britten Sinfonia is an Associate Ensemble at the Barbican in London, and has residencies across the east of England in Norwich, Saffron Walden and Cambridge (where it is an ensemble-in-residence at the University). The orchestra also performs a chamber music series at Wigmore Hall and appears regularly at major UK festivals including Aldeburgh and the BBC Proms. The orchestra s growing international profile includes regular touring to North and South America, Europe and its Indian debut in August 2014 with a tour of six major cities. In May 2016 Britten Sinfonia made its debut in China. Founded in 1992, the orchestra is inspired by the ethos of Benjamin Britten through world-class performances, illuminating and distinctive programmes where old meets new, and a deep commitment to bringing outstanding music to both the world s finest concert halls and the local community. Britten Sinfonia is a BBC Radio 3 broadcast partner and regularly records for Harmonia Mundi and Hyperion.

6 cambridge Britten Sinfonia is ensemble-in-association at Cambridge University and regularly leads workshops and masterclasses for the faculty of music. The orchestra also regularly performs in venues in and around Cambridge see for more details. norwich Alongside the At Lunch concerts at St Andrew s Hall Britten Sinfonia also performs a series of full-length evening concerts in Norwich pick up a brochure in the foyer for more details. london Wigmore Hall is a no-smoking venue. No recording or photographic equipment may be taken into the auditorium, nor used in any other part of the Hall without the prior written permission of the Hall Management. Wigmore Hall is equipped with a Loop system to help hearing aid users receive clear sound without background noise. Patrons can use the facility by switching their hearing aids over to T. In accordance with the requirements of City of Westminster, persons shall not be permitted to stand or sit in any of the gangways intersecting the seating, or to sit in any other gangways. If standing is permitted in the gangways at the sides and rear of the seating, it shall be limited to the numbers indicated in the notices exhibited in those positions. Disabled Access and Facilities Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP Director: John Gilhooly The Wigmore Hall Trust Registered Charity No Please contact House Management for full details. Commissioning Partner Other Partners Broadcast Partner Principal Funder Paul Bassham Charitable Trust