Visceral, emotionally charged... thoughts on Seven Last Words

Ahead of our performances of James MacMillan's Seven Last Words our Artistic Planning Director describes why she has a particular 'soft spot' for this emotionally charged piece.

Friends often ask me about the concerts we have coming up here at Britten Sinfonia, and I’m in the enviable position of always being able to wax lyrical about the next thing we’re about to do, since my role allows me to have a hand in planning all our events.  I’m never going to give the green light to anything I don’t want to hear in a concert, so the seasons are always chock full of wonderful works and spectacular artists.  I don’t generally have “favourite" concerts, as each one is so very different, with its own back story and compelling drama.  However, I have to admit to an enormous soft spot for our forthcoming event over Easter, since it features one of my Desert Island Disc pieces (er, should Kirsty ever invite me on the programme):  James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross.

I first met James MacMillan whilst I was working at the Philharmonia Orchestra, where one of my roles was planning the orchestra’s new music series, Music of Today.  I loved managing this series (which is still going strong, incidentally), with its bite-sized concerts offering staggeringly good performances of brand new music, all for free. The real creative brain behind the series at that time was James MacMillan, who held my hand and guided me throughout, shaping the content of the series, introducing me to a whole host of composers from across the globe, always so generously and with great care to offer balance and variety.  Since that time I’ve been lucky enough to have worked on several of Jimmy’s new works over the years, here at Britten Sinfonia, but his Seven Last Words has always remained a really special work for me.

MacMillan’s vocal writing is always incredibly effective, and as a choral scholar, I would’ve dearly loved to have got my teeth into singing this; sadly it wasn’t composed until after I’d left college and had well and truly hung up my vocal chords.  Of course, the subject matter is emotive in itself, but the vocal writing is so visceral, contrasting  with the beautiful string lines so painfully at times that it moved me to tears the first time I heard it; and the heavy silences that occur throughout the work are so emotionally charged that I always find it impossible not to be affected.  In our world of what can seem like ceaseless over-emoting on a daily basis, I am more than grateful for that.

Nikola
Artistic Planning Director

Performances of Seven Last Words from the Cross take place on Sun 20 Mar at Birmingham Town Hall, Wed 23 Mar at Cambridge's King's College Chapel and Fri 25 Mar at London's Barbican Centre. For full details and to book tickets click here.

What is it like to be a member of Britten Sinfonia Academy?

Britten Sinfonia Academy (BSA) is now recruiting for young musicians to join them for a fifth year of exciting musical adventures. Whether you have heard the name before, know someone who has been or is a member of BSA or are completely new to us, you might be wondering about what being a member of BSA is like. To answer this, we hand over to current and past BSA members to tell you exactly why you should apply to be part of BSA 2016 – 17.

Remember the application deadline is fast approaching on Monday 29 February.

Katy

Instrument: Trombone

Katy, BSA Year 1, 2012

BSA history: Joined BSA in its first year, September 2012 and left in July 2015

Fondest memory: The residential week combining BSA and AYM in the summer; sitting on the beach absolutely knackered after a solid day of rehearsals. It sums up how we felt every Sunday night after BSA weekends, exhausted but very very happy. 

Katy, BSA Year 3, 2014

What Katy learnt through BSA: Musically, BSA greatly improved my confidence and taught me a lot about playing as a group. But, for me it is the friends I made that have had the biggest effect; having left BSA last year I still see the friends I made in the orchestra and I think the connection that is formed between the players both musically and personally is really special. You don't have to want to do music as a career to enjoy it, work hard at it and be good at it. 

What Katy is up to now: I'm studying Biochemistry at Sheffield University and I love it! Music is still a massive part of my life, and I hope it always will be.

Alex, BSA Year 1, 2012

Alex, BSA Year 2, 2012

Alex

Instrument: Cello
BSA history: Joined BSA in its first year, September 2012 and left in July 2015
How Alex would describe BSA: Being part of BSA is like being part of a family; everyone is valued and everyone is pushed beyond the boundaries to get the most out of the music. BSA is a place where you can thrive musically and feel like part of a community.
What Alex learnt through BSA: BSA taught me how to get the most out of every piece of music, and how important the most mundane of notes could be. I also learnt how to work as an ensemble much better than beforehand through the musical interaction between every instrument.
What Alex is up to now: I am studying Geography, English and Maths in sixth form and I have a place to study Geography at Oxford with a choral scholarship from this October. I hope to work in something to do with sustainability and conservation but still doing as much singing and playing as possible!


Siân

Instrument: Violin
BSA history: Joined BSA this year, 2015
BSA in three words: Fun, exciting, inspiring!
What being a member of BSA means to Siân: It means so much to me to be a member of BSA! It is so special to be able to play in such a great chamber orchestra and really enriching to play a range of different styles of music. I have gained a lot of confidence in my playing. In BSA you get to play alongside and learn from friendly and inspiring musicians from Britten Sinfonia and you get to play exciting and varied music to a high level with other keen young players!
What Siân has learnt at BSA: I have learnt so much from playing in various ensembles - usually without a conductor - and listening to the different parts. I am also more able to independently understand the music, whether fingerings and bowings or expression.

Lucy and Siân, BSA Year 4 – rehearsing Vivaldi with Nicola Benedetti

Lucy

Instrument: Violin and viola
BSA history: Joined BSA in its third year, 2014 and is still a member
BSA in three words: Inspirational, challenging and engaging
What being a member of BSA means to Lucy: It means having a fantastic opportunity to learn music I never would elsewhere and play in venues with people I would never have the chance to elsewhere
What Lucy has learnt through BSA: I have learnt to appreciate many more styles of music and unusual techniques for creating music.
Lucy’s plans for the future: I hope to continue playing music as a hobby, hopefully joining an orchestra or playing for choirs



Gabriel

Instrument: Cello
BSA history: Joined BSA in 2014 and is currently a member
BSA described in three words: Inspiring, immersive, challenging
What Gabriel has learnt in BSA: I've learnt more about what it would be like to be a professional musician. I've also learnt to listen more carefully to myself and others when playing in ensemble.
How Gabriel would describe BSA to a new applicant: We have great fun, make good friends and in the process we cover a wide range of repertoire. We're treated like professional musicians, given real responsibility and expected to step up to the mark. Since being in BSA my musical skills and confidence have developed hugely.

Gabriel performing alongside Nicola Benedetti on the Barbican stage, BSA Year 4

Want to find out more? Visit our website or email us: academy@brittensinfonia.com

Apply here now!

Emily

Creative Learning Assistant

Hannah Kendall reflects on the OPUS2016 workshops

Across two days in January the Barbican hosted the OPUS2016 workshops in which ten composers from the scheme had an opportunity to work on their piece and receive valuable feedback from Britten Sinfonia musicians: Thomas Gould, Huw Watkins and Ben Chappell. The workshops were open to the public for the first time so that all composers, musicians and music enthusiasts were able to observe the exchange between Britten Sinfonia musicians and the shortlisted composers, and learn from this fascinating and challenging process. Hannah Kendall shares her experience:

I’ve been an admirer of Britten Sinfonia for a number of years, and so it was a privilege to work so closely with the superb musicians from the ensemble, its executive team, and the 10 shortlisted composers from the OPUS2016 initiative recently. Not only was it an enriching artistic experience through gaining a deeper knowledge of the music of my peers, I also had the opportunity to have an insight into the overall ethos of one of the UK’s leading ensembles.

Supporting contemporary music, and composers in general is integral to Britten Sinfonia’s attitudes. How incredible to have two whole days dedicated to new works by 10 different composers, and performed in such great detail. I really enjoyed the openness of the sessions. Thoughts were shared freely between the musicians, composers, and audience members, which allowed for fascinating discussions. A particular in-depth conversation focused on how each of the composers generate their musical material, and how this might translate to being performed by an acoustic instrument if achieved through a computer programme.

As well as ‘Composer’, I had also been given the title ‘Diversity Ambassador’. I like it! Redressing the imbalances in new and classical music in general is very important to me. Whilst conversations around this topic didn’t specifically come up over the two days, I was very much encouraged by the fact that Britten Sinfonia was demonstrating that it’s at the forefront of their activities.

I loved meeting and working with such talented composers. I particularly admired the confidence that they each displayed through in their writing skills, which were strikingly individual. They all very much deserved to be selected for OPUS2016, and I’m looking forward to hearing more.

Hannah Kendall

The winning composer will be invited to write the piece as a commission for the award winning At Lunch concert in December 2016. The prize will include a dedicated rehearsal for the commissioned piece 6-8 weeks in advance of the concert, three performances of the work (London, Cambridge and Norwich) and a commission fee.

Watch this space, OPUS2016 winner will be announced soon!

What inspires composers?

Ahead of the OPUS2016 open workshops taking place this week at the Barbican (Friday 22 & Saturday 23 January), we asked our ten shortlisted composers what inspires them...

Robert Peate:

Everything really... I still get very excited when I see/hear people playing instruments, and the idea of writing music is still an inspiring thing. Apart from music itself anything with a strong character or feeling to it can suggest ideas... it’s hard to say exactly where and when and what you’re inspired by most of the time, a lot is also subconscious I think. Nature is always a source of fascination, pleasure, truth and inspiration to me though, as are relationships between people.

Margaret Haley:

Visual sources. Abstract paintings, e.g. Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky. Poetry often shapes the outcome of my vocal music. Astronomical phenomena have a strong bearing on my music for traditional instrumentation. The rotational forces of the cosmos have certainly influenced my writing over the last decade.

Neil Smith:

My pieces can be the result of inspirations from almost any subject or area. They don’t always have to be extra-musical, as often I find particular musical ideas are inspiration enough to write a piece. Recent pieces have been based on Spanish poet Lorca, the nature of musical speeding up and slowing down, the phenomenon of discovering historic hoards, the science of animation and Arabic art. In the past five years I have found science in particular a fertile are for exploration. Scientific models can be represented in fascinating musical ways. This is something I want to explore more in the future.

Emma Wilde:

Everything but particularly other art forms, visual art, drama, dance, poetry and literature, all sorts of music, lately I think listening to electroacoustic music has changed the way I think about composing a lot. I listened to a lot of popular music growing up and still do and I think this has had a big effect on me too.

Gonçalo Gato:

I would say that what inspires me is indeed the mystery music still is, and how it makes me feel and think all sorts of things. I get inspiration from other people’s music because it transforms me, and because I can hardly picture myself living without it. Music is a kind of ‘speaking sound’, and in this sense I can hear the human voice in it. I am also an audiophile, very interested in Hi-Fi and acoustics. I take much pleasure from the ‘plastic’ aspect of sound and from sound reproduction fidelity.




James Hoyle:

Many things inspire me: recently these have included visual art, medieval music, architecture, food, political issues... It’s impossible to pin down any one point of inspiration because I enjoy the fact that many seemingly unrelated things can collide together as I work.




Andrew Thomas:

Anything from a novel, a line in a poem or an image to a noise, sound or smell from traveling and the real world. I gain constant inspiration from contemporaries and older composers and would cite particular influence from Nielsen, Sibelius, Purcell, Ligeti, Harvey, Grisey and Japanese music and aesthetics.

Andrew Baldwin:

My inspiration for pieces is often drawn from eclectic places – unless it is a commission with a specific theme. I have a big interest in orchestration and find that I spent a lot of time of this once my musical ideas are formed. I always find brilliant examples in the works of Ravel, Varese, and Takemitsu, as well as contemporaries Philip Hurel and Magnus Lindberg. My compositions often take a directive to effect the listener in a range of emotions.

Sohrab Uduman:

A difficult question since I cannot pin it down to one thing. The impulse, idea, can come from a number of sources; fine art (particularly important for me in recent times), literature, landscapes, environmental sounds, pieces I have heard, plain curiosity. Any piece I write usually takes up something that was present, to one degree or another, in a previous piece of mine.




Daniel Kidane:

Everything and anything. It could be a sound, or something visual or perhaps an idea I want to explore.

Click here to book your free place to attend one or both days of the OPUS2016 open workshops at the Barbican (22 & 23 January).

Meet Allison Bell

In February, soprano Allison Bell performs Louis Andriessen's ethereal Dances with Britten Sinfonia as part of the Barbican's celebration of Andriessen's life and work, M is for Man, Music and Mystery. The concert is part of a BBC Total Immersion day devoted to the music of Louis Andriessen, We caught up with Allison ahead of rehearsals to find out a bit about hat makes her tick...

... highlight of your career so far?

It would have to be a tie between my first Lulu Suite at Tchaikovsky Concert Hall with Vladimir Jurowski and the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra (Svetlanov) and singing guest vocals with the Violent Femmes at the Troxy in London as part of their reunion tour in 2014. They were one of my all time favourite bands as a kid and it was so unbelievable to be sharing the stage with not only them but also two more music heroes of mine, Steve Mackay from the Stooges (who sadly passed away recently) and Mick Harvey from the Bad Seeds. Both concerts were surreally within weeks of each other and both equally incredible, pinch-myself moments.

When are you happiest?

Long sunny days, deep in the wilds of Tasmania, with good friends and lots of cheese and wine.

What is your greatest fear?

I have a few. Religious fundamentalism. Xenophobia. Stupid people with guns.

Earliest musical memory?

My mum singing Split Enz 'Six months in a leaky boat', loudly, along with the car radio - I must have been 3 or so.

Which living person do you most admire, why?

My childhood music teacher in Tasmania, Rennie Herbert. She instilled in me not just a curiosity and love for music and culture but literally devoted her life to becoming effectively the surrogate mother to a great many kids, like myself, who came from very poor, dysfunctional backgrounds in rural Tasmania. Rennie gave us not just music but a sense of hope, self-worth and self-discipline. Through her we saw there was a bigger world out there to explore. And she's still there for me today, aged 90, whenever I need advice or moral support.

Embarrassing moment?

I think my embarrassment meter must be faulty, I very rarely get embarrassed. I probably should. I'm sure my friends can give you pages of material. Ok, I guess I did find it pretty uncomfortable having to warm up in my hotel room at the Hôtel de la Tremoille in Paris when I was singing around the corner at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, knowing Jack Nicholson was staying in the room next to me. And I knew he was in - we had come up in the lift together. I was singing Polly in Weill's Threepenny Opera, which involved an unconventional warm up to say the least. One where you have to make really ugly, brutal noises before you make the nice ones. For a huge cinephile and lifelong Jack Nicholson fan, yep, that was actually pretty bad.

 

If you were an animal what would you be?

A high-soaring bird like an eagle. A lyrebird would also be fun.

What is your most unappealing habit?

Impatience. Belligerent when hungry.

What is your favourite book?

There are too many to choose just one but my more recent favourites are Stoner by John Williams and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. Both quietly but profoundly beautiful, moving.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

I only have to get the faintest whiff of lactose to become a congested mess so I have to avoid dairy in order to sing. So it's got to be eating cheese. With an ice-cream chaser.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

Giorgio Locatelli to cook, no question. My ideal dinner party involves getting tipsy and laughing raucously rather than cerebral, challenging conversations. Nothing too high brow. So with that in mind, and narrowing it down to the living, I'd invite Bill Murray, Larry David, Louis CK, Chris Lilley, Susie Essman, Amy Poehler and Amy Schumer.

How do you relax away from concert platform?

I want to say getting out in nature, on a remote coastline somewhere, reconnecting with the elements etc. But it's more likely that you'll find me in my pyjamas, binge-watching any number of TV series and films for days at a time. 

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Being able to keep a roof over my head as a freelance musician. Also having such wise, loyal and supportive friends.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

Don't wait for that moment where you feel 100% ready or 100% secure in yourself and your abilities to go forth and do your thing. That moment never comes. Most of the people you admire are just as scared as you. It's a privilege to be out of your comfort zone most of the time - it sounds cheesy but that's where the magic happens.

In a nutshell, what is your philosophy?

Stay in the moment. Don't sweat the small stuff. Mind your own business.


Allison appears with Britten Sinfonia on Saturday 13 February at 3pm at London's Milton Court Concert Hall in Louis Andriessen's Dances. To find full concert details and to book tickets click here.

For full details of the Barbican's celebration of the life and works of Louis Andriessen, M is for Man, Music and Mystery click here.

Discovering Steve Reich's The Desert Music

When looking through Britten Sinfonia’s advance schedule (which looks at least at five years into the future) there are often projects that appear that immediately put a smile on your face and you anticipate with excitement (in my case both personally and/or with my marketing hat on). A couple of years ago I was thrilled to spot plans on the schedule for a project including a performance of Steve Reich’s The Desert Music – a piece I have loved for a number of years.

I first discovered the music of Steve Reich whilst at university – I studied The Desert Music for one of my modules and was entranced by the sound-world created and compositional techniques and structure. I bought my own score and the Nonesuch recording (no mean feat for a poor music student) – and poured over these night after night. This very much annoyed my non-music studying housemates who were all into house and dance music. I tried explaining that what they were listening to and what I was listening to was similar in so many ways and perhaps they should give minimalist contemporary music a go but to no avail.

My passion for this piece has not ebbed (the opening vocal line Begin, my friend still sends a tingle down my spine). I’ve seen a number of live performances and it still remains one of my most played recordings. It led me to discover, firstly, other works by Reich including Electric Counterpoint, Different Trains and Three Tales (which I had the privilege of seeing the UK premiere of at the Barbican Theatre) and then on to other minimalist composers.

I do hope my enthusiasm for this piece will be shared by the audience on Tuesday 9 February when Britten Sinfonia and Britten Sinfonia Voices conducted by Clark Rundell perform Reich’s The Desert Music alongside works by Louis Andriessen and Steve Martland. Book tickets here.

Claire

Marketing Director

This concert forms part of the Barbican's celebration of Andriessen's music and life, M is for Man, Music and Mystery. Find out more about the series here.

You can listen to a Spotify playlist (including Steve Reich's The Desert Music) here.