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Total Immersion Day: Jonathan Harvey

with the BBC Symphony Orchestra

Saturday 28 January 2012, midnight

Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
part of the 2011-12 Season and Total Immersion series

A weekend of music, film and discussion celebrating the music of Jonathan Harvey.

‘Beneath the compelling ebb and flow, his music has a stillness and non-specific spirituality which feed mind and spirit.’ The Guardian

Haunting, spiritual, ecstatic, the exquisitely crafted music of Jonathan Harvey blurs the boundaries between east and west, body and soul. Harvey’s music with its lucid, bell-like resonances and pioneering use of electronics takes the listener on a journey into new worlds.

Join the BBC Symphony Orchestra and guests at the Barbican for two days of music, film and discussion that will take you to the heart of the British composer’s music. Highlights include extraordinarily beautiful choral music where the old world goes hand in hand with the new, Madonna of Winter and Spring for orchestra and electronics, and the UK premiere of Harvey’s opera Wagner Dream, which mingles scenes from Wagner's life with Buddhist myth.

You can see a short film about Total Immersion: Jonathan Harvey here

Saturday 28 January

11.00am Film, Silk Street Theatre
Towards and Beyond: A Portrait of Jonathan Harvey
A documentary by Barrie Gavin.
UK Dir. Barrie Gavin 48’

Admission by free ticket only. Limited availability but admission guaranteed with a Day Pass.

1.00pm Concert, Barbican Hall
Jonathan Harvey
Vers
Tombeau de Messiaen
Tranquil Abiding
Songs of Li Po
Calling Across Time

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra
Richard Baker conductor

Oriental spirituality, the ancient Chinese desire to live 'in modest harmony with Nature,' the nature of consciousness and memory - all these are long-standing preoccupations of Harvey, and they all come together in this concert. Two of the pieces also pay hommage to admired fellow composers, one living, one recently deceased.

Tickets £12

3.30pm Film and Talk, Silk Street Theatre
A short film introduction to Harvey's Madonna of Winter and Spring, followed by Professor Jonathan Cross talking about Jonathan Harvey's music and introduces the works in this evening's two concerts.
Admission by free ticket only. Limited availability but admission guaranteed with a Day Pass.

6.00pm Concert, St. Giles Cripplegate
Jonathan Harvey
Ashes dance back London premiere
Marahi
Forms of Emptiness
Come Holy Ghost
I Love the Lord
How could the soul not take flight

BBC Singers
David Hill conductor

Breath as a symbol of the Divine has always fascinated Harvey, so it's not surprising choral music looms large in his output. Two of these works set words by Rumi, the great Sufi poet Harvey, two more will have words familiar to any Christian, while Marahi and Forms of Emptiness deal with ideas common to Eastern and Western religions.

Tickets £12 (unreserved seating)

8.00pm Concert, Barbican Hall
Jonathan Harvey
Body Mandala
Messages London premiere
Madonna of Winter & Spring

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins conductor
BBC Symphony Chorus
Sound Intermedia sound projection

Madonna of Winter and Spring portrays Mary as intercessor, reaching down to earth where conflict and darkness reign and rising up again to heaven. Body Mandala was inspired by Tibetan body purification rituals, while in Messages the choir take on the role of Angels, singing the names of Judaic and Christian angels.

Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8

10.00pm Free Event, Barbican Foyer
Electronic Late

An exciting collaboration between UK Electronic artist Leafcutter John, members of the BBC SO and Guildhall school musicians inspired by Jonathan Harvey. Including soundscapes, new electronic compositions and a live set from Leafcutter John.

Jonathan Harvey Day Pass
Save money and guarantee entry to all events on Saturday 28 January with a Total Immersion Day Pass. Day Passes are available by telephone or in person only.
£38.60 £35.60 £31.60 £28.60 £25.60

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MORE JONATHAN HARVEY EVENTS

Sunday 29 January

7.30pm Concert, Barbican Hall
Jonathan Harvey
Wagner Dream

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins conductor
Alastair Mailes Vairochana
Claire Booth Prakriti
Richard Angas Old Brahmin
Daniel Norman Ananda
Roderick Williams Buddha
Kelley O’Connor Mother of Prakriti

For decades, Wagner pondered an opera on a Buddhist theme. Starting from the sketches he left behind, Harvey has built a rich operatic fantasy. It mingles scenes from Wagner's domestic life with the myth of Prakiti, whose love for the Buddhist monk Ananda is at first thwarted, but finally reaches a chaste fulfilment.
Concert staging

£25 £17.50 £10

Wagner Dream is part of the Barbican's Present Voices series

Please note that the Jonathan Harvey Day Pass includes events taking place on Saturday 28 January only. Buy a Total Immersion Jonathan Harvey Day Pass and receive a 20% discount when you buy a ticket for Wagner's Dream on Sunday 29 January.

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Wednesday 25 January
7.30pm, St Giles Cripplegate

Jonathan Harvey String Quartet No 2
Wolfgang Rihm String Quartet No. 13
Paul Archbold New Work
Plus two works selected from the Arditti Quartet international call for new works for string quartet

Arditti String Quartet

£15

How to get there
- By tube
  - The nearest Underground station is Barbican, on the Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines.To reach the Barbican,exit the station and cross Aldersgate Street in front of you. Walk through the road tunnel (Beech Street) before taking the first turning right into Silk Street. The Barbican is straight ahead of you. Alternatively, exit the station using the stairs to the first floor, crossing the road using the footbridge before following the signs to the Barbican. Other Underground stations nearby are Moorgate, St Paul's, Bank, Liverpool Street and Mansion House.
- By bus
  - Bus Route 153 stops outside the Barbican in Silk Street. Starting from outside Liverpool Street Station, it runs daily to the Barbican, Angel and Finsbury Park. Other services running near the Barbican are as follows: 8, 11, 23, 26, 35, 42, 43, 47, 48, 55, 56, 76,78, 100, 133, 141, 149, 172, 214, 242, 243, 271, 344 (7 days a week); 4, (Mon-Sat); 21, 25, 521 (Mon-Fri).
- By train
  - The nearest rail stations are Liverpool Street, Farringdon and Blackfriars. City Thameslink services serve Barbican, Moorgate and Cannon Street.
- By car
  - The Barbican is clearly sign-posted and has four car parks. Two are off Beech Street (westbound access only) and two are off Silk Street near the main entrance. Please allow plenty of time for your journey. All car parks have a height restriction of 6'1". If the Barbican car parks are full, alternative parking is available in Aldersgate Street.
- Disabled access
  - The Main entrance at Silk Street is ramped and lifts give access to all levels. All our venues have seating for wheelchair users - please inform us of any access requirements on booking. There are three wheelchairs for visitors' use, subject to availability; these can be pre-booked by calling the Box Office on 020 7638 8891.
Comments
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- 1. At 1:53pm on 26 Jan 2012, valerieinthegallery wrote:
  Could anyone tell me the approximate duration of the Wagner Dreams performance on Sunday/
  
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- 2. At 12:23pm on 30 Jan 2012, johnthedraw wrote:
  Hi Valerie
  
  Did you get to Wagner Dreams last night? I found it a memorable experience, and very cleverly staged. Not too much electronics, so you could enjoy the instrumental writing. Full marks to the BBCSO, as ever.
  
  John
  
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