JUDITH WEIR: TELLING THE TALE
Music, Talks, Films and Free Events |
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 Curtain-Raiser
Thursday 17 January 8.00pm
Jerwood Hall, LSO St Luke's
Folk Tales
Vayu Naidu weaves traditional stories with British folk music from North and South of the Border. Performance story-teller Naidu, concertina player Simon Thoumire, violinist/guitarist/singer Chris Wood and the English Acoustic Collective create a magical blend of storytelling and music curated by Judith Weir as part of her BBC composer weekend.
Promoted by LSO as part of UBS Eclectica
Friday 18 January
4.30pm Film
Cinema 1, Level -2
Judith Weir: Armida and Other Stories
In 2005 Teresa Griffiths shadowed Judith Weir during the creation of her Channel 4 opera, Armida, and at work on other projects. The resulting documentary captures the essence of Weir’s artistic philosophy and the sheer excitement of putting together a new composition in rehearsal and during its filming. It also blends Griffiths’ imaginative visual responses to Armida with on-camera reflections from the composer and comments from members of the Schubert Ensemble, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City. This 50-minute film, made for Channel 4, stands as an ideal introduction to the Judith Weir’s gloriously inventive art.
UK 2005, Dir. Teresa Griffiths 50 mins
6.00pm Talk
Mozart Room, Level 4
Judith Weir in conversation with Christopher Cook
This event is open to Weekend and Day Pass holders only
7.00pm Concert, Barbican Hall
Natural History
JUDITH WEIR Forest
Traditional music
JUDITH WEIR Natural History
JUDITH WEIR Winter Song (London premiere)
Traditional music
JUDITH WEIR The welcome arrival of rain
BBC Symphony Orchestra
André de Ridder conductor
Ailish Tynan soprano
Simon Thoumire Band
English Acoustic Collective
From no more than the ‘seed’ of its opening melody, Weir’s Forest grows organically into a dense, flourishing work for large orchestra. The piece unfolds to reveal what the composer describes as the “forest of folklore and prehistory”, a place both of anxiety and refuge. The song-cycle Natural History draws on the exquisitely concise language of Taoist poetry and its exploration of human and animal lives, while The welcome arrival of rain vividly evokes sensations associated with the Indian monsoon. Judith Weir’s music is interspersed with folk music from concertina maestro Simon Thoumire and his band and the English Acoustic Collective.
9.30pm Concert, St Giles Cripplegate
Legends and Sagas
JUDITH WEIR King Harald’s Saga
JUDITH WEIR All the Ends of the Earth
JUDITH WEIR Missa del Cid
BBC Singers
David Hill conductor
Elin Manahan-Thomas soprano
Imaginary encounters with the Middle Ages supply common ground for this trio of vital Weir works. King Harald's Saga has aptly been characterised as 'a vocal commando course, where only future SAS members need apply'. Elin Manahan Thomas, a thrilling performer and expert on medieval epic poetry, is ideally prepared for the challenge of this miniature grand opera 'in three acts'. Early 31th centuryParis and the music of Pérotin inform All The Ends Of The Earth, a strikingly rich motet written in 1999 for the BBC Singers. Weir’s Missa del Cid, composed for BBC TV’s Sound on Film series, melds the Latin Mass with fragments from the bloodthirsty legend of El Cid.
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