CLScapades http://cls.posterous.com City of London Sinfonia blog posterous.com Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:10:55 -0700 Spotlight on...John Adams http://cls.posterous.com/spotlight-onjohn-adams http://cls.posterous.com/spotlight-onjohn-adams

We compare and contrast the life of John Adams with that of Igor Stravinsky in our previous blog post, ahead of our concert on Thursday night at Cadogan Hall.

Name       
John Coolidge Adams

Age       
65

Nationality   
American   

Background   
His father taught him how to play the clarinet, and he was a clarinetist in community ensembles as a young boy. He began composing at the age of ten with his music first performed publically when he was 14 years old. Studied at Harvard University where he was awarded two degrees. He received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his orchestral work, On the Transmigration of Souls, a memorial to the September 11 attacks.

Johnadams_web_credit_margaret_mitchell
Image: Margaret Mitchell

Breakthrough Moment
Acknowledged for bringing contemporary history to the opera house with his post-modern operatic works Nixon in China (1987), The Death of Klinghoffer (1991) and Doctor Atomic (2005). A recent survey shows him to be the most frequently performed living American composer of orchestral music.

CLS performance
Gnarly Buttons
is his concerto for clarinet and small orchestra, written for and premiered by our Principal Conductor Michael Collins, and featuring the banjo, mandolin and guitar! Grand Pianola Music was inspired by a dream in which he found himself driving down Interstate 5, being approached by two of the world's longest Steinways! It unusually features two pianos and three female voices sing a wordless harmony.

Stravinsky & John Adams
Thursday 18 October, 7.30pm
Cadogan Hall, London

Stravinsky Octet
John Adams Gnarly Buttons
John Adams Grand Pianola Music

Tickets from £15
Box Office: 020 7730 4500/cadoganhall.com

 

 

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Fri, 12 Oct 2012 03:07:39 -0700 Spotlight on...Igor Stravinsky http://cls.posterous.com/spotlight-onigor-stravinsky http://cls.posterous.com/spotlight-onigor-stravinsky

Ahead of our concert on Thursday night at Cadogan Hall, we take a quick look at the life of one of the twentieth century's most influential composers: Igor Stravinsky.

Name
Igor Feodorovich Stravinsky

Age    
130 (if still alive!)

Nationality   
Russian by birth, then became a Swiss resident, took French citizenship in 1934, before becoming a naturalised United States citizen in 1945.   

Background   
Third son of Feodor Stravinsky, one of the principal basses at the Maryinsky Theatre, St Petersburg. Studied law at university before concentrating on music fulltime.Studied informally with Russian composer and member of The Five, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsadov, for three years.  

Stravinsky_picasso

Breakthrough Moment
The Firebird, a ballet, premiered in Paris in 1910 that first brought him to international prominence. His third ballet The Rite of Spring is often seen as one of the major landmarks in classical music history, as it is often cited as the beginning of modernism and established Stravinsky as the most radical composer of his age.

City of London Sinfonia Performance
His Octet is widely seen as one of the most influential pieces of chamber music. It is scored unusually for woodwind and brass instruments and is regarded as marking the start of Stravinsky's neoclassicsm compositions. American composer Aaron Copland who attended the premiere, later commented “No one could possibly have foreseen . . . that the Octet was destined to influence composers all over the world.”

Stravinsky & John Adams
Thursday 18 October, 7.30pm
Cadogan Hall, London

Stravinsky       Octet
John Adams    Gnarly Buttons
John Adams    Grand Pianola Music

Michael Colllins conductor/clarinet

Tickets from £15
Box Office: 020 7730 4500/
cadoganhall.com

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Fri, 25 Nov 2011 03:18:32 -0800 CLoSer - The First Review http://cls.posterous.com/closer-the-first-review http://cls.posterous.com/closer-the-first-review

We asked Laura, our Marketing Intern and newest office recruit, to give us the lowdown on the launch of CLoSer on Tuesday night.

CLoSer, our brand new concert series, launched on Tuesday with a Strings Masterclass in East London’s newest venue, Village Underground.

This renovated, turn-of-the-century, warehouse offered a versatile space, acted  as an atmospheric and edgy venue. A brilliant blank canvas of old brick, hinting at its industrial past, Village Underground transformed for the evening, hosting 200 audience members, free to relax on floor cushions, unwind at the bar and get closer to the orchestra.

The informal evening of orchestral music was led by our charismatic Principal Conductor , Michael Collins and progressed through a programme of three works, and also featured Michael  as a soloist. The minimalist Shaker Loops, by John Adams, opened the evening with energetic motion and electrifying acceleration. Gathering speed over 25 minutes, the orchestra played with vigour as the music gained speed and rhythmic excitement.

Closer_1_low

This opening piece was followed by an interview with Michael himself, carried out by our principal cellist, Sue Dorey. Touching on his ability to deftly switch role from conductor to soloist, he spoke fondly of his musical education and how he came to play clarinet as a young boy. One of the leading clarinettists of his generation, Michael’s  performance of Gordon Jacob’s mini-concerto Clarinet Concertino entertained the audience through his persuasive musicianship and buoyant, light-hearted style.

After a brief introduction to the techniques employed by the musicians, the concert came to a close with Bartok’s Divertimento for Strings; a rousing finish to the evening with its gypsy character and dance-like style. The audience  were then free to enjoy the bar and mingle with musicians before offering their feedback on their departure.

CloSer
Wednesday 29th February, 7.30pm,
Village Underground,
EC2A

Tickets: £15 (includes a free drink)
Box office: 020 7377 1362/spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk

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Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:17:00 -0800 Concert Focus: John Adams & Shaker Loops http://cls.posterous.com/concert-focus-john-adams-shaker-loops http://cls.posterous.com/concert-focus-john-adams-shaker-loops

Find out about the music behind the concert, with our quick guide to John Adams' Shaker Loops, to be performed at our first CLoSer concert on Tuesday 22 November. 

Shaker Loops
Written in 1978 by American composer John Adams, hailed as one of the great composers of minimalist music, Shaker Loops is one of his most popular and performed compositions.

Formed of four movements:

I. Shaking and Trembling
II. Hymning Slews
III. Loops and Verses
IV. A Final Shaking

Adams says of the piece "the four sections, although they meld together evenly, are really quite distinct, each being characterized by a particular style of string playing. The outside movements are devoted to ’shaking,’ the fast, tightly rhythmicised motion of the bow across the strings.

Portrait_2_small

image: Margaretta Mitchell

Part II is deliberately slower and languid followed by the melodic third movement, with "the celli playing long, lyrical lines (which are nevertheless loops themselves) against a background of muted violins, an activity which gradually takes speed and mass until it culminates in the wild push-pull section that is the emotional high of the piece.” 

The piece takes its name from both the distinctive 'shaking' of the strings as they oscillate between notes, and the image Adams’ had of ‘Shakers’ (members of the Millennial Church), dancing and worshipping to repetitive, energetic music.

John Adams occupies a unique position in American music, with his works renowned for their depth of expression, brilliance of sound and the profoundly humanist nature of their themes. His operatic works include Doctor Atomic and The Death of Klinghoffer and his composition On the Transmigration of Souls written for the New York Philharmonic to mark the first anniversary of the World Trade Centre attack, won three Grammys and the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2003.

He has said of London audiences "they are my ideal listeners - sophisticated, musically literate, enthusiastic and of course a little bit insane!"

Listen to our Spotify playlist for a preview of Shaker Loops.

CLoSer
Tuesday 22 November, 7.30pm
Village Underground, EC2A

Tickets: £15 (includes a free drink)
Box office: 020 7377 1362/spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk

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