Sound Histories
An evening of
live music for the
British Museum
collection
Friday 5 July 2013
18.00–21.00
Free, just drop in
Welcome to
Sound Histories
Tonight you will hear music spanning the last 600 years, from an
Ockeghem chanson written in the 15th century to music whose notes are
still wet on the page. Together, these sounds have been inspired by and are
performed alongside objects from around 1.8 million years of human history.
Designed to bring the histories of many of the Museum’s objects to life
though music, the evening will involve over 200 musicians, including a
chamber orchestra, wind, brass and vocal ensembles, chamber music, duos
and solos. Over 120 performances make up tonight’s show, presented across
most of the ground floor galleries, as well as Room 33 on Level 1 and Room
25 on Level -2. Presented as a large-scale installation, you are free to explore
the galleries and experience the music you find throughout, so creating your
own unique experience of the production.
Tonight’s music is presented in short sequences that average 15 minutes.
In order to plan your evening, if you so wish, these sequences are first listed
by start time and identified by a letter (e.g. A ) that, using the maps on the
following pages, show exactly where the sequence starts. Beyond this, the
same sequences are listed room by room, along with brief notes on each
one. Alternatively, there are equal pleasures in just following where your ears
and eyes take you!
The evening will begin at 18.00 in the Great Court, finishing there again at
20.30 with a specially commissioned finale featuring all 200 performers.
And you can create your own ‘interval’, as the Great Court shops and cafés
will be open all evening.
We are filming Sound Histories tonight, and we will send you a link to the
finished film if you register your email details at rncm.ac.uk/sound_histories
There you will also find a growing archive of additional material about
Sound Histories, including expanded programme notes and recordings.
And feel free to document the evening yourself with photos and tweets
(#soundhistories).
I hope you enjoy the evening ahead.
Toby Smith
Director of Performance and Programming, RNCM
With thanks to Richard Collins, Matt Whitham, Richard Wistreich and
Harvey Davies for their contributions to tonight’s programming.
Sound
Histories
by time
18.00
18.0019.10 B
18.0519.15 AA
18.1019.20 G
18.1519.25 GG
18.2019.30 E
18.2519.35 C
18.3019.40 M
18.3519.45 F
18.4019.50 Q
18.4519.55 D
18.5020.00 K
18.5520.00 KK
18.5520.05 Y
Please refer to the
maps for lettered
start locations
20.30
Level -1
A
L
N
T
U
Z
FF LL MM
V
NN PP
W
H
P
R BB JJ QQ
CC
X RR
HH
J
DD
S SS TT
EE
A
Level -2
Up to 21
Up to 24
78
77
80
79
West
stairs
25
EE
BB
Z
25
DD
AA
CC
Level -2
Level -2
Clore Education Centre
Up to
Great Court
Level -1
Lower floor
Level
-1 & -2
Up to
Great Court
Ford Centre for Young Visitors
Level -1
Level 2
95
67
Level 2
Down to 33
North
stairs
Level 2
SS
NN
Level 1
33
Level 1
Up to 95 and 67
LL
MM
North
stairs
Anthropology Library
and Research Centre
PP
34
33b
Montague Place
entrance
North stairs
Level
-1 & 0
Up to 24 and Great Court or down
to the Montague Place entrance
Level 0
QQ
Level 1
Members’
cloakroom
Level -1
TT
33
RR
X
U
Up to 20a Down to 77
West
stairs
Members’
Room
via West
stairs & lift
20
G
W
Down
to 25
19
18
R
Q
N
22
17
P
4
8
4
23
Down
to 25
Level 0
KK
East
stairs
Court Café
Great Court
Shop
C
1
Level 0
T
M
18a
1
Collections Reading Room
Shop (special temporary exhibitions)
B
J
16
10
18
FF
JJ
27
S
18b
18
9
HH
26
V
Court Café
K
21
GG
24
Up to
Level 0
Y
7
4
1
H
15
F
A
Down to
Clore Centre
14
13
12
6
11
L
6
South
stairs
D
Great Court
Level 0
Down to
Clore Centre
Grenville
Room
E
2
F
3
Gallery Café
Level 0
Book Shop
Main entrance
Great Russell Street
Ground floor
Sound
Histories
by room
Please refer to map
on previous pages for
lettered start locations
Great Court
A
18.00
A
20.30
Francis Poulenc
Un Joueur de flûte berce les
ruines (5’)
Steve Berry
Lebab (première) for massed
performers (10’)
The melancholic line of
Poulenc’s solo study, ‘A flute
player serenades the ruins’,
opens Sound Histories, in
a reworking for many flute
players who together transport
this song into the galleries
around us.
Steve Berry writes: ‘All
humans are born vulnerable,
united in the universal sound
of an infant’s helpless cry.
Racial, cultural and linguistic
differences acting upon the
developing child all too often
contrive to create hostility, a
profound sense of otherness
and alienation. What stops
us from freely linking together
harmoniously despite our
diversity, like the myriad
threads of a weave?
In preparing a finale for
Sound Histories, I have
imagined ‘reverse engineering’
the breath-taking scope that
surrounds us here at the
British Museum. As tonight’s
musicians congregate in the
Great Court, I imagine them
unravelling the complex
weave of historic threads that
they leave behind them, from
rooms filled with objects and
writings from across millennia.
They are invited to employ
their adult sophistication,
musicianly abilities, experience
and awareness to hear their
own unique and individual
‘voice’, offering it into the
emerging piece voluntarily
and coherently. The result
represents a musically
idealised version of the human
being’s potential to collectively
find consensus, meaning and
unity of purpose.’
Room 1, Enlightenment
B
18.00 and 19.10
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Largo - Allegro Molto, Adagio
and Molto Allegro (Finale)
from Serenade in B flat major
K 361 ‘Gran Partita’ for wind
ensemble (20’)
In the first of three sequences
chosen to animate the
Enlightenment Gallery, several
movements from Mozart’s
most famous wind serenade
reflect the knowledge and
appreciation of the composer’s
music in the London of
1828. The music of all the
composers represented in
this room tonight would have
been ubiquitous on the concert
programmes of the day, at
the opera and, perhaps most
importantly, in the everyday
lives of cultured ‘amateurs’ –
the same kinds of people who
also travelled, studied, collected
and laid the foundations of
modern natural history and
anthropology, and whose tastes
and treasures formed the
contents of the Gallery.
C
18.25 and 19.35
Francesco Geminiani
Andante from Sonata in D
minor Op 4 No 8 for violin and
continuo (4’)
George Frideric Handel
‘Come in ciel’ and ‘Cara pianta’
from Apollo e Dafne (11’)
Geminiani spent the majority
of his life in Britain and his
highly successful violin sonatas
reflect the huge impact of
Italy on the Northern cultural
imagination. Cantatas were
‘miniature operas’ suitable to
be performed in the salons
of the day. These excerpts
from Handel’s Apollo e Dafne
complement the Gallery’s
statue of Apollo, and reflect the
passionate revival of interest
in Classical culture and its
mythology in the 18th century,
reawakened in England by
those who were able to make
the ‘Grand Tour’ to experience
the ruins and artefacts of the
ancient world.
D
18.45 and 19.55
Franz Joseph Haydn
‘With verdure clad the fields
appear’ from The Creation (5’)
Felix Mendelssohn
Intermezzo from String Quartet
No 2 in A minor Op 13 (5’)
Ludwig van Beethoven
‘The Shepherd’s Song’, ‘The
lovely lass of Inverness’ and
‘Dim, dim is the eye’ from
Scottish Songs Op 108 (9’)
Audiences would have
found nothing strange in an
aria performed in a private
room with piano rather than
orchestra, and this extract from
Haydn’s The Creation connects
us to the Gallery’s collection
of the earliest fossils found in
England and growing debates
between religion and science
in the Age of Enlightenment.
Some of the most
sophisticated music-making
in London at this time was
made by those we today would
call ‘amateurs’, often very
highly trained musicians who,
because of class or gender,
would never have considered
becoming professionals. The
remainder of this sequence
reflects this world, including a
quartet movement and three
songs by Beethoven reflecting
the craze for all things Scottish
and Romantic in the early years
of the 19th century.
Room 2, The changing Museum
E
18.20 and 19.30
Katie Chatburn
Puririy (première)
for oboe (2’)
written for Inca Gold Llama
(BM ref 1921.0721.1)
Jennifer Pearson
Warrior holding a trophy head
(première) for percussion (5’)
written for Warrior holding
a trophy head (BM ref
1937,1113.1)
Aaron Parker
Sutton Hoo Helmet (première)
for bass clarinet (5’)
written for Sutton Hoo Helmet
(BM ref 1939,1010.93)
Representing the ancient
Andean practice of sacrificial
offering, and the unpredictable
response of the Inca mountain
deities, the two ideas in Puririy
interact with growing intensity,
an imagination of the final
journey of those facing human
sacrifice. Jennifer Pearson
employs drums to create a
sense of looming war and
metallic percussion gives her
study an armour-like sound
and feel. The hollow mask
of the Sutton Hoo Helmet
inevitably reminds the viewer
of the absent human being.
Aaron Parker translates the
still, empty, solemnity of this
artefact, separated from us by
vast historical distance, into
music of comparable obscurity:
hollow, motionless, distant.
F
18.35 and 19.45
Paul Wheatley
Olduvai Stone Chopping Tool
(première) for cello and double
bass (3’)
written for Olduvai Stone
Chopping Tool (BM ref
1934.12-14.1)
Caroline Louise Haines
Ain Sakhri Lovers (première)
for mezzo-soprano and
baritone (3’)
written for Ain Sakhri Lovers
(BM ref 1958.10-7.1)
Matthew Brown
Mammoth Spear (première)
for cello duo (4’)
written for Mammoth
Spear Thrower
(BM ref Sieveking 551)
Nelson Bohorquez-Castro
Overnight (première)
for guitar (4’)
written for Olduvai Handaxe
(BM ref 1934.12-14.49)
This sequence considers
some of the oldest objects in
the Museum. Paul Wheatley’s
music for the Olduvai Stone
Chopping Tool creates a sense
of calm and mystery, respectful
of its age and history. Caroline
Louise Haines bonds together
two voices to create a fused
sound that reflects the intimate
union of the couple depicted
in the Ain Sakhri figurine.
Two cellists generate striking
sounds on their instruments
in a study for an Ice Age
mammoth spear thrower.
Overnight utilises the structure
of one of the earliest forms
of Colombian Andean music
in response to the beauty,
suggestive of the origins of art,
in a handaxe from Olduvai.
Room 4, Egyptian sculpture
G
18.10 and 19.20
Alexander Dawson
Colossal stone scarab beetle
(première) for tuba (4’)
written for Colossal Scarab
(BM ref EA 74)
Leo Geyer
Book of the Underworld
(première) for bassoon (5’)
written for Sarcophagus of
Nectanebo II (BM ref EA 10)
Vitalija Glovackyte
Granodiorite statue of a
Horus-falcon (première) for
double bass and portable
radio (5’)
written for Granodiorite
statue of a Horus-falcon
(BM ref EA 1226)
Tom Harrold
Ramesses (première) for brass
quintet (3’)
written for Ramesses II
(BM ref EA 19)
H
These four pieces respond
to Egyptian sculpture.
The melancholic theme of
Alexander Dawson’s piece
recalls the lost grandeur
of a civilisation that once
hailed scarab beetles as
gods. Leo Geyer’s Book of
the Underworld translates
sarcophagi hieroglyphs into
small musical cells, adding
them together to create a
larger structure that reflects
the funerary text of the
original hieroglyphs. The god
of the sky, Horus, was often
depicted in ancient Egyptian
mythology as a falcon and
it was said that the sun was
his right eye and the moon
his left; Vitalija Glovackyte’s
piece focuses on the moment
in time when these opposites
meet – dusk. And in filling
the room with sound, Tom
Harrold’s Ramesses imitates
the oppressive (yet impressive)
nature of the eponymous
statue.
18.25 and 19.35
Simon Holt
Sphinx for cor anglais and
gongs (14’)
Limestone fragment of the
beard of the Sphinx
(BM ref EA 58)
Sphinx is austere in texture
and takes the form of an
extended riddle, the answer
to which may be the one and
only appearance of the A sharp
at the end of the piece, the
quietest, highest, and possibly
the longest note that the solo
cor anglais plays.
Room 4, Egyptian sculpture
J
18.45 and 19.55
Aaron Parker
Sakhmet, seated (première)
for cello (5’)
written for Seated Sakhmet
(BM refs EA 76, 57, 62
and 80)
Lucy Pankhurst
Sekhemti (première) for
trumpet (4’)
written for Head and Arm
of Amenhotep III
(BM refs EA 15 and 55)
(at 18.45 only)
Halim el Dabh
Aapep and Ra for narrator and
double bass (9’)
Gillian Menichino
Thebes and the Burden of
Rulership (première) for flute,
cor anglais and oboe (6’)
written for Three black statues
of King Sesostris III (BM refs
EA 684, 685 and 686)
K
The lion-headed Sakhmet was
a goddess of aggression and
destruction, yet these seated
statues display an unusual
composure, which Aaron
Parker’s cello study interprets
as concealing a pent-up rage,
reflected in his eerily relentless
landscape. The arm and head
of Amenhotep III inspire Lucy
Pankhurst’s two regal fanfares,
emulating the brittle sound of
Egyptian trumpets. Aapep and
Ra describes the struggle of
the sun god Ra against the
serpent of darkness, Aapep.
Gillian Menichino’s piece draws
on the meditative expressions
of three armour-clad statues
and contemporary poetry that
considers the heavy burden
of rulership, creating material
that is sombre and rhythmically
unsettled.
18.50 and 20.00
Gamal Abdel-Rahim
Raqsat Isis (Dance of Isis) for
flute and harp (5’)
Giancinto Scelsi
Ixor for clarinet (4’)
(at 20.00 first movement only)
Marshall Crutcher
Egypt for guitar (11’)
Abdel-Rahim employs exotic
harmonies based on Arabic
music modes (maqamat) to
evoke the sounds of ancient
Egypt. Scelsi wrote many short
pieces for wind instruments,
music that draws on influences
from Byzantium to China. There
is a feeling for Middle Eastern
modality in some of this wind
music, and the four movements
of Ixor evoke the ancient
Egyptian ney flute. Crutcher’s
suite for guitar paints in sound
three Egyptian scenes: a
caravan at dawn; the pyramids;
and the desert.
Room 6, Assyria
L
18.00 and 19.10
Laurence Tompkins
dishlishou/LOINCLOTH
(première) from Boji for two
oboes (10’)
written for Colossal guardian
lion (BM ref ME 118895)
Alexander Symcox
The Black Obelisk of
Shalmaneser III (première)
for trombone (5’)
written for Black Obelisk
of Shalmaneser III
(BM ref ME 118885)
Toby Butt
On the Blood-stained
Mountains (première)
for tuba (5’)
written for Stela of the
Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal II
(BM ref ME 118805)
These three pieces link key
pieces of sculpture from the
Museum’s Assyrian collection.
The two movements of
Laurence Tompkins’ duo may
be played separately, together,
and in any order. Alexander
Symcox’s piece reflects the
great power and achievements
of the Assyrian empire, using
the expressive capabilities of
the trombone to reflect both.
The stela of Ashurnasirpal II is
covered in descriptions of his
reign. One line reads ‘With their
blood I dyed the mountain red
as red wool’ and Toby Butt’s
piece attempts to capture the
majesty that the ruler wanted
others to fear.
Room 10, Assyria
M 18.30 and 19.40
(please note this sequence
finishes in Room 6)
Tom Rose
Gate 2 (première) for
saxophone and guitar (4’)
written for Pair of Humanheaded winged bulls and
protective spirits (BM refs ME
118808 and 118809)
Alexander Symcox
Lachish reliefs (première)
for violin and cello (5’)
written for Lachish reliefs
(various BM refs)
Tom Rose
Gate 1 (première) for violin
and cello (4’)
written for Pair of Humanheaded winged lions (BM refs
ME 118801 and 118802)
Tom Rose’s Gate pieces have
been written to be performed
at opposite ends of series of
relief-lined corridors. While
accompanying the image
of ‘gatekeepers’, they also
consider the gates within
electronic music – whereby
signals are starkly switched
on/off. Between the two,
Alexander Symcox considers
the siege of Lachish, his
music expressing moments
of vulnerability with sudden
aggressive gestures. Towards
the end this dynamic settles
down to a delicate sound
world portraying how even the
greatest of civilisations turns
to dust.
Room 17, Greece
N
18.00 and 19.10
Jae-Moon Lee
The Three Seas (première)
for small ensemble (5’)
written for Nereid Monument
(BM ref 1848-10-20.33-258)
Jack Sheen
String Trio (première) for violin,
viola and cello (5’)
written for Three Nereids
(BM refs Sculpture 912, 910
and 909)
Johannes Ockeghem
Aultre Venus estes for alto,
tenor and bass (4’)
Lely’s Venus (Aphrodite) (BM
ref Sculpture 1963.10-29.1)
William Alwyn
Naiades for flute and harp (12’)
In Greek myth, the nereid is
a sea nymph. In front of the
Nereid Monument, Jae-Moon
Lee describes three images of
the seas with various
instrumental techniques.
Opposite are the three nereid
statues, thought to have
escorted the soul of the
deceased on its journey to the
afterlife. Each movement of
Jack Sheen’s trio focuses on
one of the players implying a
sense of gradually increasing
cohesion. In his chanson,
Ockeghem compares the
perfection of his muse to
Aphrodite, declaring her ‘a
second Venus’. Alwyn’s Naiades
refers to the beautiful water
nymphs of Greek myth who
were reputed to drown those
with whom they fell in love.
Room 19, Greece
Room 18, Greece
P
18.25 and 19.35
David Bowie
(arranged Calum MacLeod)
Pallas Athena for oboe, cello
and harp (3’)
John Tavener
Lament of the Mother of God
for soprano and chorus (16’)
Buhurizade Mustafa Itri
(arranged Michael Jackson)
Neva Kar for three
saxophones (5’)
Giovanni Gabrieli
Canzon à 8 for brass
ensemble (3’)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Overture to The Ruins
of Athens for chamber
orchestra (6’)
Sergei Akhunov
Centaurs for four cellos (7’)
Sequence conceived for the
sculptures of the Parthenon
Q
This sequence of pieces
reflects the major events
in the complex history of
the Parthenon sculptures.
A simple arrangement of
Bowie’s Pallas Athena reflects
the first temples built on the
Acropolis to venerate the
goddess Athena Nike. The
ikon-like stillness and purity
of Tavener’s Lament of the
Mother of God represents
the building’s conversion to
a Byzantine cathedral. An
arrangement of a 16th-century
song by Itri, the so-called
‘Ottoman Bach’, charts another
conversion from cathedral to
mosque. A fanfare by Gabrieli
announces the Venetian
bombardment of 1687,
dynamite reducing much of
the site to rubble. Beethoven’s
overture (performed tonight)
and incidental music to a
play by August von Kotzebue
highlights the culture and
reason of 19th-century Europe,
and its response to the ruins of
the ancient Greek world. And
to close, four centaur pieces
by a young Russian composer
respond to the centaur
metopes now on public display
in these galleries.
18.40 and 19.50
Thanasis Tsiatas
First Delphic Hymn to Apollo
and Hymn to Dionysus for
guitar (6’)
Claude Debussy
Syrinx for flute (4’)
Aphrodite and Pan playing
knucklebones accompanied by
Eros (BM ref GR 1888.12-13.1
Bronze 289)
Paraskevas Apostolos
The Daedalus and Ikaros
Journey for soprano and
guitar (5’)
Icarus (BM ref GR 1867.58.746 Bronze 1451)
A small number of
compositions have survived
from ancient Greece, most
in small, unrelated quotes.
Tsiatas has arranged two,
found engraved on marbles at
Delphi, for guitar. Commonly
performed ‘off stage’, reflecting
its origin as music written for a
ballet interval, Debussy’s Syrinx
considers the doomed pursuit
of the eponymous nymph by
the god Pan. Apostolos’ text
focuses on another Greek
myth, that of Daedalus and
Icarus. Fashioning wings
from wax and feathers, Icarus
flies too close to the sun and
plunges to his death in the
waters below; whilst Daedalus
escapes to Italy, he is
promptly captured and
drowned in hot water.
Room 21, Greece
Room 22, Greece
R 18.25 and 19.35
(please note this sequence
finishes in Room 23)
S 18.50 and 20.00
(please note this sequence
finishes in Room 21)
Cassandra’s Dream Song
portrays the conflict between
Apollo and Cassandra. Two
Brian Ferneyhough
separated music stands
Cassandra’s Dream Song
contain contrasting material,
for flute (10’)
together demanding an
Marble head of Apollo
emotional intensity and
(BM ref GR 1857.12-20.264
technical fluency that perhaps
Sculpture 1058)
represent Cassandra’s
Benjamin Britten
attempts to speak once again
Two Metamorphoses after
with her own voice. Two of
Ovid for oboe (5’)
Britten’s six Metamorphoses
Marble statue of Dionysus
are performed tonight,
(BM ref GR 1816.6-10.111)
spotlighting the revels of
Apollo and Artemis slaying the Bacchus and the tears of
children of Niobe (BM ref GR
Niobe. Katie Chatburn’s
1877.7-21.1 Sculpture 2200)
setting of Sappho’s Hymn
to Aphrodite has the soloist
Katie Chatburn
call for Aphrodite to come to
Hymn to Aphrodite: Be thou my
her aid so that she might win
ally (première) for soprano and
over her beloved. Musgrave’s
iPhone (3’)
study returns us to Niobe’s
written for Lely’s Venus
tragic story, the weeping line
(Aphrodite) (BM ref Sculpture
of the oboe accompanied by
1963.10-29.1 )
evocative sounds of distant
high voices and the slow
Thea Musgrave
tolling of bells.
Niobe for oboe and tape (5’)
Apollo and Artemis slaying the
children of Niobe (BM ref GR
1877.7-21.1 Sculpture 2200)
Calum MacLeod
Colossal Marble Statue of
Apollo (première) for harp (5’)
written for Colossal Marble
Statue of Apollo (BM ref GR
1861.7-25.1)
Blaize Henry
Aurum (première) for violin (4’)
written for Gold Oak Wreath
with a bee and two cicadas
(BM ref GR 1908.4-14.1
Jewellery 1628)
(at 20.00 second
movement only)
Mike Hall
Two movements from Tales
of the Sun God for
saxophone quartet (8’)
Marble head of Apollo
(BM ref GR 1857.12-20.264
Sculpture 1058)
This statue of Apollo playing
his lyre was found broken into
many pieces and, with this in
mind, so the melody of Calum
MacLeod’s study for solo harp is
never heard in its entirety. Blaize
Henry’s Aurum is rooted in the
C major chord, a triad commonly
associated with divinity, and
chosen by the composer to
represent the association of the
wreath for which it is written
with the Greek gods. The two
movements of Hall’s suite are
based loosely around Apollo’s
mythological exploits: first, his
musical contest with Pan; and
second, his fateful kissing of
Cassandra.
Room 23, Greece
T
18.00 and 19.10
Calum MacLeod
Marble portrait of Alexander
the Great (première) for
harp (5’)
written for Marble portrait
of Alexander the Great
(BM ref GR 1872.5-15.1
Sculpture 1857)
George Frideric Handel
‘Softly sweet in Lydian
measures’, ‘War, he sung, is toil
and trouble’ and ‘Revenge
Timotheus cries’ from
Alexander’s Feast (10’)
This sequence considers
Alexander the Great, ruler of
an empire that stretched from
Macedonia to the Himalayas,
from Persia to Egypt. Calum
MacLeod draws on Egyptian
modes and a traditional
doumbek drumming pattern
for his portrait for solo harp.
Handel’s Alexander’s Feast
describes a banquet held by
Alexander in the captured city
of Persepolis, during which the
musician Timotheus sings and
plays his lyre, arousing various
moods in Alexander until he
is finally incited to burn down
the city in revenge for his dead
Greek soldiers.
Room 24, Living and Dying
U
18.00 and 19.10
V
18.10 and 19.20
Dan Ryan
Peter Sculthorpe
Makemake (première) for tenor
Island Dreaming for mezzosoprano and string quartet (12’) saxophone and percussion (8’)
written for Hoa Hakananai’a
Easter Island Statue (BM ref
Island Dreaming is based
Ethno 1869,10-5.1)
upon ideas suggested by the
musics of the Torres Strait
Michael Betteridge and
Islands. Here, the cultures of
Emma-Ruth Richards
Indigenous Australia, Papua
Cradle to Grave (première) for
New Guinea and Indonesia
clarinet, violin and viola, and
are brought together as one,
flute, guitar and viola (10’)
their mythologies dominated
written for Pharmacopoeia’s
by the sea. Sculthorpe’s
Cradle to Grave (BM ref AOA
text, sung in its Indigenous
Ethno 2003)
language, derives from poetry
both modern and archaic and
Makemake is inspired by the
concerns the centrality of
story of the Rapa Nui, once
water in these societies.
inhabitants of Easter Island,
Rapa Nui. The structure of this
piece traces their arrival, the
gradual growth of civilisation,
ritual celebration, the loss of
resources and consequential
bloodshed. Responding to
the big questions surrounding
life and death posed by the
Cradle to Grave installation,
two composers here use 12
‘microludes’ – short movements
of varying lengths – to explore
ideas of growth and expansion,
as well as diminution, in various
musical ways.
W
18.20 and 19.30
Lucy Pankhurst
Cristallum Calvariam (première)
for viola with vocalisation (6’)
written for Rock Crystal Skull
(BM ref Ethno 1898-1)
Terry Riley
La Muerte en Medias
Caladas Negras from Dias
de los Muertos for guitar and
percussion (6’)
Day of the Dead paper maches
Cristallum Calvarium attempts
to capture a sonic glimpse of
the crystal skull: the smooth,
reflective surfaces and
transparency, where, the closer
you look, the more is revealed.
To illustrate its ‘forgery’, the
soloist must also sing, the
vocal tone emerging from the
violin before revealing its own
identity. A musical exploration
of the untimely and unexpected
ways in which Death manifests
itself, ‘Death Appears in Black
Fishnet Stockings’, as Riley’s
title translates, is a coy dance
of seduction, a dance of
death disguised as a beautiful
woman.
X
18.35 and 19.45
Matthew Hindson
Didjeribluegrass for didjeridoo
and string quartet (8’)
Helen Fisher
Te tangi a te Matui for flute
with vocalisation (7’)
Tom Rose
Red Cedar (première)
for viola (4’)
written for Raven crest (BM ref
Ethno 1981 Am 12.13)
As the title suggests,
Didjeribluegrass incorporates
some aspects of bluegrass
music, in particular the
fast ‘fiddling’ style of string
playing that includes many
open strings, into the sound
world of the didjeridoo; the
two sometimes co-exist
comfortably, and at other times
not. Fisher’s study beautifully
fuses a sung Maori karakia,
or incantation, with a flute
line that evokes the koauau,
a small Maori flute, together
celebrating the call of a native
New Zealand bird, the tui. Tom
Rose’s solo for viola explores
the unstable sounds of the
instrument, carving their way
from isolated moments and
decoration to the core of the
solo line.
Y
18.55 and 20.05
Nelson Bohorquez-Castro
Crisálidas (première)
for mezzo-soprano and
marimba (4’)
written for Ghanaian drums
and bells (various BM refs)
Traditional
Koutou Katoa Rä and Tama
ngākau mārie for voice (4’)
Peter Sculthorpe
Threnody for cello (7’)
Nelson Bohorquez-Castro's
song describes the last days
of a young girl and ends with a
question: ‘what do the human
souls find when they leave their
earthly jail?’ Two Maori songs
traditionally sung at funerals
or hui (assemblies or social
gatherings) follow. Sculthorpe’s
Threnody is dedicated to the
memory of the conductor
Stuart Challender, who died
of an AIDS-related disease in
December 1991. It is based
on an Aboriginal lament from
Echo Island in the Arafura Sea.
Room 25, Africa
Z
18.00 and 19.10
Aled Smith
Laments and Fanfares
(première) for French horn (4’)
written for Throne of Weapons
(BM ref Ethno 2002 Af 01.1)
Sally Beamish
Awuya for harp (9’)
Traditional
Baani lay for kora (5’)
Monika Stadler
African Reflections for two
harps (5’)
Based on the construction
of the Throne of Weapons
sculpture, Laments and
Fanfares suggests both a
condemnation and glorification
of war. Awuya fuses drumming
rhythms, central African
tribal harmonies and a lullaby
tune whose words reflect a
sleeping sickness disease that
decimated the population in the
1940s. Baani lay is a traditional
West African song with kora
accompaniment, originally from
Mali, and used in modern times
as a protest song against the
often violent greed of powerful
men. The sound of the kora has
inspired Stadler’s duo, which
experiments with the sounds
two harps and their players
can produce.
AA
18.05 and 19.15
Hamza el Din
Escalay (Waterwheel) for string
quartet (13’)
Having settled in New York,
the flooding of the Aswan
High Dam inundated the
village where Hamza was born.
Escalay is suggestive of the
hypnotic, repeated songs of
those who sit behind the oxen
which help the waterwheel to
turn, a mood that the composer
recognised in his own playing
on revisiting Aswan, faced with
the devastating loss beyond
the flood.
BB
18.25 and 19.35
Jae-Moon Lee
Man’s Cloth (première)
for two cellos (5’)
written for Man’s Cloth
(BM ref Ethno 2002 Af 10.1)
Priaulx Rainier
Ubunzima for soprano and
guitar (3’)
Matthew Brown
Tree of Life (première)
for violin (4’)
written for Tree of Life
(BM ref Ethno 2005 Af 1.1)
Dan Ryan
Mutuality (première) for guitar,
oboe and cello (6’)
written for Kilwa pot sherds
(BM ref OA +.916)
El Anatsui’s art work is the
inspiration behind Jae-Moon
Lee’s cello duo, its image
portrayed with fragments
of sounds and a mosaic of
nuanced details and small
moments. Retreating shadows
reveal green mountains
between the zulu cries of
Rainier’s song. Matthew
Brown’s music for the Tree
of Life is suggestive of many
melodies evolving from one
starting point, its mood hinting
at aspects of life and hunger
and the lack of medical
provisions. Reflecting the
theme of trade across oceans
suggested by pottery sherds,
the instruments of Dan Ryan's
trio communicate musical ideas
and gestures to one another
like individuals in conversation.
CC
18.30 and 19.40
Isak Roux
Makwaya Sunday, Jake’s
Penny Whistle and Concertina
Jam from Tekweni Suite for
saxophone quartet (10’)
Michael Betteridge
Two leopards (première) for A
clarinet and B flat clarinet (3’)
written for Two leopards
(BM ref AOA 1924,L1a-b)
Adam Stafford
Oba (première) for guitar,
French horn and cello (3’)
written for Benin plaques
(various BM refs)
Sarah Gait
A King of Kings (première)
for violin and cello (4’)
written for Ife Head
(BM ref Ethno 1939, Af 43-1)
DD
Deriving from eThekwini, the
Zulu name for Durban, Roux’s
Tekweni Suite recall the days
of the composer’s youth in this
port city, with its subtropical
climate, its vibrant mixture of
cultures, and the sound and
smell of the Indian Ocean.
Reflecting slight discrepancies
between objects that appear
identical at first glance, Two
leopards uses material that
constantly evolves, written
for two instruments that look
very similar but are actually
different in many ways. The
suggestion that the Benin
plaques refer to the burdens
and responsibilities of the
Oba, or king, is the impetus for
Adam Stafford’s trio, whose
form is inspired by a fictional
expedition by the Oba and his
servants. Sarah Gait’s primary
influence for A King of Kings is
the utterly focused expression
of inward concentration on the
face of the Ife Head, behind
which an almost frightening
level of power is also glimpsed
in this music.
18.45 and 19.55
(at 18.45 only)
Kevin Volans
Second movement from String
Quartet No 1 ‘White Man
Sleeps’ for string quartet (5’)
Foday Musa Suso
Tilliboyo (Sunset) for kora and
string quartet (4’)
Justinian Tamusuza
Luganda from Ekitundu
Ekisooka for string quartet (6’)
Sarah Gait
Khedive (première) for cello (5’)
written for Sudanese slit drum
(BM ref Ethno 1937, 11-08.1)
Tim Bailey
Something from Nothing
(première) for viola (3’)
written for African pottery
display
Three short movements
for string quartet open this
sequence: Volans’ reworking
of the Nyungwe music of
Mozambique; Suso’s pizzicato
strings and kora evoking
celebration beyond sundown;
and Tamusuza’s interpretation
of the Kiganda music of
Uganda. Gait’s Khedive is
inspired by the journey of
a slit-drum that may have
been brought to Sudan from
central Africa as the result of
slave-raiding expeditions. The
music fluctuates between a
rhythmic theme inspired by the
drum itself and another more
melodic and wailing, derived
from the possible sufferings
Room 25, Africa
Room 26, Americas
EE
of those slaves who may have
heard the drum. Something
from Nothing is inspired by
the notion that something
made from practically nothing
can be so essential to its
makers, and so durable while
still being art. It uses a single
bar of material for each of
the 22 pots on display, which
can then be reordered and
repeated as many times as the
performer pleases.
18.55 and 20.05
Tim Bailey
Three Miniatures (première)
for violin and viola (5’)
written for African masquerade
exhibition (various BM refs)
(at 18.55 only)
Peter Klatzow
Three Spiritual Nocturnes for
chorus (7’)
Christopher Ayodele
(arranged Fred
Onovwerosuoke)
Om’ Oba ni for chorus (3’)
Bailey’s miniatures are each
composed with a specific mask
or a group of masks on display.
The first refers to a mask
denoting the leader of a rival
tribe; the second to masks that
symbolise female beauty and
ward away witchcraft; and the
third to a mask used to ridicule
foreigners. Klatzow’s nocturnes
are prayers to God, thankful
for the day passed, a peaceful
night of renewal, and the new
day ahead. Om’ Oba ni (‘The
Prince’) is a joyous, rousing
processional from Nigeria
performed in either concert or
church settings. It offers many
opportunities for audience
participation.
FF
18.00 and 19.10
George Rimmer
the end-of-you is the
beginning-of-me: Same Blood,
Different Heart (première) for
oboe (4’)
written for Otter Effigy Pipe
(BM ref Ethno (S)266)
Marilyn Bliss
It Was the Wind for soprano
and Native American flute (4’)
Marilyn Bliss
Blue Dawn for cello and Native
American flute (4’)
This sequence considers the
world of the Native North
American peoples. George
Rimmer’s solo is one of a pair,
its partner to be performed in
Room 27 tonight; it is inspired
by an Appalachian smoking
pipe in the form of an otter,
the composer’s intention to
capture something of the
psychology of smoking. It Was
the Wind is a setting of an
evocative Navajo text; Blue
Dawn is mellow and cheerful,
celebrating the fresh air and
big sky of the High Plains of
North America.
Room 27, Mexico
GG
18.15 and 19.25
Leo Geyer
Sedna for three female
voices (4’)
Playful Sedna
Jacob Thompson-Bell
Songmaking: Eclectica 1
(première) for viola (5’)
written for Seven ivory bow
drills engraved with scenes
Both these pieces use Inuit
imagery as their stimulus.
Sedna tells of the deception by
her father of the eponymous
goddess of the sea and marine
animals, the score employing
a form of throat singing not
unlike the way such myths
have been passed from
generation to generation.
Deriving from a set of
ornamental Inupiat bow drills,
Songmaking: Eclectica 1
takes
the form of a graphic score,
inspired by the imagery on the
drills themselves.
HH
18.40 and 19.50
Jay Ungar
Ashokan Farewell for violin (3’)
Katherine Hoover
Winter Spirits for native
American flute (5’)
Mark O’Connor
Appalachia Waltz for violin,
cello and double bass (6’)
The three contemporary pieces
of this sequence suggest a
more recent North American
history. Ashokan Farewell
is written in the style of a
Scottish lament, its sense of
loss and longing recognised
by filmmaker Ken Burns, who
used it as the principal theme
of his PBS documentary
series, The Civil War. Based on
a painting of a native American
flute player, Hoover’s Winter
Spirits refers to the beneficial
kachinas (spirits) and totem
creatures conjured by the
flautist’s song. Appalachia
Waltz takes its inspiration from
Scandinavian and Appalachian
folk fiddling, again suggestive
of a more recent American
history.
JJ
18.25 and 19.35
Ben Parker
Sculpture of a Huaxtec
Goddess (première)
for cello (5’)
written for Tlazolteotl, Huaxtec
female deity (BM ref Ethno
Q89Am3.1)
Aled Smith
tok’ (première) for bass clarinet
and double bass (8’)
written for Maya relief of royal
blood-letting (BM ref Ethno
1886-317)
One of the female deities
of the Huaxtecs associated
with fertility, Tlazolteotl was a
goddess associated with the
purification of vice and sin.
The laborious and repetitive
performance from the cellist
musically emulates the
worsening contractions of
a woman in labour, before
reaping the award of a child.
tok’ translates from Mayan
as ‘letting blood’. The stark,
ritualistic nature of the imagery
on the lintel has influenced the
structure of the piece, which is
in several small sections that
can be performed in any order,
any amount of times.
Room 27, Mexico
KK
18.55 and 20.00
George Rimmer
the end-of-you is the
beginning-of-me: Same Blood,
Different Heart (première) for
bassoon (4’)
written for Olmec stone mask
(BM ref Ethno 1938.10-21.14)
David Curington
Entropy (première) for flute,
piccolo and agogo bells (5’)
written for Mexican flutes and
bells (various BM refs)
Adam Stafford
Ecdysis (première) for viola
and crotoles (3’)
written for Double-headed
serpent (BM ref Ethno 94-634)
George Rimmer’s solo is one
of a pair, its partner to be
performed in Room 26 tonight.
It is inspired by a stone mask
from Olmec Mexico. Entropy
responds to a set of ritual
flutes and bells with a similar
instrumentation: flute, piccolo
and agogo bells. The surface
of the music is evocative of
some sort of solemn ritual,
particularly when the agogos
enter, perforating the more
delicate initial texture set
out by the flautist. Adam
Stafford writes: Ecdysis n.
(plural ecdyses) The shedding
of an outer layer of skin in
snakes; Fragment n. (plural
fragments) A part broken off;
a small, detached portion; an
imperfect part.
Room 33, China, South Asia, and Southeast Asia
LL
18.00 and 19.10
Aaron Parker
Steatite seals from the Indus
Valley (première) for alto
flute (5’)
written for Indus seals
(various BM refs)
Gillian Menichino
Seated Buddha of Gandhara
(première) for clarinet (9’)
written for Seated Buddha
of Gandhara (BM ref OA
1895.10-26.1)
Aaron Parker’s study
is a collection of tiny
interconnected gestures or
fragments, each offering
enigmatic glimpses into an
otherwise hidden musical
landscape – perhaps
analogous with the way that
these steatite seals reveal
cryptic insights into a lost
Indian culture. The posture of
this Gandhara Buddha sets in
motion the real nature of life
and existence to his followers.
The permeating elements
of Gillian Menichino’s music
are ascending figures that
reach from the bottom of the
clarinet’s register to the top in
a quiet pianissimo, reflecting
peace and enlightenment.
MM
18.00 and 19.10
Edward Ayre
春天 Spring (première) for
percussion (5’)
written for Chinese bronze bo
(BM ref OA 1965.06-12.1)
Bright Sheng
String Quartet No 4,
‘Silent Temple’ (17’)
Exploring Confucius’ ideas
of how a society can work
in harmony, Edward Ayre
combines timbres from a small
pool of percussion elements,
collecting and merging groups
of sounds, and from which a
single harmonious atmosphere
emerges. The four movements
of Sheng’s quartet draw on
the imagined previous life of a
now-ruined temple, from the
praying and chanting of monks
to the violence committed to
the temple and the monks by
the Red Guards.
NN
18.15 and 19.25
Adam Stafford
Borobudur (première) for alto
flute and bass clarinet (3’)
written for Borobudur Buddha
head (BM ref OA 1859.1228.176)
Evan Ziporyn
Kebyar Maya for eight cellos
(14’)
This head of the Buddha on
which Adam Stafford’s piece is
based originally comes from a
statue at Borobudur on Java.
When walking through the
monument one is led through
three participatory states and
planes (or realms) of existence;
Stafford's Borobudur is divided
into three distinct sections
that each signify one of these
realms. Kebyar Maya turns
the cello into a gamelan, with
its gongs, bamboo flutes
and interlocking percussion
textures. ‘Kebyar’ refers to
sudden, natural events, the
bursting open of a flower, or a
flash of lightning; ‘Maya’ is the
veil of illusion.
PP
18.15 and 19.25
Tan Dun
The Silk Road for soprano and
percussion (10’)
Based on a poem of the same
name by New Mexico poet
Arthur Sze, The Silk Road
combines the rhythms of
English verse with the tonal
qualities of Peking opera in
a linear structure like the
connected brush-strokes of
calligraphy.
QQ
18.25 and 19.35
Stephen Goss
Red flowers blooming all over
the mountain and Blue orchid
from The Chinese Garden for
guitar (5’)
Beth Morgan-Williams
Helpings of Hell (première)
for flute and double bass (5’)
written for Chinese ceramic
sculpture depicting an assistant
to a judge in the underworld
(BM ref OA 1917.11-06.1)
Benjamin Britten
Songs from the Chinese for
soprano and guitar (10’)
Evoking the peaceful and
contemplative atmosphere of
a traditional Chinese garden,
these two short movements
are based on folksongs from
Shanbei in Shaanxi province.
Helpings of Hell has been
written to be played alongside
a Chinese ceramic sculpture,
an assistant to the judge of
hell, the music responding to
his screwed up face, maybe
from disgust, maybe from
pain. Britten’s Songs from the
Chinese set six texts by Arthur
Waley that are remarkably
condensed and terse, the
spareness of the texture of
the guitar writing reflecting
something of the spirit of the
Chinese lute or koto.
Room 33, China, South Asia, and Southeast Asia
RR
18.35 and 19.45
Katie Chatburn
Nataraja (première) for two
flutes (2’)
written for Shiva Nataraja
(BM ref 1987.3-14.1)
Clémence Hazaël-Massieux
Shiva and Parvati (première)
for violin (2’)
written for Shiva and Parvati
(BM ref Asia 1872,0701.70)
Giacinto Scelsi
Ko-Tha (A Dance of Shiva)
for guitar (13’)
Shiva as Lord of the Dance
(BM ref OA 1969. 12-16.1)
SS
18.50 and 20.00
Roxanna Panufnik
Letters from Burma for oboe
and string quartet (12’)
Daniel Crompton
Ohm Mani Padme Hum
(première) for clarinet, violin,
cello and double bass (3’)
written for trumpet of copper
with brass fittings (BM ref OA
1933.5-8.38a)
The letters behind Panufnik’s
score were penned by Aung
San Suu Kyi, its four
movements referencing
Burmese folk song, the pain
of children separated from
The Hindu god Shiva sits at
their imprisoned parents, the
the heart of this sequence.
beauty of an orchid, and the
First, two flutes represent
joy in dancing, even in the
the themes of creation and
shadow of political oppression.
destruction present within
Based on a mantra of the
the Hindu cosmic cycle,
same name, Daniel Crompton’s
phrases building and dying,
score is inspired by a
often returning in adapted
ceremony to mark the
guises. Next, Shiva and Parvati destruction of a sand mandala
uses sounds and rhythms
created by the Tashi Lhunpo
reminiscent of traditional Indian monks at RNCM in 2012. The
music to paint a dialogue
ceremony was accompanied by
between the divine lovers.
the resolute soundings of the
In Ko-Tha (A Dance of Shiva),
traditional Tibetan trumpet,
the soloist is called upon
similar to an instrument on
to produce a vast array of
display in Room 33.
percussive sounds from the
guitar. Things speed up, things
slow down, and Scelsi’s mystic
passion ebbs and flows until
at last the rhythm dies away
to nothing.
TT
18.50 and 20.00
Bright Sheng
The stream flows for viola (4’)
Tan Dun
In distance for piccolo, harp
and bass drum (10’)
Much of The stream
flows is based on a wellknown Chinese folk song
from southern China, the
resemblance of the timbre and
the tone quality of a female
folk singer evoked by a solo
viola. Three different distances
underpin In distance: the wide
distance between each of
the instruments in terms of
register, timbre and dynamics;
the texture of the music,
which is very open and has a
great deal of space; and the
physical distance, even conflict,
between atonal writing and the
use of folk material.
Front cover:
Colossal granite head of
Amenhotep III, Karnack,
Egypt, c. 1370 BC.
Illustration by Aaron Groves,
The Design Monkey.
The British Museum
Great Russell Street,
London WC1B 3DG
Tottenham Court Road,
Holborn, Russell Square
+44 (0)20 7323 8000
britishmuseum.org
© The Trustees of the British Museum 06/2013