Friday, 11 September 2015 – 7:30pm / Hall One

Claude Debussy Voiles

Arnold Schoenberg Sechs Kleine Klavierstücke: Movement VI

Anton Webern Variations for piano: Movements I and II

Igor Stravinsky Three pieces for clarinet

Béla Bartók Contrasts: Movement I

Oliver Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time: Movement VII

Pierre Boulez Anthemes (extract)

John Cage Four6 (extract)

Steve Reich New York Counterpoint: Movement III

Thomas Adès Court Studies from The Tempest

This programme offers a whistle-stop tour through 20th century classical music.

From the radical evolution of a new kinds of harmony (in the music of Schoenberg) and the influence of jazz and folk music on classical composers (in the music of Stravinsky and Bartók), the early years of the century of music making was already diverse and fast moving. Composers were shaped by extraordinary upheavals in war, society and politics (such as the music of Messiaen and Prokofiev). A post-war rigorous and modernist aesthetic in Europe (led by Boulez) itself inspired an America reaction of musical clarity and experimentalism (in composers such as Reich and Cage). Later in the century, the huge range of musical possibilities explored in it left composers with a vibrant, eclectic and freethinking outlook (not least exemplified by the music of Adès).

The London Sinfonietta will attempt the impossible, and in one hour guide curious listeners through this story with music, narrative and slides. This is a programme perfect for people who want to get their bearings on an extraordinary century of musical change.

Short film prepared and produced by Wash Media.

Duration: 60 min

londonsinfonietta.org.uk