Death and the Maiden
Monday 7 March 2022 / 7.30pm
West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
12 Ensemble return to the Cambridge Music Festival with the type of uniquely eclectic and engaging programme that’s made their past sold-out performances at the festival so highly anticipated. From the purifying balm of ancient religious chant re-imagined, to deeply personal works from GRAMMY-nominated composer Anna Clyne and one of classical music’s most revered figures, it’s an evening of powerful music exploring both the human and the divine.
Hildegard von Bingen (arr. Ruisi)
O Frondens Virga
Anna Clyne
Within Her Arms
Franz Schubert
Death and the Maiden
Watch I. Allegro from Schubert's Death and the Maiden filmed live at the Wigmore Hall in September 2021.
London-born Anna Clyne is a GRAMMY-nominated composer of acoustic and electro-acoustic music. Described as a “composer of uncommon gifts and unusual methods” in a New York Times profile and as “fearless” by NPR, Clyne is one of the most acclaimed and in-demand composers of her generation, often embarking on collaborations with innovative choreographers, visual artists, filmmakers, and musicians. www.annaclyne.com
"Within Her Arms is music for my mother, with all my love.
Earth will keep you tight within her arms dear one—
So that tomorrow you will be transformed into flowers—
This flower smiling quietly in this morning field—
This morning you will weep no more dear one—
For we have gone through too deep a night.
This morning, yes, this morning, I kneel down on the green grass—
And I notice your presence.
Flowers, that speak to me in silence.
The message of love and understanding has indeed come.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
(From "Message" in Call Me By My True Names, 1999, with permission of Parallax Press)
—Anna Clyne