SOUNDS
AND
VISIONS
ULYSSES AWAKES
11 may 2018, 6.30pm
FREE STAGE
12 ensemble kick off the weekend performing three contemporary works which reflect both their influences and those of Max Richter; Kate Whitley’s graceful Autumn Songs; John Woolrich’s lyrical evocation of the hero’s homecoming Ulysses Awakes; and Witold Lutosławski’s tribute to Béla Bartók, Musique Funèbre.
Whitley Autumn Songs
Woolrich Ulysses Awakes*
Lutosławski Musique Funèbre
*performance includes the premiere showing of 12 ensemble's new film Ulysses Awakes with choreography by Alexander Whitley.
The 12 ensemble hold a weekend residency at Sounds and Visions, giving three free performances of works by the likes of Witold Lutosławski, Bryce Dessner, Mica Levi and Phillip Glass, alongside performing Max Richter's visionary 2010 album Infra in the Barbican Hall alongside the composer.
A weekend curated by Max Richter & Yulia Mahr at the Barbican Centre
11 MAY Whitley / Woolrich / Lutoslawski
11 MAY Infra with Max Richter
12 MAY Dessner
13 MAY Tavener / Glass / Levi / Pärt
Max Richter piano / electronics
12 ensemble
Infra takes its title from the Latin for the word ‘below’, and that’s what Richter explores – the world just beneath the surface. The strings of the 12 Ensemble excavate melodies that have been buried underneath shelves of ambience, while snatches of Morse code and radio signals cut through beautiful electro-acoustic textures. Originally composed for a dance work choreographed by Wayne McGregor, it’s an examination of the submerged sounds of the everyday. Of the unnoticed, the overlooked and the forgotten.
INFRA
11 may 2018, 7.30pm
barbican hall
Following the previous night’s performance of Lutosławski’s Musique funèbre, 12 ensemble turn to the National's Bryce Dessner for his tribute to the work, Réponse Lutosławski.
Dessner Réponse Lutosławski
12 may 2018, 7.40pm
free stage
RéPONSE
FRATRES
13 may 2018, 6.30pm
free stage
The last of three Free Stage performances from the 12 Ensemble, as they turn their hands to some of the 20th Century’s most important composers.
There’s Philip Glass’s Company II, conceived as music for a stage adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s novella of the same name, Mica Levi’s brilliant Love from her soundtrack to Under the Skin, and John Tavener’s hauntingly beautiful setting The Lamb. Then the ensemble look to Northern Europe, with an arrangement of Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Rós’s Fljotavik and one of the 20th century’s most enduring works; Arvo Pärt’s Fratres.
Tavener The Lamb
Glass Company - II
Levi Love from Under the Skin
Pärt Fratres
Sigur Rós Fljotavik