Students and alumni from the University of Birmingham's Department of Music will perform Stockhausen's epic piece, Carré, for four choirs and four orchestras at the Q Club in Birmingham on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 March at 7pm.
Students and alumni from the University of Birmingham’s Department of Music will perform Stockhausen’s epic piece, Carré, for four choirs and four orchestras at the Q Club in Birmingham on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 March at 7pm.
Carré was written by German composer Stockhausen in 1959 and transfers to live musicians some of the spatial experiments he was exploring in the studio. The audience is surrounded by four groups of instrumentalists and singers who explore subtle timbral changes, reportedly inspired by Stockhausen’s observation of clouds through an aeroplane window over North America.
Laborintus II by Luciano Berio will also be performed and will feature, in the arena, a narrator, three sopranos, a vocal and instrumental ensemble, and a chorus of actors.
Linking these two 20th century works are two 40-part renaissance choral masterpieces in which the singers are positioned to dramatic effect and exploit the flexibility of the venue.
The event, called Squares – Circles – Labyrinths, will bring together the University’s Centre for Composition and Associated Studies, the Centre for Early Music Performance and Research, the Birmingham University Singers, the New Music Ensemble, Birmingham Electro Acoustic Sound Theatre (BEAST) and the Music Theatre Group.
Full programme:
Karlheinz Stockhausen, Carré
Gregorio Allegri, Miserere
Thomas Tallis, Spem in alium
Luciano Berio, Laborintus II
Directed by Vic Hoyland
Conductors: Jonty Harrison (for Carré and Laborintus II), Vic Hoyland, Lee Differ, Scott Wilson and Marcus Huxley.
Berio producer: Emily Gottlieb
Tickets can be bought in advance from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in person or by telephoning 0121 414 7333. £14 (£9 concessions), £5 students.
Ends
Notes to Editors
1. The performances are supported by The Tippett Foundation, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Birmingham Opera Company and alumni of the University.
2. They take place at the Q Club, Methodist Central Hall, 212 Corporation Street, Birmingham, B4 6QB.
3. Those attending should wrap up warm.
For further information
Kate Chapple, Press Officer, University of Birmingham, tel 0121 414 2772 or 07789 921164.
