Performer: Theatre of Voices

The conductor directs the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Theatres of Voices in contrasting symphonies by Berio and Stravinsky.

A rare performance of Stockhausen’s Stimmung, a key work in the development of contemporary vocal music, proves it still has resonance 50 years on from its première.

Composed for six amplified voices, Karlheinz Stockhausen’s seldom performed Stimmung evokes a meditative atmosphere through esoteric mysticism and complex serial methods of aleatoric construction.

There was a strong focus on Danish composers at this year’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival; works by the young and audacious Simon Steen-Andersen featured in several concerts, whilst the Arditti Quartet’s performance of Hans Abrahamsen’s Fourth Quartet proved to be the highlight of the opening weekend.

Theatre of Voices y el Cuarteto de Cuerda de la Orquesta Sinfónica de la Radio Danesa con Paul Hillier en la dirección ofrecieron un introspectivo concierto para celebrar al compositor Arvo Pärt.

Cette adaptation par Ezra Pound de deux pièces de théâtre nô, devient dans les mains de Kaija Saariaho un véritable manifeste d’épure théâtrale et de poésie musicale.