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Up-close by Michel van der Aa

Why is it special for you?

I first encountered Michel van der Aa’s work in 2013 with his opera Sunken Garden, and, having spent much of the following few years thinking about it, travelled to Hannover in my gap year to see his next opera Blank Out. I’ve always been excited by work that incorporates elements beyond the sonic, and I often find myself thinking about how we perceive hierarchy between the different elements in this type of work. Up-close gives a fantastic example of a piece where the video sits within it, as a vital part of the complete ensemble. I won’t give too much away, but I see the video as suggesting a portal to a parallel world, reflecting a strange alternate reality. The uncanny mirroring in the video world of the ‘real’ challenges the framing of the piece, and makes the viewer question their presuppositions about its constituent parts.

There’s a level of control that I think van der Aa manages very carefully and effectively. Watching it I feel like I’m being guided through a very strange space that, perhaps being so close to it, can’t be understood. It’s just lovely to spend half an hour being taken on a weird journey.

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The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind – Osvaldo Golijov

Why is it special for you?

This piece is number 1 on my ‘bucket list’ of pieces to perform at some point in my life. Unpredictable throughout, I would describe it as a 30-minute meditative folk journey: the gorgeous juxtaposition of the glassy, peaceful introduction (which Golijov compares to a “celestial accordion”), moving to the raw angst of the first movement, before travelling through more meditative movements and a tranquil, peaceful ending. Golijov’s unique timbres and techniques come from a fusion of his Jewish heritage and his Argentinan upbringing, providing a unique compositional voice combining klezmer, liturgical and Latin quotations. Calming and hypnotic mixed with fiery and frenzied: I find it’s one of the few pieces which will give me goosebumps every time!

What should we listen out for?

Each movement has a clear klezmer influence within the tonal quality of the ensemble and techniques used, but pushes each instrumentalist to its technical limitations. In this respect, listen out for the stratospheric but gorgeous top notes on the bass clarinet in the first movement: the timbre of the bass clarinet gives these notes a fragile, wailing quality. The use of klezmer embellishments is gorgeous in this piece, particularly within the introduction; Golijov’s use of ornamentation within this movement frames the remainder of the piece beautifully.

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Emergence for trio and chamber orchestra by Vijay Iyer.

Why is it special for you?

I saw the Vijay Iyer Trio perform a couple of years back and it was one of the most intense experiences of my life. Iyer’s earlier trio records were an inroad into a whole world of fantastic music, stretching through duos with celebrated free jazz performers (Wadada Leo Smith & Stephan Crump) to sextets (like Far From Over) and into larger orchestral pieces like Emergence. I’m interested in music that muddies the lines between pieces and performances, notation and improvisation; Emergence is a great example of a composition that does both.

What should we listen out for?

Iyer says: ’This piece situates our trio’s collaborative improvisational language in the context of a classical ensemble. In juxtaposing the respective powers of these very different ensembles, and featuring them separately and together, we explore how these two contrasting perspectives on music might coexist.’ Listen out for these moments of scatty coexistence (22’) and how the trio provide the impetus for timbral change on top of their ‘rhythm section’ role. Listen too for times when the ‘all grooving together’ narrative is exploded, and the quietly satisfying coda.

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