Parallel Colour

“BCMG’s Sound Investment scheme has been consistently responsible for some of the best medium-sized commissions in this country in recent years.”

—The Times

Framed by striking pieces for singer and ensemble, the symmetry of this exciting programme sees the Group journey towards premieres by Edmund Finnis and Rozalie Hirs, with works for solo percussion and solo clarinet either side.

Finnis’ glistening, dancing music has an air of quiet mystery, possessing the elusive quality of being both familiar and strange at once. His first BCMG Sound Investment commission departs from the standard ensemble line-up, with pairs of instruments providing unusual sound combinations. Like Finnis, Hirs writes music of a refreshingly original character. She examines and dissects sounds to a microscopic degree, creating exceptionally captivating ‘sonic spaces’. Her Platonic ID elegantly unfolds in rustling waves of rapid notes, halted by moments of calm in which short, luminous chorales suddenly shine forth.

The expressive intensity of Claude Vivier’s music, together with its compositional skill and innovation, make his oeuvre among the most compelling and distinctive of the late 20th century. Trois Airs pour un opéra imaginaire is his last completed work, and one of his best. Premiered just 17 days following his violent and untimely end in Paris in March 1983, the music inhabits a twilight realm between reality and the imagination, hinting at future directions in which his music might have travelled.