sinf

As well as two concerts during Spirit Garden, the London Sinfonietta will be presenting a performance of works that GCSE students have created, from schools in London and Bolton with the orchestra’s education department.

You can find out more about the processes of these workshops elsewhere in this site.

Oliver Knussen - musical director of the London Sinfonietta and artistic consultant to Spirit Garden - with Toru takemitsu

Photograph by Nigel Luckhurst

PROGRAMME NOTES FOR THE LONDON SINFONIETTA PERFORMANCE AT SPIRIT GARDEN on the 18 October

Tree Line was written in 1988 to mark the twentieth anniversary of the London Sinfonietta.

"The tree line in the title is a row of acacia trees luxuriously growing near the mountain villa which is my workshop. A stroll under the long line of acacia trees lining the slopes always soothes my mind. This work was written as a homage to these graceful yet dauntless trees. The music proceeds like a tapestry,woven around D and Bb in various modes , along with its main line of tonal variation."

Tree Line (12 mins)

"Rain Coming (1982) belongs to a series of works inspired by the common theme of rain. The complete collection, entitled Waterscape, also includes Rain Spell (1982), Garden Rain (1974), Rain Tree (1981) and so on. It was my intention to create a series of works that pass through various metamorphoses aiming at the sea of tonality, just like water which circulates in the universe.

Rain Coming is a variation of colour on the simple figure which appears at the beginning of the piece, played mainly on the alto flute. The work is dedicated to the London Sinfonietta."

Rain Coming (9 mins)

coming soon

Stanza 1 (8 mins)

"While 'S' is an expression of plural form, implicit in the word archipelago, or group of islands, it also happens that 'S' is the first letter in the names of the islands in a beautiful archipelago I have seen: Stockholm, Seattle, and the islands of the Sato Inland Sea of Japan. The name of Aldeburgh's wonderful concert hall, Snape Maltings, also begins with the letter 'S', a mysterious synchronicity.

I mentally sketched the beautiful scenes of each island until gradually a clear musical theme took shape. In this work the islands, while existing individually apart from each other, attempt to form a whole. I wanted to create a place wherein the islands' calling out to each other across the great distances separating them could be experienced as a metaphor for the universe. Thus, the orchestra is divided into five groups dispersed about the hall."

Disposition of instruments:

A oboe,violin, viola, cello, double bass, harp, percussion.

B horn 1, horn 2, trumpet, trombone 1, trombone 2.

C flute, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, celeste, percussion.

D clarinet.

E clarinet.

Archipelago S (14 mins)

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	Oliver Knussen - musical director of the London Sinfonietta and artistic consultant to Spirit Garden - with Toru takemitsu Photograph by Nigel Luckhurst
PROGRAMME NOTES FOR THE LONDON SINFONIETTA PERFORMANCE AT SPIRIT GARDEN on the 18 October
Tree Line was written in 1988 to mark the twentieth anniversary of the London Sinfonietta. "The tree line in the title is a row of acacia trees luxuriously growing near the mountain villa which is my workshop. A stroll under the long line of acacia trees lining the slopes always soothes my mind. This work was written as a homage to these graceful yet dauntless trees. The music proceeds like a tapestry,woven around D and Bb in various modes , along with its main line of tonal variation."	Tree Line (12 mins)
"Rain Coming (1982) belongs to a series of works inspired by the common theme of rain. The complete collection, entitled Waterscape, also includes Rain Spell (1982), Garden Rain (1974), Rain Tree (1981) and so on. It was my intention to create a series of works that pass through various metamorphoses aiming at the sea of tonality, just like water which circulates in the universe. Rain Coming is a variation of colour on the simple figure which appears at the beginning of the piece, played mainly on the alto flute. The work is dedicated to the London Sinfonietta."	Rain Coming (9 mins)
coming soon	Stanza 1 (8 mins)
"While 'S' is an expression of plural form, implicit in the word archipelago, or group of islands, it also happens that 'S' is the first letter in the names of the islands in a beautiful archipelago I have seen: Stockholm, Seattle, and the islands of the Sato Inland Sea of Japan. The name of Aldeburgh's wonderful concert hall, Snape Maltings, also begins with the letter 'S', a mysterious synchronicity. I mentally sketched the beautiful scenes of each island until gradually a clear musical theme took shape. In this work the islands, while existing individually apart from each other, attempt to form a whole. I wanted to create a place wherein the islands' calling out to each other across the great distances separating them could be experienced as a metaphor for the universe. Thus, the orchestra is divided into five groups dispersed about the hall." Disposition of instruments: A oboe,violin, viola, cello, double bass, harp, percussion. B horn 1, horn 2, trumpet, trombone 1, trombone 2. C flute, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, celeste, percussion. D clarinet. E clarinet.	Archipelago S (14 mins)