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George Benjamin's At First Light in Detroit and Montréal; US Premiere of Dream of the Song "A Marvel of Cool Sensuality"

Sep. 08, 2016

George Benjamin's <em>At First Light</em> in Detroit and Montréal; US Premiere of <em>Dream of the Song</em> "A Marvel of Cool Sensuality"

George Benjamin’s chamber orchestra work At First Light receives performances in Detroit on September 17, presented by Æpex Contemporary Performance, and in Montréal with the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne on September 23.

Benjamin cites the Joseph Mallord William Turner oil painting “Norham Castle, Sunrise” at the Tate Gallery as his inspiration for the piece. The composer explains: 

The 12th-century castle in this picture is silhouetted against a huge, golden sun. What struck me immediately about this beautiful image was the way in which solid objects – fields, cows and the castle itself – virtually appear to have melted under the intense sunlight. It is as if the paint were still wet. Abstractly, this observation has been important to the way I have composed the piece. A ‘solid object’ can be formed as a punctuated, clearly defined musical phrase. This can be ‘melted’ into a flowing, nebulous continuum of sound. There can be all manner of transformations and interactions between these two ways of writing. Equally important, however, this piece is a contemplation of dawn, a celebration of the colours and noises of daybreak.

Earlier this summer, audiences and critics alike were awed by the US premiere of Benjamin’s Dream of the Song at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music. Jeremy Eichler of The Boston Globe wrote that Dream of the Song “glitters and holds the ear,” and Benjamin’s “imagined writing for orchestra is a marvel of cool sensuality.” The work returns to the US in February when the Boston Symphony Orchestra gives a performance under Andris Nelson’s baton, joined by the Lorelei Ensemble and countertenor Bejun Mehta, for whom this work was originally composed and who also sang in the premiere performances of Benjamin's universally acclaimed opera Written on Skin.

For more information on George Benjamin, visit fabermusic.com. 

George Benjamin
At First Light (1982)
for chamber orchestra of 14 players
1(afl.pic).1.1(bcl).1(cbsn)-1.1(pictpt).1.0-perc-pno(cel)-2vn.va.vc.db
20’ 

Dream of the Song (2015)
text (Eng, Sp) by Ibn Gabirol, Samuel HaNagid, and Federico Garcia Lorca with translations by Peter Cole
for countertenor, female chorus and orchestra
2ob-4hn-2perc-2hp-str(12.12.10.8.6)
14' 

Written on Skin (2012)

opera in three parts
text (Eng) by Martin Crimp
for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone and countertenor

3(2.pic, 3.pic & afl).2.2.bcl(cl).cbcl.2(2.cbsn)-4.4(1.ptpt).3.1-4perc-hp-glass harmonica–bass viola da gamba-str
95’

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