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World Premiere of Keaton Henson's Six Lethargies

Oct. 01, 2018

World Premiere of Keaton Henson's <em>Six Lethargies</em>

On July 20, the Britten Sinfonia, led by Mark Knoop, presented the world premiere of Keaton Henson's Six Lethargies at Barbican Hall in London.  The work was is the culmination of over three years of intensive work from musician, artist, and composer Keaton Henson.

Six Lethargies is an evening of music composed around, and from within, the issues of mental illness and human emotion, and it aims to express and explain the feelings of anxiety and depression through six connected movements for string orchestra. As well as using pure introspective composition, Keaton met with neuroscientists, music theorists and biofeedback specialists to bring an immersive installation element to the performance, which aims to ask the simple question; “If I write how it feels to me, will it make you feel the same?"

To heighten and illuminate this question, a portion of the audience underwent in vivo biofeedback monitoring, and their anxiety and other levels controlled the lighting of the show in real time. As a performer known for his inability to perform live, Keaton Henson's, in Six Lethargies, hands his story over to the orchestra, allowing them to be his voice, and explain the very reason for his absence, as well as providing an evening of human connection, empathetic insight, and music doing what it does best, making us feel. Tristan Gatward of Loud and Quiet notes, 'Six Lethargies’ might not be the piece to contain the answers, but the questions it asks of music’s capabilities within mental health has started the discourse down a fascinating path." Six Lethargies will next be performed at the Sydney Opera House in May 2019, as part of Vivid LIVE.

Please listen to Keaton Henson's Romantic Works (2014):


(Romantic Works/Keaton Henson/Ren Ford, cello)

Six Lethargies (2018)
for string orchestra
str(10.8.8.7.4)
75'
Co-commissioned by the Barbican Centre, London and Sydney Opera House for Vivid LIVE

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