Thomas Adès multimedia concerto
The English composer Thomas Adès, was born on March 1, 1971, and he studied music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and also at Cambridge University. He has become quite well known as a conductor and pianist, and he often performs solo and chamber recitals with other well-known groups, including the Belcea Quartet and the tenor Ian Bostridge.
Mr. Adès is also an award-winning composer. His orchestral works include “Asyla”, composed in 1997, which won the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in 2000, and “Tevot” (composed in 2007). His compositions have a distinctive style that feature interesting rhythms, as well as attention-getting percussion solos. He has also composed chamber music, a piano quintet and string quartet, a violin concerto, pieces for piano solo and two operas.
In 2008, Thomas Ades collaborated with Tal Rosner to create a piano concerto with video called “In Seven Days.” The piece was performed January 6-8, 2011 by the New York Philharmonic, with Ades as soloist and music director Alan Gilbert conducting.
The review in the New York Times said: “This riveting, restless and kaleidoscopically colorful 30-minute orchestra piece, written in 2008, incorporates projected videos by Tal Rosner to illustrate the Genesis story through music and imagery.” The composition was commissioned by The Southbank Centre, London, and by the the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.
As such, “In Seven Days” is a multi-media piece for piano, orchestra and six video screens. The composition follows the Genesis story of creation. The visuals in the piece are the result of an in-depth documentation of the recent renewal of the Royal Festival Hall in London, combined with footage and photographs of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (the two places equally responsible for the work’s commission). The original pictures are combined into abstractions that introduce new visual forms.
The piece is constructed of 7 movements, which are played continuously:
1. Chaos – Light – Dark.
2. Separation of the waters into sea and sky.
3. Land – Grass – Trees.
4. Stars – Sun – Moon.
FUGUE: 5. Creatures of sea and sky – 6. Creatures of the land.
7. Contemplation.
The World Premiere: 28 April 2008/Conducted by Thomas Adès with the London Sinfonietta and Nicolas Hodges (Piano), at the Royal Festival Hall, London.
A brief video is available HERE:
Tags: Thomas Adès, Tal Rosner, “In Seven Days”