2 mins
PREMIERE of the MONTH
MAN OF THE AUER: Italian violinist Giuseppe Gibboni perfoms on the 1699 ‘Auer, Benvenuti’ Stradivari violin, recently loaned to him from a German foundation. The 21-year-old won the 2021 Premio Paganini competition, becoming the first Italian in 24 years to take the first prize. Gibboni called the violin ‘an extraordinary instrument for its sound but also for its aesthetic beauty. Every day I play it, I discover and learn new things.’ The loan was facilitated by German company Alago Art & Strings in cooperation with the Stauffer Center for Strings in Cremona, Italy. Photo: Roberto Ricci/Teatro Regio Parma
Living dead
When ancient forms are brought back to life
COMPOSER Laurence Osborn
WORK TOMB!
ARTISTS 12 Ensemble, GBSR Duo
DATE 19 May 2023
PLACE St Andrew’s & Blackfriars’ Hall, Norwich, UK bit.ly/3mXeAwi
Bringing necromancy to Baroque gigues, British composer Laurence Osborn’s new work TOMB! reanimates dead musical forms in a contemporary light. The 20-minute one-movement piece was written for the 12 Ensemble and GBSR Duo, made up of percussion and piano. ‘They’re all extraordinary in their own right, so it became a concerto for 14 people,’ says Osborn. The work is a co-commission by the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Kings Place and the Cheltenham Festival.
Osborn took inspiration from the tombeau, a compositional style that channels deceased artistic voices. In his piece, he ‘excavates old forms, such as gigues and passacaglias, and draws attention to the fact that they’re dead’. The idea of reanimation was also important: ‘I wanted to create music that was lurching, like Frankenstein’s monster being jolted to life.’
The work can be divided into three parts. It begins with a passacaglia, the theme of which is manipulated through the piece.
Laurence Osborn
12 Ensemble
OSBORN PHOTO CHLOE WICKS. 12 ENSEMBLE PHOTO MATTIAS BJÖRKLUND
Meter changes slowly distort the rhythm to create a triplet pace, bringing about a gigue played by three violas. The rhythm further distorts to introduce the second section, also a gigue. Here, Osborn superimposes rhythmically contrasting lines passed around the strings. Harmonies are created in such a way that tonal chords sound atonal, owing to being played in rapid succession. The third section begins with what Osborn describes as a ‘clock’ played by pizzicato strings, accompanied by Monteverdi-inspired runs in the violins. It winds down to a general pause, which is followed by a chorale, concertante and fugue. Throughout the work, he aims to make things sound both ‘alien and recognisable at the same time’.
Regarding writing for strings, Osborn says: ‘It’s like having one enormous, very versatile keyboard instrument. You’ve got the range but with five times the sonic flexibility. I had a lot of fun working with the potential of strings as an ensemble rather than just solo instruments.’