Aldeburgh Music

Ensemble Intercontemporain
Pierre Boulez conductor
Claire Booth soprano

Varèse Octandre
Ligeti Chamber Concerto
Elliott Carter What are Years (world premiere)
Pierre Boulez Dérive 2

Boulez once said of Varèse that he ‘rejected the classical (academic) conception of the orchestra and of tonality’, and indeed Octandre uses new and original ensemble textures that would answer the specific rhythmic demands of his music.

Ligeti’s Chamber Concerto achieves a similar rhythmic agility, and his trademark ‘micropolyphonic’ collage of musical spaces, through a conservative scoring of string quintet plus winds and keyboard instruments.

Framed between these two landmarks of 20th-century music, Pierre Boulez’s own Dérive 2, a work-in-progress that has been performed in various stages of development, and affords almost a through-composed commentary on the state of music, written by its grand seigneur. From 101-year old Elliott Carter, a world premiere that encapsulates the quintessence of today’s music.

Altogether, a very personal, a very musical encounter with four of modern music’s greatest composers, brought by unarguably the best-qualified advocates, Ensemble Intercontemporain – an unmissable Festival highlight!

What are Years is an Aldeburgh co-commission with Lucerne Festival and Tanglewood

With generous support from the Association Genevoise pour la Promotion des Arts Lyriques