Canyons strike colourful chord.One of the 20th Century's most spectacular pieces of music gets a rare hearing on Tyneside next Wednesday. The massive Des canyons aux Atoiles ( From the Canyons to the Stars ( by the French composer Olivier Messiaen Olivier Messiaen (IPA: [mɛsjɑ̃]; December 10, 1908 – April 27, 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist. fills the whole programme for the Hall One stage of The Sage Gateshead with Thierry Fischer Thierry Fischer (born 28 September, 1957, Switzerland) is a musical conductor and flautist. Fischer studied flute with Aurèle Nicolet and began his musical career as Principal Flute in Hamburg and at the Zurich Opera, where he studied scores with Nikolaus Harnoncourt. conducting the Northern Sinfonia Northern Sinfonia is a leading chamber orchestra based at The Sage Gateshead and was formed by Michael Hall in 1958 as the first permanent chamber orchestra in Britain. Its current musical director is Thomas Zehetmair. . Messiaen, who was a composer who saw colours in various notes and chords, was inspired by the vivid colours of the deserts and canyons of Utah which he visited in 1972. He was there to follow up a commission to write a work to commemorate the USA's 1976 bicentennial bi·cen·ten·ni·al adj. 1. Happening once every 200 years. 2. Lasting for 200 years. 3. Relating to a 200th anniversary. n. A 200th anniversary or its celebration. Also called bicentenary. , and the strata of the rock formations and the brilliant stars in the desert night sky seemed an appropriate representation of the Stars and Stripes. The work demands plenty of virtuoso playing, particularly from Northern Sinfonia's principal horn-player Peter Francomb and the orchestra's guest pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard. It also needs an extensive percussion section and, among the numerous gongs, drums and a wind machine, the widely-acclaimed Colin Currie will be performing on the xylorimba alongside Richard Benjafield ( professor of percussion at London's Guildhall School of Music ( on glockenspiel. The progression from dawn to dusk with the colours of the layered stone changing constantly proved truly inspirational for Messiaen. But there is life in this desert and it gave Messiaen a chance to indulge himself in his long-held practice of recording, through notation directly on to manuscript paper, the intricate songs of birds native to the region. The concert starts at 7.30pm. THE St Paul's Youth Ensemble, one of the leading string orchestras for young musicians in the North East, are in action this Sunday at the Caedmon Hall in Gateshead. The main work in the concert, which starts at 7.15pm, will be Vivaldi's Four Seasons, with AndrA Swanepoel as the violin soloist. Also on the programme is Finzi's Eclogue eclogue Short, usually pastoral, poem in the form of a dialogue or soliloquy (see pastoral). The eclogue as a pastoral form first appeared in the idylls of Theocritus, was adopted by Virgil, and was revived in the Renaissance by Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. for String Orchestra, a march by Bach and lighter pieces, including The Irish Washerwoman and Harry's Wondrous World by John Williams from the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the latter two being conducted by Peter Richardson. The Ensemble is always on the look-out for more young musicians. Those interested should call (0191) 285 0899. For ticket and booking details of the above concerts see the classical listings on this page. RICHARD YATES |
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