Beyond the Concert Hall – New contexts for new work

The experience of new music can be enhanced by non-traditional settings argues Cathy Graham
Performing music outside the concert hall is nothing new  it could be said that in the history of music its the concert hall thats the new concept, coming into use as it did in the 18th century. Nor is creating music for a specific space new  Gabrieli was doing this at the beginning of the 17th century in Venice. However, its maybe not so usual today, tied as we have become to performing in venues built specifically for concerts.

The London Sinfonietta has, several times over the past few years, left the comfort zone of its artistic home at the Queen Elizabeth Hall for more challenging settings. The one constant in these musical wanderings has been the inspiration of remarkable contemporary architecture and visual art, which has provided an unusual but compelling and appropriate context for the creation and performance of new musical works.

In 2001, when Tate Modern invited the ensemble to mark its opening, the first sound that was heard was a ringing trumpet triumphantly opening Harrison Birtwistles 17 Tate Riffs, celebrating the opening of this startling conversion from Power Station to Contemporary Art Gallery. Shortly after, curious commuters stepping off the tube at Southwark Underground Station could be seen turning heads to find the source of instrumental riffs which were being relayed through the stations tannoy system in place of the usual mind the gap type announcements. Riding up the escalators, necks craning, they were met by the ensembles brass and woodwind sections filling the blue-glass and concrete-clad upper concourse with sounds unfamiliar but compelling. Two hundred people calmly sat down to enjoy the whole 25-minute performance rather than passing through and sampling a small part of it, as wed expected  and planned for.

More recently, the ensemble transformed the magnificent city atrium of newly opened Plantation Place in Fenchurch Street into a temple of sound. From a hidden second atrium, unseen musicians performed Monteverdi and Gabrieli, the glorious brass sounds filling the space and lifting the spirits in defiance the day after the terrible London July bombings. This was followed by a performance of Varèses Intégrales, the urban soundscape given a new relevance by the silent backdrop behind the musicians of the Friday night city through the buildings glass doors. And more recently still, it delivered the world première performance of a new work commissioned by Lloyds from American composer David Lang and video artist Peter Greenaway on the trading floor of the Lloyds Building, Richard Rogers iconic building in Lime Street. The atrium was transformed by music and gigantic screens reaching halfway to the heavens upon which Peter Greenaway VJd live celebrating the launch of a new exhibition, Lloyds Nelson Collection, on the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar. Weve also performed several times in the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank, and are currently planning our next project there, to perform music by American minimalist composer, Steve Reich, within the forthcoming exhibition of works by American minimalist artist, Dan Flavin.

Two questions may be asked here: Why do this?, and How? Regarding the why, there are many reasons: because new contexts give new meaning; a beautiful architectural space inspires creation; to surprise an unsuspecting public with something they would not venture into a concert hall to hear; to place music at the heart of life rather than segregate it in a temple; to celebrate everyday life through music.

And how? These projects do present practical and financial challenges, from considerable health and safety issues, to where to hang speakers and where to plug in the lit music stands. All of our projects have grown out of partnerships with masses of goodwill and help in kind. Through a partnership with Artwise and Lloyds, Lloyds commissioned its first musical work and took a first huge step in taking an artistic risk, supporting not only the commission and the performance in all its complexity in its Lime Street building, but also producing a DVD of the evening. The Southwark Tube project could only happen through a close collaboration with London Underground. And both performances were enhanced by investment from Arts & Business, allowing us to create projects specially tailored for employees of each company and the children and community around their homes. The concert at Plantation Place could only happen through the vision of the City of London Festival, and help from British Land, Arup and Broadgate Estates; and our Hayward Gallery collaborations are facilitated by the creative and stimulating artistic relationship we have with the South Bank Centre.

Both while listening to the glorious festival of Bachs music on BBC Radio 3 before Christmas, and on a recent visit to St Marks in Venice to pay homage to the extraordinary composers who held positions there, I thought of the original impetus and setting for so much wonderful music of the past. And it strengthened my belief that there are many more occasions and settings in contemporary life that we should be celebrating by commissioning music. Once youve done it, you really want to do it again.

Cathy Graham is Managing Director of London Sinfonietta. t: 020 7928 0828;
w: http://www.londonsinfonietta.org.uk;
e: [email protected]