The technical challenges of presenting new work have increased markedly over the past few years, and show no sign of reducing. Working with living composers on new music can be a stormy business without the right preparation, but Hannah Bujic forecasts spectacular results.
The London Sinfonietta loves a challenge, and as a small-scale ensemble with a track record of working with new technology and multimedia we’ve had our fair share of challenging concerts to produce. From the ensemble’s first performance back in 1968 of John Tavener’s progressive ‘The Whale’ to collaborations combining Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood with the Nazareth Orchestra, the only constant factor over 40 years of performances has been the certainty that nothing will be straightforward. If concert planning can be compared to weather-forecasting, working with new music means never ruling out a hurricane. The key to being able to weather a storm is preparation, preparation and more preparation. For the most part this is down to the concerts team – we produce our events in-house with an experienced stage manager, but rely on bringing in the right specialists for lighting, film or design as each project demands. As part of our commitment to working with new music technology, sound designers Sound Intermedia became Principal Players with the ensemble in 1998. Flexibility and trust play a huge role in brining events to fruition with limited time and budgets, when a full technical run-through can be a luxury.
Working within limitations can achieve great results. London Sinfonietta’s residency at Southbank Centre has generated two of our most challenging and successful multimedia collaborations. Our collaborations with Warp Records as part of the Ether Festival in 2003 and 2004 – since toured worldwide – demanded a slickness of delivery not usually called for in the classical music world: this was a non-stop electronica show with integrated lighting, video and live film. In April the London Sinfonietta reprised its 2007 premiere of Heiner Goebbels’ theatrical masterpiece ‘Songs of Wars I have seen’, in collaboration with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Combining modern and period ensembles turned out to be the tip of the iceberg in a work where musicians are required to multi-task, playing and speaking whilst getting to grips with percussion instruments. Added to this are the challenges of staging (the platform becomes an inter-war parlour with lamps and tables), amplification and a multitude of lighting changes. In putting this together the willingness of the players to step into new roles, as well as expertise from the venue’s technical crew, was invaluable.
One of the great advantages of working with living composers is that a piece can evolve with the ensemble. Theoretically a score should tell you everything you need to know about a piece, but often it doesn’t, and having the composer present means that problems can usually be resolved. In this case, Goebbels worked with musicians from both ensembles to workshop ideas even before the piece was finished. The greatest demand of new music is always the unknown. The repository of expertise among our players is huge, and being able to call on that can go a long way in solving problems that the printed score won’t answer. The end goal is always to create an environment where the music is realised as the composer would like, the musicians can perform to the best of their ability and the music can communicate with the audience. Getting to this point often involves a journey of discovery for everyone, but in a setting where composers, players and producers can collaborate, the outcomes have the chance to be that bit more spectacular.
Hannah Bujic is Concerts & Touring Administrator for London Sinfonietta, a contemporary classical ensemble resident at Southbank Centre with headquarters at Kings Place.
w: {www.londonsinfonietta.org.uk}