“From Scratch” – Composition Commissions issued to Christian Wolff, James Saunders, Michael Parsons and Tim Parkinson

basel sinfonietta

With a program featuring the new works of composers Christian Wolff, James Saunders, Michael Parsons, Jürg Frey and Tim Parkinson the basel sinfonietta is furthering its profile as a body of musicians taking their organizational, program and artistic decisions on the basis of democratic self-determination. In their 31st concert season this self-governing model will once again prove a key, identity-forming characteristic of the orchestra. The structural desire to break down existing hierarchies is also reflected in artistic terms in the works of British composers James Saunders, Michael Parsons and Tim Parkinson as well as in the works of their American colleague Christian Wolff. In their concert music they break down traditional hierarchies between the score, the musicians and the conductor preferring an open approach towards the musical material which is “composed” and arranged afresh at every concert by the orchestra musicians. As seen with the aleatory concepts of the likes of John Cage, here the work only undergoes genesis and completion when it is translated into sound at each actual performance. The classic notion of the work is thereby questioned here. The compositional layout therefore follows on from the basel sinfonietta’s desire for artistic co-determination.

 

November 8th 2011

Basel

 

November 9th 2011

Zurich

 

November 20th 2011

Huddersfield

 

Further Information:

www.baselsinfonietta.ch

 

 

Pfeil