Manchester Collective & Ruby Hughes: This Savage Parade

About

Thursday 16 June | 2022 | 7.30pm
Djanogly Recital Hall, Lakeside Arts
£20

Our lives as we know them hang by a thread.

In a world that is often shocking and counterintuitive, sometimes all we can do is turn to art for answers. If we're lucky, we might just find them. As Rimbaud writes in the very first line of Britten's sparkling song-cycle 'Les Illuminations': "I alone have the key to this savage parade". But perceptions can be deceiving.

This show is lighter than air – presenting a set of ethereal music for voice and string orchestra that will transport listeners to another world, a world of incredible fragility and exquisite beauty.

To help in the telling of these tales, Lakeside Arts are joined by two of their closest musical friends and collaborators, soprano Ruby Hughes and composer Edmund Finnis. In Ed's latest commission for Manchester Collective, he turns his attention to the written word, setting six poems by the British poet Alice Oswald – poems about light, and nature, and time.

Alongside these twin song cycles, the Collective will bring to life Olli Mustonen's exuberant Nonet No. 2. This is music full of life, bounce, and vigour – soaring melodies and earthy harmonies. In a volatile world, sometimes you just need a good tune to hang on to.

1 hour 30 minutes, including interval

Barbara Strozzi Che si può fare
Edmund Finnis New Work – World Premiere
Olli Mustonen Nonet No. 2
Benjamin Britten Les Illuminations