Digital Programmes
Up for Grabs
Start time: 7.30pm
Approximate running time: 120 mins including a 20 minute interval
Please note all timings are approximate and subject to change.
This performance is subject to government guidelines
Celebrating Arsenal's historic win over Liverpool to win the Football League on the final day of the 1988/89 season, Up for Grabs combines Mark-Anthony Turnage's twin loves of music and football.
'I've had real fun with this,' says the composer, who used to live so close to Arsenal's stadium he could be from home to his seat in minutes. 'I enjoyed it probably more than anything else I've ever done, which is a bit of a funny admission.'
The 25-minute score accompanies a film of highlights from the match – regarded as one of the most exciting in English football history. And although it's named after a famous quote from commentator Brian Moore when Arsenal's Michael Thomas scored the equaliser ('Thomas, charging through the midfield! Thomas! … It's up for grabs now!'), you won't hear any commentary in the piece. Turnage felt that would 'change the dynamic of the piece'. However, it does include crowd noises. 'The idea is that the music is not just simply treading water, it's foreground,' says the renowned composer. 'And that's much more possible when you haven't got any dialogue because you're not having to worry about going underneath it.' Instead, Up for Grabs replaces the commentary to tell the story of the game through music. With a jazz trio underpinning the symphonic orchestra textures and drama, it's not a literal narrative. Capturing the highs and lows of the game, it also stands alone as a work you can listen to without the footage.
Turnage's starting point was to write refrains by taking letters in players' names and corresponding them to the letter-names given to the notes of the musical scale. That was the 'raw material'. Then, there are moments that follow the action of the ball, such as the rising and falling of the clarinet as the ball loops up and down. But Turnage didn't want to follow that too closely 'because then it just becomes film music'.
'There are times when the match is quite frenetic, and I slow the music down, like a counterpoint. What I was keen to do with this piece was make sure it had some sort of substance. So there are interesting rhythmic things happening, and I had real fun when a free-kick goes wrong.'
As a lifelong Arsenal fan, he was unable to resist the opportunity to tease the then-Liverpool manager. 'When you see Kenny Dalglish on screen, I've written really jokey music, like Laurel and Hardy, which I had so much fun with. If he's got a sense of humour, not that he will ever see it, then I hope he might find it quite funny.'
While this is Turnage's most overt homage to football, it's not the first time he's referenced his passion through music. His award-winning 2000 opera The Silver Tassie (based on a play by Sean O'Casey) is named after the football trophy won by the lead character before he sustains terrible injuries during the First World War. And the 1991 work Momentum quotes the ‘Olé, Olé, Olé’ chant.
Up for Grabs is dedicated to fan-favourite player David Rocastle, who died of cancer aged 33. The score opens with an orchestral version of his terrace chant, while his theme has a lyrical, jazzy quality that returns numerous times during the score. The music was commissioned by the Barbican, originally to be performed during the UEFA European Championships in the summer of 2020 but now premiered in the year of the 20th anniversary of Rocastle’s passing.
Tonight's premiere with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under conductor Ryan Bancroft features a jazz trio of stars: guitarist John Parricelli (Loose Tubes), drummer Peter Erskine (Weather Report) and bass guitarist Laurence Cottle. Turnage and Erskine are long-time collaborators, first working together on the composer's Blood on the Floor (1996); the composer even named a concerto for drum kit and orchestra after the drummer. It's this ability to absorb jazz elements into a contemporary classical style that's among the reasons why Turnage has such a broad appeal.
'I always want to do something different,' is how he once described his approach to writing music. And he's certainly made a career of that.
© James Drury
Russian composer Dmitry Shostakovich – a lifelong supporter of his local football club, FC Zenit – wrote his Festive Overture in 1954. It's an energetic curtain-raiser, first performed at the famous Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
The Firebird was the first ballet co-created by visionary composer Igor Stravinsky and the ambitious impresario Sergey Diaghilev. The story is a magical fairy tale which delighted Paris at its premiere in 1910, evoking the then fashionable ‘exoticism’ of Russia and the East. It was so popular that Stravinsky revised it into the standalone orchestral work we hear tonight.
© Patrick Reardon-Morgan
Co-produced by the Barbican and BBC Symphony Orchestra
Start time: 7.30pm
Approximate running time: 120 mins including a 20 minute interval
Please note all timings are approximate and subject to change.
This performance is subject to government guidelines
Programme and performers
Programme
Dmitri Shostakovich Festive Overture
Igor Stravinsky Firebird Suite (1919)
1. Introduction – The Firebird and its dance – The Firebird's variation
2. The Princesses' Khorovod (Rondo, round dance)
3. Infernal dance of King Kashchei
4. Berceuse (Lullaby)
5. Finale
Mark-Anthony Turnage Up for Grabs (world premiere)
Performers
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Ryan Bancroft conductor
John Parricelli guitar
Peter Erskine drums
Laurence Cottle bass guitar
Amy Lawrence presenter
Mark-Anthony Turnage panellists
George Graham
Lee Dixon
Alan Smith
Nigel Winterburn
Artist biographies
The BBC SO has been at the heart of British musical life since it was founded in 1930. It plays a central role in the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, performing at the First and Last Night each year in addition to regular appearances throughout the Proms season with the world’s leading conductors and soloists.
The BBC SO performs an annual season of concerts at the Barbican in London where it is Associate Orchestra. Its commitment to contemporary music is demonstrated by a range of premieres each season, as well as Total Immersion days devoted to specific composers or themes.
In addition to frequent performances with Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo and Principal Guest Conductor Dalia Stasevska, the BBC SO works regularly with Semyon Bychkov, holder of the Günter Wand Conducting Chair, Conductor Laureate Sir Andrew Davis and Creative Artist in Association Jules Buckley.
The vast majority of performances are broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and a number of studio recordings each season are free to attend. These often feature up-and-coming new talent including members of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme. All broadcasts are available for 30 days on BBC Sounds and the BBC SO can also be seen on BBC TV and BBC iPlayer and heard on the BBC’s online archive, Experience Classical.
The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Singers and BBC Proms offer enjoyable and innovative education and community activities and take a leading role in the BBC Ten Pieces and BBC Young Composer programmes.
Ryan Bancroft grew up in Los Angeles and first came to international attention in April 2018 when he won both First Prize and Audience Prize at the prestigious Malko Competition for Young Conductors in Copenhagen. In September 2019 Bancroft was appointed Principal Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, beginning in the 20-21 season. Following his first visit to work with the Tapiola Sinfonietta in Finland Bancroft was invited to become their Artist in Association from the 21-22 season. Since winning the Malko Competition Bancroft has made debuts with international orchestras all over the world.
Bancroft has a passion for contemporary music and has performed with Amsterdam’s Nieuw Ensemble, assisted Pierre Boulez, premiered works by Sofia Gubaidulina, John Cage, James Tenney, Anne LeBaron, and has worked with improvisers including Wadada Leo Smith and Charlie Haden. In the 21-22 season he will make his debut with the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris.
Bancroft studied trumpet at the California Institute of the Arts, alongside additional studies in harp, flute, cello, and Ghanaian music and dance, going on to receive an MMus in orchestral conducting from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, during which time he played trumpet with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He continued his conducting studies in the Netherlands, graduating from the prestigious Nationale Master Orkestdirectie. As a student, his main mentors were Edward Carroll, Kenneth Montgomery, Ed Spanjaard and Jac van Steen.
John Parricelli began playing guitar professionally in the mid-80s. He was a founder member of the acclaimed British big band Loose Tubes, recording three albums and touring throughout the world. Since then he has been active as a jazz musician, a studio player and a composer. He has toured and recorded with numerous artists in contemporary jazz, including Kenny Wheeler, Charlie Haden, Peter Erskine, Lars Danielsson, Paul Motian, Andy Sheppard, Norma Winstone, Iain Ballamy, Lee Konitz and Mark Lockheart as well as many others. He has performed Mark Anthony Turnage’s Blood on the Floor throughout Europe and the USA, and Anna Nicole at its premiere at the Royal Opera House in London.
Parricelli is much in demand for work outside jazz, recording with Annie Lennox, Goldfrapp, Rumer, Robbie Williams, Judy Tzuke, Shara Nelson, Thomas Dolby, Katie Melua, Chris Difford and Mike Oldfield among others. He has also worked on hundreds of film scores, including Skyfall, The Constant Gardener, Lord of the Rings, Shakespeare in Love, The Hunger Games, The Fantastic Mister Fox and Finding Neverland.
Peter Erskine has played the drums since the age of 4 and is known for his versatility and love of working in different musical contexts. He appears on 700 albums and film scores, and has won 2 Grammy Awards plus an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee School of Music. Fifty albums have been released under his own name or as co-leader. He has played with Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson, Weather Report, Steps Ahead, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Diana Krall, Kenny Wheeler, The Brecker Brothers, The Yellowjackets, Pat Metheny & Gary Burton, John Scofield, and has appeared as a soloist with the London, Chicago, BBC Symphony, Bochum, Tokyo Metropolitan, Yomiuri Nippon, Oslo and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras. He premiered Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Erskine — Concerto for Drumset & Orchestra with the Beethoven Orchester Bonn and performed it at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Peter graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and studied at Indiana University. Peter is the author of No Beethoven — an autobiography and chronicle of the band Weather Report. He is a Professor of Practice at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, and conducts masterclasses worldwide.
petererskine.com
Laurence Cottle has played jazz with the likes of Al Jarreau, Stanley Jordan and the Buddy Rich big band and rocked with Black Sabbath, Ian Gillan, Cozy Powell and Ginger Baker. A consummate performer and studio musician, he has recorded several albums under his own name and has led his own Big Band since 1998, a remarkable and varied career defined by his innate versatility. The bassist of choice for many, Laurence has also recorded with Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Gary Moore, Brian Eno, Mike Oldfield and Procol Harum.
Laurence is the bass player with Bill Bruford’s Earthworks and Pee Wee Ellis’s Funk Assembly, and a regular part of Ronnie Scott’s All Stars, his jazz credentials are impressive, including work with the likes of Jim Mullen, Django Bates, Gary Husband, Jason Rebello and Tim Garland.
Laurence is a Jazz Bass Professor at the Guildhall School of Music in London and was awarded Honorary Associateship of the Royal Academy of Musicians in 2019.
