Digital Programmes
Nonclassical: listening to place
Start time: 7.30pm
Approximate running time: 130 mins including a 20-minute interval
Please note all timings are approximate and subject to change
This performance is subject to government guidelines
Reconnect with a world of sound through performances that explore the noises of the environment around us.
In our busy lives it’s easy to subconsciously block out the sounds that surround us. This concert is an opportunity to tune back into our environment, through found sounds, field recordings and more, from artists across the globe. We’ll go on a journey that explores ideas of how culture can influence the way people listen to the world.
Opening the concert, Langham Research Centre will perform A Return to Spatial Futures, which explores one of the group’s favourite themes: brutalist architecture. This 2019 work features an acoustic piano that morphs into electronic tones, while clanging footsteps and snippets of sung or spoken vocals mix with the sounds of concrete, sharp lines, corners and curves and the rough echoes of smooth, hard surfaces. Accompanied by visuals from Photolanguage (a collaboration between artists Nigel Green and Robin Wilson that uses an experimental use of photography, text and found objects), it promises to be particularly fitting for this setting.
Founder of Nonclassical Gabriel Prokofiev’s field recordings will set the scene for London based Nigerian-Romanian pianist Rebeca Omordia’s performances. Prokofiev’s recordings will be played in tandem with French composer Lili Boulanger’s D’un Jardin Clair and queer 20th-century English composer Kaikhosru Sorabji’s ‘In the Hothouse’ from his Two Piano Pieces (composed at the time he lived on the fringe of Regent’s Park), immersing us in each composer’s sense of place.
Sound artist Kate Carr has been investigating the intersections between sound, place, and emotionality since 2010. Making recordings in places as disparate as tiny fishing villages in northern Iceland, a nuclear power plant town, and wildlife in South Africa, she works across composition, installation and live performance.
For listening to place, Carr is sharing a work she’ll make with recordings made at the huge Bricklayers Arms roundabout near her home in Bermondsey, southeast London. ‘I’ve been recording lots of vibrations the roundabout has caused using a geophone [a device that converts ground movement into sound], whether that’s in the structures of buildings nearby or vibrations within trees. I made an album that explored the idea of the rhythms of the roundabout: who’s using it, when, why, and how it connects different parts of London. This set will be derived from those recordings, exploring a sense of this specific roundabout and then expanding from that to look at how we make urban spaces together through the rhythms of activity, which I’m really interested in.
‘The set will use the materials of my trade in a live setting. I’ll have a geophone, which picks up the vibrations from a turntable, plus I have some toy cars that zoom around and vibrate, various instrumental things, drums and so on. I’m trying to bring the tools or field recordings into a live setting in a way that can be transparent to the audience.’
We then take a trip to Morocco, as Omordia plays Nabil Benabdeljalil’s Nocturne No 6, written after the composer’s visit to Imsfrane Cathedral in the Atlas Mountains. Prokofiev again sets the context for us through recordings of Benabdeljalil singing his thanks at being able to trek to the Atlas Mountains after months of lockdown.
Omordia closes the first half with a work by Christian Onyeji inspired by percussion ensembles in the southeast of his native Nigeria, introduced by field recordings from Ogbete Main Market and the Nsukka Roadside in Enugu.
For the second part of the concert, the Ligeti Quartet will join classically-trained musician, DJ, composer and drummer Cedrik Fermont to perform a new work, Ersatz, based on non-European sonic art and sound recordings. The Berlin-based musician says he gets his field recordings from various sources. ‘I travel a lot on tour and always carry my equipment with me in case there’s something that catches my ear. But when I’m in Berlin, I know where to go, for example if I want the sound of a river.’
Fermont used to work in a sound library in his home nation of Belgium, which collected all sorts of music from classical to traditional music from the Solomon Islands. ‘I’ve been exposed to all these types of music that weren’t from the West, and that opens my mind,’ he says. ‘The more I travelled, the more I was exposed to different sounds and instruments. So now I frequently use gongs, and the khaen – which is a mouth organ from northern Thailand and Laos.’
The Ligeti Quartet will also be sharing sounds of the natural world through a variety of works, including ‘Swainson’s Thrush’ from Canadian composer Cassandra Miller’s Warblework. In order raise money to study composition in Europe, Miller sold unwritten bars of music. Warblework was the result: a huge commission from over 60 friends, family, and community members, and help from string quartet Quatuor Bozzini. Each movement is based on a birdsong, revealing incredibly human-like melodies when slowed down. Warblework therefore puts forth something of a poem of the regional sounds from Miller’s home and its forests.
Living in northern Alaska for almost 40 years, John Luther Adams discovered a unique musical world grounded in space, stillness, and elemental forces. Having worked as an environmental activist, the composer made the choice to turn entirely to music in the belief that it can do more than politics to change the world. Adams’s works bring the sense of wonder that we feel outdoors into the concert hall. The Wind in High Places uses harmonies based in the overtone series, slowly changing polyrhythmic textures, and arch forms played extremely quietly to create a still, pastoral ambience.
Finally, Li Yilei will perform a special live set showcasing their unique approach to electronic and found sound. Some of their set is inspired by the ritualistic aspect of tea ceremonies rooted in the Tang Dynasty, using sounds generated from image scanning, live theremin, Claravox, hand-made sound objects, and field recordings from China and the UK. They’ll also perform tracks from their recent lockdown-inspired album 之 / OF.
Ahead of the fascinating performances there’s an opportunity to explore these ideas further through a programme of talks and performances taking over the Barbican foyers, so get ready to tune back into the world of sound that surrounds us.
© James Drury
Start time: 7.30pm
Approximate running time: 130 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
Langham Research Centre x Photolanguage A Return to Spatial Features
Gabriel Prokofiev Field recording of Lili Boulanger's environs
Lili Boulanger II. 'D'un Jardin clair' from Trois Morceaux pour Piano
Ian Rawes Field recording of Kew Gardens Conservatory
Kaikhosru Sorabji I. 'In the Hothouse' from Two Piano Pieces
Kate Carr Bricklayers Arms roundabout, Bermondsey
Nabil Benabdeljalil Recordings of Nabil Benabdeljalil singing
Nabil Benabdeljalil Nocturne No 6, Imsfrane Cathedral in the Middle Atlas
Silas Eziehi/Fourchiefs Media Field recordings from Igboland (Enugu, Delta)
Christian Onyeji Ufie, Igbo dance (III)
Cedrik Fermont x Ligeti Quartet Ersatz (world premiere)
Cassandra Miller 'Swainson's Thrush' from Warblework
John Luther Adams 'Maclaren Summit' and 'Looking Toward Hope' from The Wind in High Places
Li Yilei Boundary Conditions
I: 流沙/ sandstorm
II: 花鸟/ bird song
III: 山石/ mountain and rock
Performers
Langham Research Centre
Photolanguage
Gabriel Prokofiev
Rebeca Omordia
Kate Carr
Ligeti Quartet
Cedrik Fermont
Li Yilei
Free Foyer events
Foyer events
Artist biographies
Langham Research Centre formed in 2003 as producers at BBC Radio 3, based in London’s Langham Place. Taking inspiration from the rich sound of tape, and the personalities and imperfections of tape machines, they wanted to recapture the spirit of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and make BBC programmes featuring our tape experiments. An early example was Gateshead Multi-storey Carpark, entirely made out of the sounds of the infamous carpark from the film, Get Carter. Like an early music group’s use of historic instruments, Langham Research Centre work with vintage equipment to perform 20th century classic electronic repertoire by John Cage, Alvin Lucier and others, particularly repertoire that can only be performed with reel-to-reel tape and other now obsolete devices.
Photolanguage, a collaborative art practice between the artist and photographer Nigel Green, and artist and critic Robin Wilson, was established in 1998. Their work has consistently focused on the remains of modernism within the post-industrial city and its hinterland landscapes, in project sites that have included the cities of Calais, Copenhagen, Gloucester, London, Malmö and Paris. Through the experimental use of photography, text and found objects they engage in a radical documentation of urban and landscape sites.
Often working in the context of regional histories of architecture and land use, they seek to bring to the surface suppressed narratives of identity, to re-evaluate the outmoded, to construct new meaning from the overlooked. Key to their projects is the construction of a particular relationship between the ‘real’ and the ‘represented’. Their works of documentation are often exhibited in-situ, within the same territory in which they were developed. In this way, they aim for their exhibitions to directly engage with local communities and to form unexpected points of convergence between local social, political and historical forces.
Gabriel Prokofiev is a London-based composer, producer, DJ and founder of Nonclassical. Composing music that both embraces and challenges western classical traditions, Gabriel has emerged at the forefront of a new approach to classical music in the UK at the beginning of the 21st century. After completing his musical studies at Birmingham and York Universities, and dissatisfied with the seemingly insular world of contemporary classical music, he developed a parallel music career as a dance, grime, electro and hip-hop producer. This background in dance music combined with his classical roots gives his music a unique and truly contemporary sound. His compositions have been performed at a diverse range of venues, from the Royal Albert Hall and Tchaikovsky Hall, through to East London night-clubs and warehouses.
Nigerian-Romanian pianist Rebeca Omordia is in demand throughout the UK and abroad for her vibrant and exciting virtuosic playing. Alongside her award-winning career as a soloist, Rebeca enjoys a varied creative life as a recording artist, chamber musician and artistic director. She has worked with an array of international musicians, including a three year partnership with world renowned British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, an ongoing partnership with South African double bass virtuoso Leon Bosch and collaborations with cellists Raphael Wallfisch and Joseph Spooner. A pioneer for African classical music, in 2019 Rebeca launched the African Concert Series in London, a series of monthly concerts featuring music by African composers. The series was given recognition in 2021 by joining Wigmore Hall’s Family of Partners.
London based Australian sound artist Kate Carr has been investigating the intersections between sound, place, and emotionality both as an artist and a curator since 2010. During this time, she has ventured from tiny fishing villages in northern Iceland, explored the flooded banks of the Seine in a nuclear power plant town, recorded wildlife in South Africa and in the wetlands of southern Mexico. Field recording is central to her work and the sounds she captures in different surroundings are often woven into her compositions.
Carr regularly performs throughout the UK and Europe, with recent performances taking place at the Tate Modern, Whitechapel Gallery, Cafe Oto, Instants Chavires (Paris) and AB Salon (Brussels). Her work has also been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wire, Pitchfork and Fact Magazine among many others, and has been played on radio stations ranging from various channels of the BBC to independent stations in Estonia. Alongside her work in composition, installation and live performance, she runs the sound art label Flaming Pines.
The Ligeti Quartet have been at the forefront of modern and contemporary music since their formation in 2010. They have established a reputation as one of the UK’s leading ensembles, breaking new ground through innovative programming and championing of some of today’s most exciting composers and artists.
Having played at landmark venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Purcell Room, and Kings Place, they also regularly escape the stage – previous venues include museums, pubs, an IMAX Theatre, a fishing boat, and a cave. In autumn 2018 they took part in a critically acclaimed tour of UK planetariums, in association with Sound UK.
They have commissioned many new works and have collaborated with artists from all types of musical backgrounds including Anna Meredith, Kerry Andrew (Juice Vocal Ensemble), Meilyr Jones, Shabaka Hutchings (Sons of Kemet), Shed 7 and Submotion Orchestra. Their Arts Council England-funded Workout! Project has kept them busy during the lockdowns of 2020-21, workshopping and recording 100 new pieces by composers from around the world.
Cedrik Fermont is a composer and musician working with electroacoustic, noise, electronic, experimental and improvised music. Cedrik is an advocate of innovative electronic music, placing a specific focus on sounds from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Alongside his creative work, Cedrik is also an independent researcher and author focusing on music from Asia and Africa. Notable works include Not Your World Music: Noise In South East Asia, a book written and edited together with Dimitri della Faille, which won the 2017 Golden Nica – Prix Ars Electronica in the Digital Musics & Sound Art category. Cedrik often performs and collaborates with artists from across the world. He is currently involved with several projects such as Axiome, Tasjiil Moujahed, Marie Takahashi & Cedrik Fermont.
Artist and composer Li Yilei is known for their experimental music, live art, and sonically inclined site-specific installations. Li’s practice reflects on an alternative mode of listening, often informed by their sensory processing issues and neuro-divergence. Their unique approach to electronics and found sound makes for thought provoking performances about the politics of listening and the different ways of engaging with sound.
Coming from a family background of artists and spiritual practitioners, Li studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, before attaining a postgraduate in Sound Art from the University of Arts, London in 2020. As a self-taught experimental musician, Li has released EPs and LPs and performed internationally since 2018.
Supported by
Supported by Classical Futures Europe. Classical Futures Europe supports the promotion of emerging talent, new approaches to concert presentation, and the development of new audiences and community participation in classical music, is managed by the European Concert Hall Organisation, and is co-funded by the Creative Programme of the European Union.