Two musicians move around and perform on a stage, following a secret list of performance instructions shared between only them. The rules of the piece instruct them to select different pieces of our rubbish from piles at their feet, and use them to create sounds which are sampled live in the room and replayed through electronics. As the piece progresses, layer upon layer of the sampled sound of rubbish is mixed with their live performance on instruments, resulting in a complex and ultimately overwhelming soundscape which leaves the audience faced with the uncomfortable truth about our disposable culture.
Producer, writer and pioneering electronic musician Matthew Herbert’s London Sinfonietta commission more more more was first performed in the Hayward Gallery in April 2018, and is a comment on endless consumerism. A response to Andreas Gursky’s Untitled XIII (2002) – a fascinating and unnerving photograph of a landfill site in Chimalhuacán, Mexico City, more more more is performed from the contents of rubbish bins collected from public areas around the venue in which it is performed. This fascinating sonic work offers a unique experience of Gursky’s work, capturing the rhythm, colour and complexity of his photographs in music.
The concert begins with a brand new piece by Matthew Herbert, which features electronic looping technology to exploit the full variety of timbre, pitch, and extended techniques possible on a single solo instrument, made even more hypnotically intense by the concentrated pianissimo dynamic.
Alongside, another new piece by Matthew Herbert commissioned for the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica brings the issue of water as a resource to the fore. Co-created with young people from our Sound Out partners, the piece will use the history, scientific research and perhaps even objects from Antarctica as stimulus for developing a new sister work which looks to express their thoughts and ideas about the climate emergency.
Matthew Herbert pianissimo (premiere)
Matthew Herbert (with young musicians from North London) The Melt (premiere)
Matthew Herbert more more more
Torbjörn Hultmark soprano trombone
Oliver Lowe percussion
Matthew Herbert electronics
Tim Gill cello
London Sinfonietta
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Published: 19 Nov 2020
