LONDON SINFONIETTA & MARIUS NESET
Fusing maximalist jazz with lush orchestration
Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Marius Neset has spent the last two decades reimagining the sound palette of contemporary jazz.
Known for his ecstatic compositional style, the Norwegian saxophonist takes a defiantly maximalist approach, placing his spontaneous horn playing alongside lush orchestral arrangements. In this concert, his relentless improvisations are accompanied by the pulse and precision of the London Sinfonietta.
Now celebrating nearly a decade of collaboration, Neset and the London Sinfonietta first worked together in 2016, unleashing the dizzying orchestral sprawls Arches of Nature and Snowmelt. Calling on the illusory effect of prog-rock repetition, as well as the freewheeling harmonic changes of jazz, these pieces distort the perceived boundaries between control and chaos, observing them as one entity.
"An exciting journey of truly volcanic energy and intensity." - BBC (BBC Prom performance of Geyser 2022)
Neset’s saxophone serves as a waypoint. At its most tender, it can be an anchor, pulling him into the lush arrangements built up by the London Sinfonietta. But he also uses his instrument as a point of no return. His blistering melodic lines filibuster towards freedom, escaping the contained worlds constructed in his scores.
This concert also features a new multimedia piece by emerging composer Ashkan Layegh. At the heart of Layegh’s work is a sense of self-reflexivity - exploring how music and imagery can turn inward to examine themselves and their own artifice. Ephemerality and Recurrence brings together three quartets: a string quartet from the London Sinfonietta, Layegh’s Phemo Quartet (alto saxophone, piano, electric bass, and drums), and a quartet of visuals, illustrations, texts, and process notes projected on screen. The piece looks at how these three layers connect, contrast, and come together as one.
Programme includes:
Ashkan Layegh Ephemerality and Recurrence - LS commission, world premiere
Marius Neset Changes - LS commission, world premiere
Marius Neset saxophones
Anton Eger drums
Sam Norris alto saxophone
Goncalo Maia Caetano electric bass
Harry Ling drums
Ashkan Layegh piano
London Sinfonietta
Harvey Cullis photography
Amirhossein Asadi illustrator
This was music intended to be experienced in one enormous sweep of wildly contrasting sounds. Planet Hugill - on London Sinfonietta & Marius Neset 2023
Life is full of changes. From the tiniest and nearly unseen, to the huge and overwhelming. There’s the deliberating, the good, and the scary and intimidating ones. To me music is a deeper form of communication, and when I am composing, the music follows the life and the world that we live in. These times are weird, big global changes are happening, and lots of people are feeling insecure and confused. Changes is a musical piece that is inspired by all these changes that happens in life. How things look today, might change tomorrow. Marius Neset
This is part of the EFG London Jazz Festival.
This event is produced by the London Sinfonietta. The work of the London Sinfonietta is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
London Sinfonietta & Marius Neset is kindly supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation and the John Ellerman Foundation.
London Sinfonietta & Marius Neset is performed with the friendly support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.
Writing the Future 5 is kindly supported by Jerwood Foundation, the PRS Foundation, Thriplow Charitable Trust and Michael and Patricia McLaren-Turner.
Marius Neset's new work Changes is kindly supported by Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at The London Community Foundation.
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From £17