鈥淏efore harmony can evolve, the role of music itself must evolve. Otherwise we will simply be replaying an earlier scenario with minor, 鈥渃osmetic鈥� changes in the details.鈥� James Tenney
James Tenney (1934 -2006) and Jos茅 Maceda (1917-2004) were two 20th century composers whose careers sit alongside their pioneering works in music theory and ethnomusicology. In Tenney鈥檚 'Clang', which here receives its European Premiere, players are allowed to choose their own pitches and volumes (displaying the influence of John Cage) to create, in the composer鈥檚 words, "one single modulated sonic event", while in the UK Premiere of 'Diapason', from 1996, he continues his ideas of using a harmonic series as the basis for an entire piece.
Maceda studied and recorded the music of his native Philippines and Southeast Asia throughout his life. He began composing in the 1960s, writing works for Southeast Asian instruments as well as radical works for tape recorders, radio stations, and even groups of thousands of people. 'Distemperament' is from his late period when he began to compose for Western orchestras.
Join the 大象传媒 SSO and its Principal Guest conductor Ilan Volkov as they celebrate two ground-breaking figures who shared an ambition to push the possibilities of what music could be.
Tickets available from Monday 4 December 2017.
There will be one interval in this concert of about 20 minutes.