The Triumph of Time
The 大象传媒 Philharmonic and conductor Ludovic Morlot are joined by soprano Elizabeth Atherton to explore our experiences of time.
From the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester
Presented by Tom McKinney
Conductor Ludovic Morlot joins the orchestra for a programme exploring our experiences of time. At the centre of the programme is Dutilleux's 'Le temps l'horloge' (Time, clock); Soprano Elizabeth Atherton joins the 大象传媒 Philharmonic for this, his last important work. Through poetry by Charles Baudelaire, Robert Desnos and Jean Tardieu he explores different facets of our experience; "The other day I listened to time passing in the clock" are the soprano's opening lines. The second poem is a meditation on timelessness beside an ancient artefact, and in the last, Baudelaire advocates getting drunk as a way of escaping time altogether.
A 16th-century Flemish woodcut by Pieter Bruegel the Elder provides inspiration for Harrison Birtwistle's 1971 classic, "The Triumph of Time". At the centre of this allegorical picture, suspended from a tree, is a fascinating early chiming clock accompanied by weighing scales. The inexorable tread of a cortege with Death on a horse and an elephant at the rear are integral to this stunning music.
Betsy Jolas describes her work "A Little Summer Music" as "walking stroll" and it contains a section she calls "knocks and clocks". Ravel's iconic Bol茅ro with its unrelenting side-drum-propelled forward tread invites the orchestra to use time to explore texture and colour before its emphatic conclusion.
Honegger's Pacific 2-3-1 is a picture of a powerful steam locomotive starting, reaching full speed and then reaching its destination. Beyond this, and a famous 1949 French film based on the music, Honegger admitted he was experimenting with time "giving the impression of a mathematical acceleration of rhythm, while the movement itself slowed". And time is certainly of the essence in Dukas's Sorcerer's Apprentice; the sorcerer returns in the nick of time to prevent watery catastrophe.
Honegger: Pacific 2-3-1
Jolas: A Little Summer Suite
Dutilleux: Le temps, l'horloge
Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
8.15 Music Interval (CD)
Birtwistle: Harrison's Clocks - Clock 1 (Joanna MacGregor)
Brahms: Verlorene Jugend (Consortium, Andrew-John Smith)
Beethoven: Piece for Musical Clock WoO.33 - No.2 Scherzo (Hans-Ola Ericsson)
Haydn: Piece for Musical Clock H.19.9 - Minuet (Hans-Ola Ericsson)
Dowland: Time stands still (Ed Lyon, Theatre of the Ayre)
Lassus: In hora ultima (Capella Sancti Michaeli, Currende Consort)
8.30
Birtwistle: The Triumph of Time
Ravel: Bol茅ro
Elizabeth Atherton (soprano)
大象传媒 Philharmonic
Ludovic Morlot (conductor)
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Music Played
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Arthur Honegger
Pacific 231
Orchestra: 大象传媒 Philharmonic. Conductor: Ludovic Morlot. -
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Betsy Jolas
A Little Summer Suite
Orchestra: 大象传媒 Philharmonic. Conductor: Ludovic Morlot. -
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Henri Dutilleux
Le Temps l'horloge
Singer: Elizabeth Atherton. Orchestra: 大象传媒 Philharmonic. Conductor: Ludovic Morlot. -
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Paul Dukas
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Orchestra: 大象传媒 Philharmonic. Orchestra: Ludovic Morlot. -
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Harrison Birtwistle
Harrison's Clocks : Clock 1
Performer: Joanna MacGregor. -
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Johannes Brahms
Verlorene Jugend Op.104 No.4
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Piece for a musical clock No.2
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Joseph Haydn
Minnet
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John Dowland
Time stands still
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Orlande de Lassus
In hora ultima
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Harrison Birtwistle
The Triumph of Time
Orchestra: 大象传媒 Philharmonic. Conductor: Ludovic Morlot. -
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Maurice Ravel
Bolero
Orchestra: 大象传媒 Philharmonic. Conductor: Ludovic Morlot. -
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Morfydd Llwyn Owen
Rhapsody in C sharp minor
Performer: Brian Ellsbury.- Morfydd Owen: Portrait of a Lost Icon.
- T欧 Cerdd.
- 5.
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Morfydd Llwyn Owen
Gweddi y Pechadur
Performer: Brian Ellsbury. Singer: Elin Manahan Thomas.- Ty Cerdd.
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Grace Williams
Suite for 9 Instruments: I. Allegro moderato
Ensemble: London Chamber Ensemble.- Grace Williams: Chamber Music.
- Naxos.
- 301.
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Grace Williams
Suite for 9 Instruments: II. Andantino
Ensemble: London Chamber Ensemble.- Grace Williams: Chamber Music.
- Naxos.
- 302.
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Grace Williams
Suite for 9 Instruments: III. Allegro con brio
Ensemble: London Chamber Ensemble.- Grace Williams: Chamber Music.
- Naxos.
- 303.
Broadcast
- Wed 1 Mar 2023 19:30大象传媒 Radio 3