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Proms at... Wilton's Music Hall

Sian Edwards conducts the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in music by John Luther Adams, Peter Maxwell Davies, Handel, Messiaen and Rebecca Saunders.

Sian Edwards conducts the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in music by John Luther Adams, Peter Maxwell Davies, Handel. Messiaen and Rebecca Saunders.

Presented by Tom Service from Wilton's Music Hall in East London

John Luther Adams: songbirdsongs (excerpts)
Olivier Messiaen: Le merle noir
Handel: Augelletti, che cantate (Rinaldo)
Rebecca Saunders: Molly's Song 3
Peter Maxwell Davies: Eight Songs for a Mad King

Jennifer France (soprano
Marcus Farnsworth (baritone)
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
Sian Edwards (conductor)

Dating from the mid-19th century, Wilton's is the world's oldest surviving music hall. With its tumbledown beauty and colourful history, it's the perfect space for a staged performance of Peter Maxwell Davies's Eight Songs for a Mad King - a dramatic monologue exploring the crazed fantasies and crumbling visions of George III.
The fluttering and chattering of the king's pet bullfinches which run through the work find an echo in bird-inspired pieces by Messiaen and Handel, as well as Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer John Luther Adams.
Sian Edwards conducts the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, with exciting young British soloists Jennifer France and Marcus Farnsworth.

1 hour, 30 minutes

Last on

Boxing Day 2017 21:40

Music Played

  • John Luther Adams

    songbirdsongs: No.2 Morningfieldsong

    Ensemble: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Conductor: Sian Edwards.
  • John Luther Adams

    songbirdsongs: No.1 Wood thrush

    Ensemble: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Conductor: Sian Edwards.
  • Olivier Messiaen

    Le merle noir

    Orchestra: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Conductor: Sian Edwards.
  • Rebecca Saunders

    Molly's Song 3 - Shades Of Crimson

    Ensemble: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Conductor: Sian Edwards.
  • Unknown

    Mad Maudlin's Search for Her Tom O'Bedlam (Proms 2017)

    Ensemble: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Conductor: Sian Edwards.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Rinaldo – 'Augelletti, che cantate'

    Performer: Jennifer France. Orchestra: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Conductor: Sian Edwards.
  • John Luther Adams

    songbirdsongs: No.3 Meadowdance

    Ensemble: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Conductor: Sian Edwards.
  • Peter Maxwell Davies

    Eight Songs for a Mad King

    Performer: Marcus Farnsworth. Orchestra: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Conductor: Sian Edwards.
  • Post-concert

    • Dmitry Shostakovich

      The Counterplan, Op 33 (Nos 1 and 2)

      Conductor: Riccardo Chailly. Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
      • Decca.

Broadcasts

  • Sat 2 Sep 2017 15:00
  • Boxing Day 2017 21:40