holding, breathing, beating

Amulet : a talisman or charm object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.

Note by Liza Lim

Dark Ground inhabits an imaginary space where a ritual takes place. I see the space as a circle, and within that circle, cyclic patterns and formations are enacted, each leaving a mark on the space, or an echo that resounds beneath what follows.

Everything grows up from a root – the pedal bass drum – a dead sound, with a cycle in a simple yet deceptive 7/8 time signature. The shapes and patterns that grow from the bass drum have directions of their own, but when they stray too far, they lose power and disappear. Like gravity, the bass drum pulls things to the ground.

Note by Tansy Davies

When composing this short work, one of my main preoccupations was a personal clarification of the extremely ambiguous relationship then existing between notation and interpretation in contemporary musical practice. I defined two completely autonomous processes. One – a series of seven highly structured, slowly evolving and expanding commentaries on and around a single pitch (A natural). Two – a group of six fragments, highly contrasted and non-linear in character, to be interpolated between the seven elements of the first category. These six fragments should be in an order selected by the performer. The resulting intersection and sometimes forceful collision of two distinct types of material and formal principle can only be reconciled by the mediatory influence of the individual performer. 

The final sounding result is not precisely definable in advance, arising as it does from the intent of the performer to realise as many of the highly-specific notated actions as possible. The reaction between the instrument, thrust to the limits of its own inherent nature, and the performer has been conceived so as to give rise to a new synthesis in which the traditional concept of 'interpretation' has simultaneously been negated and transcended. 

Note by Brian Ferneyhough

A dedication to violinist Mira Benjamin, for her down-to-earth, no-nonsense gritty focus. Composing this piece was a play of translations: it is a reworking for violin of a computer-made transcription of an un-plugged performance of Kurt Cobain singing Where did you sleep last night (also called In the Pines – a traditional American folk song often attributed to Lead Belly).

Note by Cassandra Miller

winterærc is derived from my piece ærc duos (2016/18), which is itself derived from ærc (2016), for a large number of orchestral string instruments. 'ærc' is the Old English word for ark, derived from the Latin 'arca' – a chest. Here it denotes an enclosed space, of refuge or safety, where intimacy can be expressed: an inward-looking, private music.

Note by James Weeks

Between the leaves – once a generation –
we caught a glimpse of the figure
naive, and scarred across with curved branching shadows
silently stepping wide arches through pathless forest.

We gave chase.
Relentless, exhausted, staggering, we saw it flickering.
We sacrificed it in the hazel grove.

We pulled it back up.
It was all line and shape.

We saw it flickering

We saw it

We saw it flickering
hungry, cold, cut across —

We walked through the forest with it.

Note by Rufus Isabel Elliot

Mira Benjamin

violin

Mira Benjamin is a Canadian violinist, researcher and new-music instigator. She performs new and old music with an experimental outlook, and is interested in how the human body holds and experiences knowledge. After growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Mira spent ten years in Montréal, where she was a member of the Bozzini Quartet. Since 2014 she has resided in the UK, where she performs regularly as a violinist with Apartment House and Plus Minus Ensemble, and is Lecturer in Performance at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Chihiro Ono

viola

Born in Chiba, Japan, Chihiro Ono is a London-based Japanese sound artist and violinist specialising in chamber music, experimental music and sound art. She has performed at major festivals and venues across the UK and worldwide, and regularly works with esteemed experimental and classical ensembles including Ensemble Modern, Apartment House, CHROMA, London Mozart Players, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and more.

Daniel Shao

flute

Daniel Shao is a British-Chinese flautist raised in London. He studied at the Purcell School, Oxford University, and Royal Academy, graduating from both universities with Distinction. He has been invited to perform concertos with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Oxford Philharmonic, and Orchestra of the Swan, and is a Countess of Munster Recital Scheme artist. He is currently an Associate Member of the Philharmonia and has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony, European Union Youth Orchestra and Lucerne Festival Academy.

Sam Walton

percussion

Sam joined the LSO as Co-Principal Percussion in 2012. He has performed with many UK orchestras including the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, the London Sinfonietta and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. As a chamber musician, Sam is a member of the Colin Currie Group, the Colin Currie Quartet and the LSO Percussion Ensemble. He is also Principal Percussion for the John Wilson Orchestra. He has performed on various movie soundtracks including Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and plays in a variety of West End shows. He is percussion tutor for the European Union Youth Orchestra.