Prince of Clouds
To mark Earth Day and a rare visit to the UK of New Zealand violinist Amalia Hall, the United Strings of Europe (USE) present a programme of contemporary works that explore themes of environmental degradation and ecological renewal.
John Luther Adams’ Cancticles celebrate unique attributes of the Arctic sky where the low angle of the sun and heavy ice crystals often produce vivid halos, arcs and sundogs (parhelia). Anna Clyne’s vivid work Prince of Clouds for two solo violins and string ensemble blends the real with the fantastical. Australian composer Matthew Hindon’s powerful work Maralinga looks at the impact and legacy of devastating British nuclear weapons tests on Aboriginal lands in Australia in the 1950s and 60s. Joanna Marsh’s Another Eden (a USE commission), uses the musical structure of a passacaglia to reflect on the gradual erosion of the organic beauty of our world, and to communicate a deeply held wish to recover it.
No-one can pretend that music has answers to the great loss of our current world in terms of biodiversity, or to solve climate change. But music can provide a space to allow tempers to ease, minds to calm, thinking to resume and optimism to flourish.
John Luther Adams Canticles of the Sky i. Sky with Four Suns 5'
Anna Clyne Prince of Clouds 14' ft. Amalia Hall, vln and Julian Azkoul, vln
John Luther Adams ii. Sky with Four Moons 5'
Joanna Marsh Another Eden 14'
John Luther Adams iii. Sky with Nameless Colors 5'
Matthew Hindson Maralinga (UK premiere) 11' ft. Amalia Hall, vln
John Luther Adams iv. Sky with Endless Stars 5'
Run time 60 minutes.
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Listen to Amalia Hall performing Peteris Vasks’s Violin Concerto ‘Distant Light’ with USE in 2019
