Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra: Dance Through the Darkness

“…musicians will like to play it, and critics will delight in blasting it”

Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9, completed in 1945, is a surprising and often humorous work, especially given the expectations for a triumphant victory symphony following World War II. Instead of a grand, heroic piece celebrating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, Shostakovich delivered a relatively short, light-hearted symphony with a strong classical influence and elements of satire. It was met with confusion and disappointment by some critics and audiences expecting a monumental work. Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra perform Symphony No.9 tonight in a programme that includes other works that dance on the line between light and dark, hope and despair and the duality of the human experience.

Béla Bartók composed the Dance Suite in 1923 in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the union of the cities Buda and Pest, to form the Hungarian capital Budapest.  Darker America is a 1924 symphonic poem by American composer William Grant Still. This jazz-inspired composition explores themes of sorrow, hope, and prayer, and the Black experience in 1920s USA.

<<rewind<< by Anna Clyne is inspired by the image of analog video tape rapidly scrolling backwards with fleeting moments of skipping, freezing and warping. The original version, for orchestra and tape, was composed in 2005 for choreographer, and Artistic Director of Hysterica Dance Company, Kitty McNamee. A distinct characteristic of McNamee’s work is its striking and innovative use of physical gestures and movements that recur throughout the course of a piece to build and bind its narrative structure. This use of repetitive gestures is utilized in the musical language and structure of <<rewind<<. 

A new work by Trinity Laban student Ben Harlan completes the programme, conducted by Jonathan Tillbrook and Mebh Brereton-Hurley.

Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra 
Jonathan Tilbrook Conductor 
Medb Brereton-Hurley Assistant Conductor 
 
Programme: 
Anna Clyne «rewind« 
William Grant Still Darker America 
Béla Bartók Dance Suite 
— 
Ben Harlan New work (Trinity Laban Student Commission) 
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 9