There will be intriguing musical opportunity to experience at Birmingham University this Sunday (13th November) thanks to composer Stephen Roberts.
Angels and Demons
He will be leading the Birmingham Symphonic Brass ensemble in performances of works by Giovanni Gabrieli, Handel, Fred Coots and Sy Oliver at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts (starting 3.00pm), with the musical centre-piece a performance of the rarely heard sextet 'Angels' by American composer Carl Ruggles.
The work was written in 1921 for six muted trumpets, but later rescored for four trumpets and two trombones. It is regarded as something of a landmark composition.
Companion
Stephen has now written his own companion piece to it, entitled 'Demons' which will receive its world premiere at the concert, and as he told 4BR it is a work that highlights the same intensity of atonal contrapuntal style that Ruggles famously explored.
"'Angels' is a fascinating work — compact, concise and almost forensically constructed. It has a very peculiar beauty in its muted radiance,"he said.
"Ruggles was also a fascinating individual — giving up composing in later life to devote his energies to painting. His works are notable for their intensity and painstaking craftsmanship."
666
Stephen stated that his own work is something of a counterpoint — not just in its subject matter but also in its own construction. "'Demons' is also written for a sextet of horn, two tenor trombones, two bass trombones and tuba — giving a much lower, sombre sound palette from 'Angels'.
It's based on the number 666, mathematically derived from the tone row as used by Alban Berg and Ruggles himself, so it also took quite a bit of working out to get right. I hope people will enjoy them both!"
Angels perormance
You can hear a performance of 'Angels' here:
