The New European Ensemble has a reputation to maintain as an initiator of exciting interdisciplinary projects. For this concert performance, the ensemble joins forces with one of the finest writers of our time, Scottish Ali Smith. With her highly urgent, finger-on-the-pulse-of-our-time ‘seasonal quartet’, Smith has in recent years reached an audience of millions. Four female composers were invited to write new works based on these four novels, Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. The NEuE alternates these new pieces with four existing compositions, including the phenomenal String Quartet No. 1, ‘Métamorphoses nocturnes’ by György Ligeti.
Starting in 2016, Ali Smith wrote four novels in five years on contemporary themes from Brexit, migration and populism to generational differences, ecology and feminism. A key role in each novel is reserved for a forgotten female artist. At NEuE’s request, Seung Won Oh, Anita Anna Zaria, Alice Yeung and Sara Zamboni each wrote a new ensemble piece inspired by one of the novels, as well as linking the themes from the novel to existing work by a fellow composer. Author Ali Smith joins the Festival to read excerpts from her work.
For this project, NEuE collaborates with Het Nationale Theater, which alongside this concert plays a series of theatrical productions based on Smith’s novels, directed by Eric de Vroedt.
Programme:
Seung Won Oh – Herfst (world premiere)
Anna Thorvaldsdottir – Spectra
Anita Anna Zaria – Winter (world premiere)
Peter Maxwell Davies – Een Treurpavane voor Deze Afgeleide Tijden
Alice Yeung – Lente (world premiere)
Kinan Azmeh – Over Eenzaamheid
Sara Zamboni – Zomer (world premiere)
György Ligeti – String quartet No. 1, ‘Métamorphoses nocturnes’