On 17 March the London Sinfonietta gave the first performance of a major new work for ensemble and live electronics by Jonathan Harvey, in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. It received its continental premiere at Ars Musica in Brussels on 21 March, at the closing concert of this year’s festival. The composer writes:
Entitled Two Interludes for an Opera, the first performances of these two interludes for an as-yet-unwritten opera is a unique opportunity to hear the results of several research sessions with the London Sinfonietta and electronics. The work centres on live treatment and complex spatialisation of the sounds from 22 musicians, and must be heard in live performance. The concept of mobile music, with precisely structured location and energy in space – ‘music evolves from the ground and gains its wings’ says the composer – is a radically new one deriving from the recent increase in computing speed and power. The live electronic treatment of 22 musicians individually is in itself something that has rarely, if ever, been attempted before.