From the violin concerto de sol y grana to Postcards, the poetic set of miniatures composed for the Scottish Ensemble, Suckling is particularly adept at writing for strings so a new string quintet for members of the Aurora Orchestra is a particularly exciting prospect. The intimate scale of the commission should also provide a fantastic opportunity for Suckling to explore the nuanced spectral sonorities that have come to typify his work.
The work will showcase Aurora’s two new Principal Cellists, Torun Sæter Stavseng and Sébastien Van Kuijk, and will be premiered alongside poems by Frances Leviston and Schubert’s great String Quintet in C Major D596. This is Suckling’s second commission from the Aurora Orchestra, following Psalm for harp and three spatialised ensembles, a response to writings of Paul Celan and Edmund de Waal.
The premiere at London’s Wellcome Collection will be broadcast on Radio 3 and the Aurora Orchestra is planning a performance at Kings Place in January 2018.