On 8 December the ancient interior of Winchester Cathedral will resound with new music as Fortune’s Wheel, a major new work by David Matthews receives its world premiere. The 15-minute piece for chorus and small orchestra will be performed by the Waynflete Singers and Aurora Orchestra.
The piece uses a Latin text by Boethius which reflects on the inevitability of change in human existence as Matthews explains:
‘The text of Fortune's Wheel is taken from Boethius’s De consolatione philosophiae, [and is] a dialogue between himself and Lady Philosophy on the contrast between transitory and eternal things. The passage I have chosen gives examples of how change can so easily undermine stability (the rising sun obscures the stars, a gale destroys spring flowers, a storm disturbs a calm sea) and ends by affirming that change must be accepted in all human life.’ (David Matthews)