Oliver’s Leith’s Garland, an hour-long processional work for soprano, vocal consort, mixed choir, and orchestra - one of the composer’s largest-scale statements to date – returned to London’s Bold Tendencies for two sold-out performances on 12 and 13 June, following a critically-acclaimed debut in September 2025.
On a second hearing, the contours of the music came to the fore, strange and luminous. This confirmed Leith as a composer to follow closely.
The Observer (Fiona Maddocks) 21 June 2026
Garland is a spectacular procession of sound, music, and singing, using an atypical orchestra of 32 string and 16 brass players, plus percussion, semi-chorus, and massed voices. Leith imagines “a busy village, observed like an exhibition, tiny repetitive activities everywhere”, the uncanny atmosphere pivoting between “fear and beauty”.
The enigmatic ritual eventually coalesces around soprano Patricia Auchterlonie – “either screaming or soaring above the procession”. The community, Leith notes, “are all trying to make something happen together, a murmuring spectacle, geared towards moving themselves.” Leith discusses Garland in The Times with Richard Morrison here.
As in previous works by Leith ordinary and mundane objects – bottles, shopping trolleys, lengths of scaffolding, chains – are transformed into musical ones, to uncanny, enchanting effect. This process is the culmination of Leith’s fascination with rediscovering everyday objects and drawing out their inner capacities for music. These are complemented by orchestral writing of sweeping power and expressive intensity, for an ensemble of strings and brass. At points the orchestral musicians rise from their seats to join the procession, adding to the panoramic character of the work.
The work draws together many of Leith’s most important collaborators, including GBSR Duo, 12 Ensemble, conductors Jack Sheen and Naomi Woo, and Auchterlonie, all of whom appeared in the premiere and revival of his debut opera Last Days at the Linbury Theatre. They were joined by EXAUDI, Musarc and The Bold Chorus, with the piece also featuring choral refrains written by Charlie Fox and costumes designed by Ellen Poppy Hill.
Garland was commissioned by Bold Tendencies and realised with exceptional support from the Oliver Leith Commissioning Circle: Brian Boylan, John and Emma Donnelly, The Glass Castle Foundation, Svetlana Marich & Photonia Ltd., Bob Shaw, Lukas Zueger-Knecht, and those who wish to remain anonymous. In 2024 Bold Tendencies hosted a portrait concert curated by Leith from the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Naomi Woo; the concert series has previously hosted GBSR Duo for a performance of good day good day bad day bad day.