MITO Settembre Musica - Torino Milano - Festival Internazionale della Musica

Harrison Birtwistle

The music of Harrison Birtwistle is not easy to define. Actually, his compositions would appear to be in mockery of all the anxious attempts at classification. It mainly requires listening without preconceptions, because it possesses an eloquence able to strongly capture the listener’s attention, with the intensity of its tones and rhythmic gestures.

Check out the symphonic Earth Dances to get an idea!
Birtwistle’s language has been created over the course of a career that spans over five decades. It takes in Medieval and Renaissance music (Ockeghem, Machault, Ciconia, Dowland, as well Bach), and jazz, and assimilates the Greek myths and Christian themes (The Masks of Orpheus - The Last Supper), along with the harshest themes of contemporary history, accompanied by the guiding verses of Paul Celan (Pulse Shadows).
This immense variety of suggestions, within grand dramatic sequences, at times assumes the features of symbolic theater (Secret Theatre), while at others it’s the stage that sets the tone.

Milano 4/7/8/9/11 .IX
Torino 5/6/9/10/11 .IX