What's On

Programme

Henry Purcell Funeral Music for Queen Mary (‘March’ and ‘Canzona’)
Anton Bruckner Aequale I & II
George Benjamin Fantasia 7 after Henry Purcell
Julia Wolfe Reeling
Alex Paxton Needy Mouth Corners
Cassandra Miller Chanter
György Kurtág Grabstein fur Stephan

Performers

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Naomi Woo conductor/keyboards
Sean Shibe guitar

About

Ritual, mourning, memorial

Tonight, Sean Shibe and the BBC Philharmonic examine the pageantry, rites and emotions of funeral music, ancient and modern.

From Henry Purcell’s weighty, solemn tones, written for the funeral of Queen Mary in 1695, to Bruckner’s Aequales – intimate, chamber chorales – this is music of memory, grey-dark and silver. Exuberant work by Julia Wolfe and Alex Paxton sits alongside Kurtág’s ‘Gravestone’, trudging, slow, then exploding with red-hot anger.

The heart of our programme comes from Cassandra Miller, our Composer-in-Residence. One afternoon, Miller recorded Shibe quietly singing along, half-asleep, to a folk song played by Scottish smallpipes player Brìghde Chaimbeul. From this, Miller spins delicately warbling ripples.

See all events in BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at the RNCM.

Tickets

Full Price £27
Students / Under 26s £18

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Multibuy Offer

Book more and save. Automatically save 20% off your tickets when you book two to three concerts in this series or save 30% when you book all four events. Bookings must be purchased in a single transaction, and this promotion cannot be combined with any other offers or discounts.

Promoted by BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

The end time for this event is tbc. More details will be published nearer to the event.