Date:
12 – 26 June 2011
Venue:
Christ Church Spitalfields, St. Stephen’s Walbrook, Cafe Oto, Rich Mix and Watermans, London
Produced by:
Sound and Music

Sound and Music presents the first major UK retrospective of the work of Eliane Radigue, one of the most celebrated and influential of living composers. This London-wide festival stages a curated selection of Radigue’s work including her extraordinary compositions for acoustic instruments, her classic electronic compositions and a unique presentation of her installation works.

Since the 1960s Eliane Radigue (born Paris, 1932) has created a singular, powerful and individual body of work. Strongly influenced by her studies of Tibetan Buddhism, her works since the mid 70s have explored slowly evolving states where musical change is perceived as environmental in scale, constant in evolution and virtually imperceptible in transformation. Often monumental in duration, her music communicates a sublime spiritual power, transporting the listener on a journey into the very heart of sound. A true original, Radigue has followed an artistic path unfettered through association to any schools and trends. She is now celebrated as a true innovator, pioneer and musical visionary. The audience at Triptych will be truly immersed in sound in venues chosen in consultation with the artist for their resonant beauty and rich acoustics.

Christ Church Spitalfields – performances as part of Spitalfields Music’s Summer Festival of Radigue’s celebrated collaborations with performers including the first UK performance of the monumental Naldjorlak trilogy and the world premiere of Occam 1 for solo harp, a work completed this year on her 79th birthday.

St. Stephens Walbrook – eight concerts of classic electronic works in one of London’s most beautiful acoustics. This concert series will including the epic Trilogie De Le Mort, a spiritual acoustic journey reflecting on the transcendence of death, and a special concert of Radigue’s early and very rarely heard feedback works.

Triptych also features a free public presentation of Radigue’s rarely heard installation works on a series of Sonic Beds designed by sound artist and Radigue collaborator Kaffe Matthews. These instruments have been designed for the audience to lie in and feel sound move up, down and around their bodies in ever changing patterns of vibration.

Works in the Triptych season are performed by leading international musicians who have become key collaborators with Eliane Radigue, including Charles Curtis, Carol Robinson, Bruno Martinez, Kasper Toeplitz, Rhodri Davies and The Lappetites.