Smoky tunes

Cello Octet Amsterdam, Claron McFadden

Great Cellists

Thu 27 Nov 20:15

Main Hall

Past event

Thu 27 Nov

20:15

Past event

A new song cycle by David Lang about love

Program

David Lang Smoky tunes (world premier)

Musicians

Cello Octet Amsterdam: Rares Mihailescu, Claire Bleumer, Geneviève Verhage, Esther Torrenga, René van Munster, Sanne van der Horst, Sanne Bijker, Alistair Sung cello
Claron McFadden sopraan

David Lang writes ‘smoky tunes’ from vanished nightclubs for Cello Octet Amsterdam and the fantastic soprano Claron McFadden. A world premiere by this top composer, inspired by old recordings of Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan who sang about the sorrows of love. David Lang’s texts draw upon the passionate love songs of Guillaume de Machaut, the 14th-century poet and composer who captured the same intensity of longing that centuries later would later be expressed in jazz standards.

The way old love songs keep touching us is similar to how standards work in jazz. Every singer makes their own version and thus brings out a slightly different meaning of the song. ‘All versions are in dialogue with each other and deepen the meaning of all the others’, says David Lang. Claron McFadden is one of the few singers who masters both early and contemporary music and jazz. Her unique ability to bridge diverse musical traditions shines through in David Lang’s new incarnations of these old smoky tunes.

Part of

Top Cellists

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Claron McFadden

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Cello Octet Amsterdam

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David Lang

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Claron McFadden

Cello Octet Amsterdam

David Lang

Cello Octet Amsterdam

Cello Octet Amsterdam has been a regular guest at the Cello Biënnale since the first edition in 2006. The Cello Octet is an adventurous collective of cellists that specialises in new music and interdisciplinary performances. The Octet has become a renowned name in today’s contemporary music scene, in part thanks to collaborations with composers such as Philip Glass, Sofia Gubaidulina, Arvo Pärt, Theo Loevendie, Mauricio Kagel, Michael Gordon, and Kate Moore. After the premier of his first piece for the Octet, Arvo Pärt said: “The Octet is worth a fortune, I have discovered this ensemble 10 years too late.” The cellists of Cello Octet Amsterdam manifest not only as a close, world-class chamber music ensemble, but also as groundbreaking performers in shows such as Cellokrijgers (“Celo Warriors”), or as a rock band in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Cello Band. Driven by the conviction that musicians are at the centre of society and carry the responsibility to contribute to social discussions, the Octet regularly enters unique collaborations with composers, theatre makers, choreographers, and social organisations. Their shows Instant Happiness and Instant Love (co-production with Via Berlin) focused on current topics such as consumerism in society and human trafficking, and the Octet has recently been exploring themes like diversity and migration. Together with the Cello Biënnale, the Cello Octet developed the education project ‘de Bestorming’.