after atmospheres [2023] Lindsay Vickery/ after György Ligeti for flute, clarinet, viola, cello, prepared piano, percussion and electronics
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Strangely, after Cat Hope asked if I would be interested
in making a Decibel arrangement of György Ligeti’s atmospheres (1961), I remembered that I had actually dreamt of rehearsing an arrangement of the piece a few years earlier. Of course it is exactly the kind of crazy idea that would only occur to you in a dream: arranging a work for an orchestra of over ninety independent parts for just six performers. But this is a special work to many composers - one of the seminal examples of Sound Mass, the musical approach that foregrounded texture, timbre and sonic shape over melody and harmony. atmospheres is something of a foundational work for the sound and focus of Decibel. Over the last decade or so the composers in Decibel all explored approaches to evoke Ligeti-like textures for the ensemble using electronic enhancements, and so in after atmospheres some of these Decibel techniques find their way back to their source. after atmospheres is not quite an arrangement, and also not a new work, but hopefully an evocation of, and homage to, Ligeti’s inspirational ground-breaking original in the centenary of his birth. Performances13 December 2023, 7.30pm The Rechabite Hall , SOUND DRAWING IN SPACE: Decibel New Music Ensemble
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