Orpheus Sinfonia in Nicholas Korth world premiere

World premiere of a new work by British composer (and co-principal horn of the BBC Symphony Orchestra) Nicholas Korth, Harmoniae Naturales VI.

This unique and pioneering composition combines the ethereal and extraordinary sound of four overtone singers, soprano and tenor soloists and full orchestra in settings of the mystical Victorian poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins. The overtone singers use both the low rough throat techniques of the Mongolian tradition and gentler radiant flute-like sounds produced by amplifying vocal harmonics. This magical sound palette is complemented by an orchestral texture based on natural tuning and Hopkins’ nature inspired and often torturously fervent poetry.

The concert will also feature an earlier work of Korth, for soprano and orchestra, ...like shining from shook foil (with texts also by Hopkins) and Vaughn Williams’ much-loved Lark Ascending (mirrored in Hopkins' The Sea and the Skylark in Harmoniae Naturales VI) with violinist Maya Koch (l’orchestre de Paris).The concert is a celebration of the luminosity of the natural world through poetry and the harmony of overtones.