Canticles of the Sky

Futuristic Americana and Inspiration from a European Past

Three generations of engaging Americana are represented in this concert, beginning with Jessie Montgomery’s smart and effervescent Starburst which achieves the perfect balance of edginess and accessibility; the slow burning, cinematic majesty of John Luther Adams’s Sky with four suns from Canticles of the Sky provides an ideal contrast. Aaron Copland’s Benny Goodman-inspired masterpiece makes a miraculous journey from doleful introspection to exhilarating jazz party.

Lutenist Jacques Gallot’s (1625 - 1695) Pièces de luth - presented here in a new arrangement for harp - was part of the source material for Respighi’s enchanting The Birds Suite in which he skilfully represents a dove, a hen, a nightingale and a cuckoo. Le Tombeau de Couperin, Ravel’s neoclassic homage to friends killed during the First World War also finds him looking to the past for inspiration, here in the form of François Couperin.