Xtra Acts (1994)
A programme of music from film, theatre and performance including a new work from John Hardy, and new editions of theatre-music from Graham Fitkin (an extract from Theatre of Small Mercies production last year) and Charlie Barber.
High-Life, by composer, film-maker and ex-Talking Head David Byrne, was commissioned by the New Music America Festival in 1980, at a time when performance art, ‘minimalism’ and New Age noodling were making big in-roads into a scene that had been, for better or worse, more insular and academic.
Michael Nyman‘s career as a film composer has made him something of a cult figure. In the soundtrack for Peter Greenaway’s film Drowning by Numbers, Nyman draws exclusively on the slow movement of Mozarts’ Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola extracting new melodies from Mozart’s intense score.
The programme also features Barnaby Oliver‘s whacky transcription of The Velvet Underground’s improvisational free-for-all, Charlie Barber‘s Balinese-inspired Kantilan Karagan and music from two elder statesmen of 18th century theatre music: Lully and Purcell.
Music direction: Charlie Barber
Musicians: Mark Morren (clarinet, saxophones), Paul Hornsby (clarinet, saxophones), Simon Reeves (trumpet), Gwyn Daniels (trombone), David Appleton (piano), Andy Cookson (percussion), Jonathan Helm (percussion), Alison Francis (violin), Tim Davies (violin), Michael Rafferty (viola), Sharon McKinley (cello), Paula Gardiner (double bass, bass guitar)
Set design: Angela Evans
Lighting design: Dave Hutton
Company manager: Alex Lemmon
Images
Performances
| 29.04.94 | CARDIFF | Chapter Theatre |
Credits
Produced by Sound Affairs with financial support of: Holst Foundation, Musicians’ Union, Performing Right Society, South Glamorgan County Council and Cardiff City Council
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Charlie Barber 