Free event
Riot Ensemble:
Marie Schreer violin
Phillip Grannel violin
Richard Jones viola
Louise McMonagle cello
Maxim Shalygin (Ukraine/Netherlands, 1985) drop after drop (2022) 10′
Patricia Alessandrini (France/USA, 1970) De profundis clamavi (hommage à Alban Berg) (2007) 8′
Riot Ensemble joins a host of ensembles from across Europe in performing Maxim Shalygin’s drop after drop, commissioned by the worldwide alliance Festivals for Compassion (with the Dutch Wonderfeel festival as the driving force) in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Of the piece, Shalygin writes:
‘Since the first day of the war in Ukraine, a terrible pain has settled inside me. Every time I close my eyes, I want to wake up from this terrible dream… but alas, it is not a dream. drop after drop is a kind of an ingot of that pain and memories of my childhood, when my relatives were telling me about the war years and sung wartime songs. I hear those songs inside me again and I wish they would stop…’
Alongside this exploration of the devastation of war, Patricia Alessandrini’s De profundis clamavi (hommage à Alban Berg) employs a pictorial technique borrowed from Gerhard Richter’s layered paintings and a reinterpretation of Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite to react against the constant flow of commercial images and sounds we endure in both public and private spaces.
Produced by hcmf// as part of the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture supported by the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute
drop after drop is commissioned by Festivals for Compassion
Photo credit: Maxim Shalygin by Eduardus Lee
Getting There
Venue: Phipps Hall (Second Floor, Richard Steinitz Building)
Accessibility: Accessibility information is available here. Further information on campus accessibility is available on the University of Huddersfield website.
What three words: ///opera.flock.anyone
Address: Queensgate, England, HD1 3DH, United Kingdom.