Intimate, personal and intricate: chamber music has always invited a close-knit chemistry, in which you can hear every bow and breath.
If chamber performances originally took place in homes, then the perfect setting for The Big House would be a derelict mansion. Oliver Leith’s piece is uncanny yet alluring – like the beckoning pull of the dark basement door. Quiet, spectral strings will haunt you long after the end.
One of the most exciting voices on the contemporary British scene, composer and soprano Héloïse Werner is known for her playful and imaginative style. Her new piece for the Collective, Hidden Mechanisms, peers into a music box and examines the tiny mechanical parts that power it, each inspiring a different movement. Expect a fun approach to vocals and theatrical flair.
It’s not all delicate sounds: cranking up the volume is Olli Mustonen’s Piano Quintet. Filled with musical jumpscares, it bursts with energy and a hint of mischief.
So come in, make yourself at home, and listen closer.
‘Hidden Mechanisms’ is commissioned by Manchester Collective with support from their Commissioning Club.
Book Manchester Collective: Hidden Mechanisms at RNCM
