A collective evocation of the air, the very foundation of the pipe organ – Robert Curgenven's Earth Works offers a liberation and extension of the pipe organ’s possibilities. This is whole body listening – an absorbing experience of sound’s tactility and intimacy – from breath-like gestures through to a tectonic, architectural summoning. Curgenven will perform on St Bartholomew's exquisite pipe organ, presenting the UK premieres of intricately shimmering works, engulfing the audience in sonic textures.
“…a marvel. Massive sonic textures, tectonic plates of intricate beating... as close to a spiritual experience as any I’ve had with sound for a long time.” - P/A Magazine (Denmark)
Matthew Spring has a completed a doctorate on the Lute at Oxford, studied at the Royal College of Music, taught at London Guildhall University and his History of the Lute in Britain was published by Oxford University Press in 2001. He performs with a number of Early Music ensembles and has made a large number of recordings. Spring is an expert on early instruments and is regularly invited to contribute articles to musical journals and books. For this performance he will perform on another early music instrument - the hurdy-gurdy - which he has played for much of his career as a musician and has explored many aspects of the instruments musical possibilities in repertoire from the earliest times to the very contemporary. His work with hurdy-gurdy is notable for having given the first European performance of the Howard Skempton’s concerto for “Hurdy-Gurdy and Percussion” with Germany’s Baverische Rundfunk Orchestra in 2012. The expertise and nuance that Spring brings to this unique instrument, presented within the excellent setting of St Bartholomew’s Church, will make this a performance not to be missed.
