Solaris will be performing at the Imperial War Museum on Wed 26th January as part of the museum’s Holocaust Memorial Day lecture. The lecture entitled After the War:the Allied relief effort for the survivors will be given by Ben Shephard.
Before the end of the Second World War, the Allies began planning the resolution of a refugee crisis in Europe, where millions of people had been left destitute and starving. This lecture will look at the difficulties faced by those refugees, and the Allies’ struggle to organise both their relief and repatriation.
The lecture will be followed by a performance of Simon Laks 3rd String Quartet written in the 6 months following his liberation from Dachau.
The lecture starts at 7pm and booking details can be found at www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/conEvent.3535
The quartet were joined by pianist extraordinaire John-Paul Gandy at Angel Studio 1 to record the music for short film Ellie, the latest film from up and coming director Chris Dundon.
This is the 5th collaboration between director, Chris Dundon, and composer, Matthew Slater. The pair saw world-wide festival success with their last film Bro, gaining notable appearances at the Beverly Hills Film Festival and the 52nd International Seattle Film Festival, a few to name amongst a list of over 15 other festivals. The BBC have also selected Bro for their film network.
This film follows the story of Ellie, a teenage female boxing fanatic who has a strained relationship with her father. Teenage angst told in a beautiful way. Ellie has a decision to make over a fight that could change her career.
This is the debut CD from Blue Jelly, a new label based in Cornwall, and also from the Solaris Quartet. It’s an auspicious release, in the sense that it gives us something new without resorting to silliness or gimmickry. Spiritual leader and mystic George Ivanovich Gurdjieff was a man of many talents, and these included composing. A large body of his surviving work as a composer is collaborative. During the 1920s, he worked with Thomas de Hartmann, who transcribed melodies that Gurdjieff had collected earlier in life from Eastern Europe and Asia, and thereby created a large body of Gurdjieff/de Hartmann piano music. This has been recorded by the likes of Keith Jarrett (ECM) and by Cecil Lytle (Celestial Harmonies), whose complete traversal of this oeuvre requires six CDs. There have been arrangements as well. For example, cellist Anja Lechner and pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos have performed and recorded (for ECM New Series) a selection of them. The music is lyrical and grave, and it is touched by the various regions of the world that Gurdjieff and de Hartmann frequented. It is contemplative, even philosophical, yet there is more to it than New Agey navel-gazing.
Now the Solaris Quartet has arranged 22 of these short works for string quartet. (None is named “The Mosaic Monad,” however!) This eloquently uncomplicated music makes the transition to this new medium very well. In fact, in some cases, the use of strings takes Gurdjieff’s melodies back a step, bringing them closer to their origins and the folk instruments on which they were played. The arrangements are varied, to minimize the risk of monotony. Sometimes the melody is carried by one or two of the instruments, while the other members of the quartet provide unfussy and atmospheric accompaniments. Sometimes, everyone participates. The important thing is that the devotional qualities of this music are preserved even though a layer of textural richness has been added.
The members of the Solaris Quartet are violinists Roland Roberts and Neil McTaggart, violist Mike Briggs, and cellist Nicholas Allen. Briggs, in particular, has a lovely sound, and the performances are dignified and thoughtful. This is not music that challenges an ensemble’s technical resources, but it does challenge its powers of concentration and intimate communication, and the Solaris Quartet faces that challenge with success. This CD will help you to clear out some of your mental cobwebs.
The CD may be purchased from the label’s Web site or from cdbaby.com.
Raymond Tuttle
http://www.fanfaremag.com/content/view/42409/
Wishing everyone a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Solaris will be performing a staged chamber version of Handel’s Messiah featuring 16 singers, the quartet and organ. The performance will take place this Thursday (18th Nov 2010) at The Actor’s Church, St. Paul’s, Bedford Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9ED at 7pm.
Tickets are £12 on the door or can be bought on line at www.wegottickets.com/event/93291
Solaris will be performing Ben Cox’s In Memoriam at the Imperial War Museum, London just after 11am on Thursday 11th November 2010.
Ben’s piece was the winning piece in the museum’s inaugural composition competition In Memoriam. The competition was open to composers under the age of 25 who took inspiration from the temporary exhibition In Memoriam which commemorated the 90th anniversary of the end of the 1st World War and focussed on personal recollections from the war.
The event will take place in the museum’s atrium, is free and open to all.
The quartet will be performing a staged version of Handel’s Messiah for Merry Opera Company on Nov 18 (St. Paul’s, Covent Garden), Nov 27 (St. Mary Magdalene, Richmond), Dec 1 (St. Michael’s Cornhill, EC1) and Dec 4 (St. John the Baptist, Windsor). All performances start at 7pm.
On Christmas Eve in war-torn 1940s Europe, a community gathers in a church, seeking sanctuary from the approaching enemy. Redemption, forgiveness and ultimate joy all play their part as they start their preparations for advent.
An unexpected arrival, the death of an elder and a wounded enemy soldier both divide the group and bring them together as they seek shelter in a world of imminent danger, and find solace in their faith.
A rare staged production featuring five main soloists and an ensemble of 12, accompanied by organ and string quartet, The Messiah will be performed largely from memory.
Mitchell Moreno directs a cast that includes Christopher Diffy, Jezz James, Vanessa Heine, Sylvie Gallant, Richard Immergluck, Elinor Jane Moran and Matthew Quirk. Musical director and conductor is Stephen Hose.
Further details from www.merryopera.co.uk
This is our first review of our album The Mosaic Nomad:
Eastern Treasures
Based upon a collection of ancient melodies gathered by GI Gurdjieff across the middle and Far East during the late 19th and early 20th century, and released by a new co-operative classical label, this intriguing body of work benefits from the highly-regarded musicianship of Roland Roberts (violin), Neil McTaggart (violin), Mike Briggs (viola) and Nicholas Allen (cello). Dark, mournful passages tell of loss and despair, while bright, sun-kissed phrases relate tales of discovery and hope. Although important as a historical document, this album offers an exceptionally rewarding and emotional musical journey in its own right.
Keith Ames, The Musician Autumn 2010
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