Classical Season 2019/20 | RNS @ Wylam
RNS @ Wylam 2
Online ticket sales will close at 12noon on Thursday 2 April. Any remaining tickets will be available on the door.
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Arvo Pärt Summa
Steve Reich Vermont Counterpoint
Gavin Bryars Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet
It starts on the streets of South London, with a homeless old man singing quietly to himself. It becomes…well, there isn’t really any way to describe what you’ll think or feel next, as Gavin Bryars weaves that broken scrap of human feeling into a sonic experience unlike anything else in 20th century music. Like the serenely unfurling soundscape of Arvo Pärt’s Summa and the dancing, ever-renewing sonic patterns of Steve Reich’s groundbreaking Vermont Counterpoint, Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet is a true modern classic: music with the power to provoke, to move, and to leave you transformed. Try it.
Doors Open 7pm – grab a drink from the bar and get comfy!
Vehicular access to the brewery through Exhibition Park is strictly prohibited except for pre-arranged access for the mobility impaired. To arrange this, and for any other access information, please contact Wylam Brewery directly on 0191 232 1122 or access@wylambrewery.co.uk
Useful Information
Part of our RNS @ Wylam series.
Please note this concert is at Wylam Brewery, Exhibition Park, Newcastle upon Tyne. There is no vehicular access permitted through the park to the brewery other than for the mobility impaired. Such access needs to be pre-booked with Wylam Brewery.
Vermont Counterpoint Visual Score
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
Jesus' Blood: A note from the composer
“In 1971, when I lived in London, I was working with a friend on a film about people living rough in the area around Elephant and Castle and Waterloo Station. In the course of being filmed, some people broke into drunken song – sometimes bits of opera, sometimes sentimental ballads – and one, who in fact did not drink, sang a religious song “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet”.
When I played it at home, I found that his singing was in tune with my piano, and I improvised a simple accompaniment. I noticed that the first section of the song – 13 bars in length – formed an effective loop. I took the tape loop to Leicester, where I was working in the Fine Art Department, and copied the loop onto a continuous reel of tape, thinking about perhaps adding an orchestrated accompaniment to this. left the tape copying, with the door open, while I went to have a cup of coffee. When I came back I found the normally lively room unnaturally subdued. People were moving about much more slowly than usual and a few were sitting alone, quietly weeping.
I was puzzled until I realised that the tape was still playing and that they had been overcome by the old man’s singing. This convinced me of the emotional power of the music and of the possibilities offered by adding a simple, though gradually evolving, orchestral accompaniment that respected the tramp’s nobility and simple faith.”