British composer Gavin Bryars premieres the string sextet “The Bridges of Könisberg” this Saturday.
British composer Gavin Bryars celebrated his eightieth birthday on 16 January. Immersed in a series of concerts to celebrate such a milestone birthday, this Saturday, 12 August, he will give the world premiere of a new work, String Sextet (“The Bridges of Könisberg”), at Syde Manor, a mansion in the English county of Gloucestershire, bordering Wales. The sextet, a commission by Penny Wright and Andrew Neubauer, will be performed by the Consone Quartet, augmented for the occasion by cellist Guy Fishman and violist Renée Hemsing. On his website, Bryars explains that “While the subtitle refers to a well-known mathematical puzzle, it also gives a link to a chamber opera that I have wanted to do for almost 40 years, The Last Days of Immanuel Kant, based on the text by Thomas de Quincy. I may or may not ever get the chance to write this opera but I have already composed satellite works that are linked to it: The Old Tower of Löbenicht (for ensemble) as well as And So Ended Kant’s Travelling in the World (for five-part choir). Königsberg, now Kaliningrad, was where Kant lived for his entire life, and where he established unerringly repetitive daily routines.” About the performers of the work, Bryars adds that “the Consone Quartet is a wonderful young period instrument quartet, which was selected for the BBC New Generation Artists scheme, specialising in clear and honest interpretations of classical and romantic repertoire. Guy Fishman and Renée Hemsing are two of the finest American baroque music specialists, based in Boston, USA.”
The sextet will perform again the following day, Sunday 13 August, at the Holywell Music Room in Oxford – the oldest purpose-built concert hall in Europe – and again a week later, on Sunday 20 August, at The Chapel in Norwich.