Magic Songs

- Sir James Barrie

 

 Tonight's music was chosen to stretch both musician and listener. Rather than seeking merely to give pleasure (although we hope that at least some of it does!), the often-difficult music provokes us into thinking - challenging our notions of music and how it functions in our lives. At the end of the 20th century, we seem to have sacrificed emotional depth for musical breadth and 'sophistication' - anaesthesized into a stupor by the relentless soundtracking of our daily lives in a world increasingly wired for sound. 

In this concert, we present primarily the work of living composers, who create from personal conviction rather than the demands of the commercial market. We hope that some of the music provides 'stronger meat for the ears and mind' (quoting Charles Ives), jolting us into feeling something alien or long-lost. Accordingly, our responses of pain or relative discomfort are legitimate - the sonorities wield an emotive power, and are not meant to become pretty on repeated hearings. This is almost like your grandmother telling you that if it hurts (or tastes awful), then 'it' must be working.

Some of these works spring from tragedy and wartime experience, and the title work (Magic Songs) from a wish to bring back lost aspects of nature. They explore the existence of invisible forces, the issue of faith, the nature of death. All of which demands music to match, msic of weight and heft, so as not to trivialise the concerns of a fragmented, discordant society at the turn of the millenium.

Our aim is to foster wider experience and greater understanding on the listener's part. We hope this generates a sense of excitement and adventure that results from living fully in one's time.