IN SOLIDARITY WITH STRIKING WORKERS (2023)
New orchestral work in response to Hans Werner Henze’s song cycle Voices for the London Sinfonietta (ensemble of 10 musicians and 3 voices). A 21st Century Voices co-commission by Time of Music Festival and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival as part of Sounds Now.
21st Century Voices composers: Charles Uzor, Mariam Rezaei, Tyshawn Sorey, Riikka Talvitie, Anna Korsun and Auclair.
Responding to Hans Werner Henze’s Voices got me thinking about what the ensemble can represent and transmit. How can an orchestra be a site for unifying many selfhoods in a shared intention? Can the embodiment of coordinated action across multiple musical or sonic axes be a radical act? And what can it mean to sing in polyphony in this context? Can it decentre the primacy of the soloist’s voice, simultaneously hold space for the complexities of different voices?
I’ve been thinking on all this as we see the biggest wave of public sector strikes in 30 years in the UK. Over the past year, workers across the country have been fighting for fair pay, decent working conditions and respect. It’s horrifying to see the UK government respond by pushing through even more repressive laws that will restrict the right to strike and threaten fundamental human rights. I offer In Solidarity with Striking Workers in resistance and in gratitude to all workers and trade unions speaking truth to power.
Credits
Written by Auclair Performed by London Sinfonietta, Carina Vinke (mezzo-soprano), Peter Tantsits (tenor) and Auclair (alto) Conducted by Christian Karlsen Orchestrated by Ben Corrigan
Co-commissioned and co-produced by Time of Music and hcmf// as part of the Sounds Now project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union; also supported by John Ellerman Foundation