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In 2018, Harrison Birtwistle, one of the most influential contemporary British composers, wrote a typically intense, rugged piece lasting less than four minutes (that turned out to be one of his last) and dedicated it to Sir Simon. The piece acts as a fitting opening for the decidedly monumental work that follows: Mahler’s Seventh, to which Rattle turns his attention after having already performed the Sixth and Ninth with the BRSO. Mahler found it particularly difficult to complete the work at the time. While trying to compose an appropriate opening, he suffered from a debilitating writer’s block that plunged him into deep depression. On a rowing trip across Lake Wörthersee, he is said to have conceived the redemptive idea for the first movement – a tenor horn solo that leads directly into the emotional cosmos of the symphony.
In 2018, Harrison Birtwistle, one of the most influential contemporary British composers, wrote a typically intense, rugged piece lasting less than four minutes (that turned out to be one of his last) and dedicated it to Sir Simon. The piece acts as a fitting opening for the decidedly monumental work that follows: Mahler’s Seventh, to which Rattle turns his attention after having already performed the Sixth and Ninth with the BRSO. Mahler found it particularly difficult to complete the work at the time. While trying to compose an appropriate opening, he suffered from a debilitating writer’s block that plunged him into deep depression. On a rowing trip across Lake Wörthersee, he is said to have conceived the redemptive idea for the first movement – a tenor horn solo that leads directly into the emotional cosmos of the symphony.
Ten winners of the Bavarian Young Composers’ Competition, in interaction with the BRSO, have developed miniature solo pieces, each for a single instrument. Together with the orchestra members, the young composers explore the rich technical and timbral possibilities of their respective instrument. The miniatures will be played by members of the BRSO in the orchestra’s colourful concert format “Watch This Space”.