BEHIND ME IS THE DARK
April 1 & April 2 - ACO On The Pier
i. Shivers on Speed - Brigitta Muntendorf
ii. Januaries - Lisa Illean
iii. Hrim - Anna Thorvaldsdottir
iv. Kammerkonzert - Gyorgy Ligeti
Brigitta Muntendorf
The German-Austrian composer Brigitta Muntendorf explores the fragility of socio-political and techno-social concepts in multilayered musical narratives and modes of expression. In her works, she embodies concepts of Radical Listening, Environmental Storytelling, or Immersive Theater, established the concept of Social Composing and appeals to media sensuality and collaborative forms of production.
The German-Austrian composer Brigitta Muntendorf explores the fragility of socio-political and techno-social concepts in multilayered musical narratives and modes of expression. In her works, she embodies concepts of Radical Listening, Environmental Storytelling, or Immersive Theater, established the concept of Social Composing and appeals to media sensuality and collaborative forms of production.
Every sound, every noise incorporates a sense and sensitivity that we can find in space, resonance and in at least in us. Jean Luc Nancy describes this sense as a link to experiences and associations, as a trigger for all the images and emotions that are discovered inside our being. shivers on speed can be heard as a concentration of senses, as the idea to work with sound through a possibility of an existing sense in us, as the idea of a sense-determined musical material. All musical developments in the piece are linked to the idea of representing this phenomenon of sound. Shivering: not matter what kind of sound we have in mind, in the end this sound describes a physical and psychological moment of insecurity by it’s uncontrollable sound structure. Trembling fingers, trembling bows and trembling breath are combined with sounds of an insisting, statement-like structure and lead into a collage of an absurd play of sounds.
Lisa Illean
Born in Australia and now based in the UK, Lisa Illean composes ‘music that seeps into your consciousness’ (ABC Classic FM). Reflective and compelling, her ‘exquisitely quiet shadows’ (The Sydney Morning Herald) invite contemplation, often exploring unconventional tunings and the phenomena that arise through the interaction of quiet layers. Much of her work combines live and pre-recorded instrumental sound in performance to create ‘a soundscape unlike any other’ (Limelight). Her debut portrait album arcing, stilling, bending, gathering — described as ‘extraordinary stuff’ (The Arts Desk) — has been released on NMC recordings.
While completing Januaries my mind kept returning to memories of summers spent as a child with my grandparents in Queensland. Like the sketches of music on my desk, these memories settled in pieces and with some distortions, assembled in a logic closer to that of dreams than waking life. Yet, underpinning these was the precise sensation of elements that seem to share two states at once: of air swollen with water and steaming rain one sweats in. It is this sensation that I worked towards in the final version of the piece.
Anna Thorvaldsdottir
Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s “seemingly boundless textural imagination” (NY Times) and striking sound world has made her “one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music” (NPR). Her music is composed as much by sounds and nuances as by harmonies and lyricism – written as an ecosystem of sounds, where materials continuously grow in and out of each other so that the familiar can become abstract and the abstract feel familiar.
Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s “seemingly boundless textural imagination” (NY Times) and striking sound world has made her “one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music” (NPR). Her music is composed as much by sounds and nuances as by harmonies and lyricism – written as an ecosystem of sounds, where materials continuously grow in and out of each other so that the familiar can become abstract and the abstract feel familiar.
Anna’s music is widely performed internationally and has been commissioned by many of the world’s leading orchestras, ensembles, and arts organizations – such as the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Danish String Quartet, BBC Proms, and Carnegie Hall.
The piece is inspired by the notion of dispersion, represented as release and echoing in the sense that single elements in the music are released and spread through the ensemble in various ways throughout the process of the piece. The music is in one short movement.
Gyorgy Ligeti
György Ligeti was born in 1923 in Transylvania to a Hungarian-Jewish family and survived forced labour during World War II, while much of his family perished in concentration camps. After studying composition in Budapest, he fled Hungary following the 1956 Revolution and settled in Vienna and later Germany, where he became associated with the European avant-garde and worked at the electronic music studio of West German Radio in Cologne. His orchestral works such as Atmosphères and his Requiem brought him international recognition, especially after their use in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Ligeti developed the technique of micropolyphony and later explored complex polyrhythms and opera, most notably Le Grand Macabre. He also taught composition in Stockholm, Stanford, and Hamburg, received numerous international prizes, and died in Vienna in 2006.
György Ligeti was born in 1923 in Transylvania to a Hungarian-Jewish family and survived forced labour during World War II, while much of his family perished in concentration camps. After studying composition in Budapest, he fled Hungary following the 1956 Revolution and settled in Vienna and later Germany, where he became associated with the European avant-garde and worked at the electronic music studio of West German Radio in Cologne. His orchestral works such as Atmosphères and his Requiem brought him international recognition, especially after their use in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Ligeti developed the technique of micropolyphony and later explored complex polyrhythms and opera, most notably Le Grand Macabre. He also taught composition in Stockholm, Stanford, and Hamburg, received numerous international prizes, and died in Vienna in 2006.
Set in four movements, the Kammerkonzert is perhaps one of the greatest examples of ‘micropolyphony’, in which 13 instruments combine to create a single musical gesture. Each member of the ensemble tackles an insanely virtuosic part that borders on the unplayable - what is remarkable is the vast and colossal sonic worlds that Ligeti creates with a total economy of musicians. It is encouraged to dip in and out of focus: listen to individual musicians, then ‘step back’ and cast your ears over the whole ensemble.
MUSICIANS
Flutes: Emilia Antcliffe
![]()
Flutes: Emilia Antcliffe
Oboes: Miriam Cooney
Bb Clarinet: Clare Fox
Bass and Bb Clarinet: James Julain
Trumpet: Arkie Moore
Horn: Eve McEwen
Trombone: Cian Malikides
Violins: Anna Da Silva Chen,
Thibaud Pavlovic -Hobba
Viola: Henry Justo
Cello: Nick McManus
Bass: Jaan Pallandi
Piano and Celeste: Ronan Apcar
Harpsichord and Organ: Jacob Abela
Harp: Kaela Phillips
Percussion: Buddy Lovett
Conductor: Sam Weller
Ensemble Apex is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW
