The Transgressive Gospel

Conductor's score and parts on hire

Forces or Category: Solo voices & ensemble

Orchestration: Solo voices (1 jazz chanteuse and 1 baritone), acc, cim, pn, vln, vla, vc

A raw and contemporary score weaving together threads from 400 years of musical responses to the Passion of the Christ.

The Transgressive Gospel

Conductor's score and parts on hire

Description

For two voices - jazz chanteuse and baritone - and instrumental ensemble
Weaving together threads from 400 years of musical responses to the subject of the Passion of the Christ, Finnissy's raw and contemporary score is both brutally simple and richly detailed. The Transgressive Gospel is a fresh and edgy look at one of humankind's most profound and uplifting dramas.

Programme Notes:

First performance - Wilton's Music Hall, London, Spitalfields Festival, 12 June 2009, IXION, Kate Westbrook (jazz chanteuse), Richard Jackson (baritone), conductor Michael Finnissy

The Transgressive Gospel

Conductor's score and parts on hire

Michael Finnissy

Composer Information

Michael Finnissy (b.1946)

Michael Finnissy was born in Tulse Hill, London in 1946 and studied at the Royal College of Music. He later studied in Italy with Roman Vlad. He went on to create the music department of the London School of Contemporary Dance, and has been associated as composer with many notable British dance companies. He has also been musician in residence to the Victorian College of the Arts, the City of Caulfield in Australia, and the East London Late Starters Orchestra. In 1999 he was made Professor of Composition at the University of Southampton. Finnissy has been featured composer at the Bath, Huddersfield and Almeida festivals, amongst others, and his works are widely performed and broadcast worldwide. Recordings are available on various labels, notably NMC and Metier; the latter has released a cycle of CDs to great critical acclaim.

Michael Finnissy's website

The Transgressive Gospel

Conductor's score and parts on hire

Michael Finnissy

Reviews and Awards

"Finnissy calls on many things - oratorio, hymns, gospel - without yielding to the insidious modern temptation to milk each one separately for its evocative power. Instead he keeps them all in play at once, but just out of sight, trembling under the surface of his own musical language. His piece is a model of integrity, which is why it is so powerfully moving. I've been to many more "exciting" premieres in recent years, but none more important." - Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph,