The Bach Project - The Obstruction of Lightness of Thought

My collaborative project with choreographer Andris Plucis will be commencing this year, with our premiere performances at the Eisenach Theatre on 30th & 31st March. Written for the Thuringia Bach Festival and the Eisenach Theatre, the ballet combines chamber orchestra, piano, and electronics to offer a contemporary response to the sonic world of Bach, subtitled ‘The Obstruction of Lightness of Thought'. It will be conducted by Markus Huber, and the Ballet of the Eisenach Theatre will perform the choreography.

This project allowed my ‘genre-fluid' approach to composition, a chance to step back in time, and take inspiration from the world of Bach...

As I was composing a ballet score for the Thuringia Bach festival, I realised that I had a unique opportunity to engage directly with the musical language and style of Bach, I was particularly inspired by the explorations of composers like Shostakovich (with his 24 Preludes & Fugues) and Schnittke’s music in the ‘Old Style’, And it’s been a really special experience bringing elements of Bach's timeless harmonic, polyphonic and rhythmic language into my own 21st century style. 

I've often commented that though most 20th century post-war composers consciously rejected the older language of the classical tradition; in the 21st century, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t start to reconnect with our older cultural heritage in a positive way. We can still be relevant to our time but not be afraid to engage with the rich cultural heritage of the past. The 20th century left huge voids in the musical landscape, which I think can be very exciting to explore.

This work contrasts meditative scenes for solo piano (which will be performed by Bach Piano specialist: Serra Tavsanli), against more dramatic and angular orchestral scenes. These are framed by electroacoustic textural interludes (which I created by recording the turning of pages of my old student Bach scores, and then building textural fugues and preludes).

Choreographer Andris Plucis and myself had several conversations on what Bach’s music means to us today, and what effect it has on listeners. We reflected that it seems to open a door to the inner workings of the consciousness, and at the same time, free our thoughts from the immediate anguish that is often around us. In this work both composer and choreographer have taken lead from Bach and created a ballet that attempts to free us from the ‘Obstruction of Lightness of Thought’ - which is emerging as one of the defining struggles of modern life.

Find ticket information here.