July 2003

Robert Saxton's 50th Birthday Proms

Robert Saxton

In celebration of Robert Saxton's 50th birthday this year, the BBC have commissioned a new work for the 2003 Proms. The substantial set of Five Motets for the unaccompanied vocal forces of Edward Wickham's The Clerk's Group, will be premiered alongside Josquin's Missa Fortuna and other 16th century works, and interleaved with In nomine settings played by His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts.

In parallel with issues Saxton is investigating in his opera The Wandering Jew, the Five Motets explore the nature of wandering and returning. Beginning with Abram's journey to Canaan, Mirium's singing and dancing in celebration of the Israelites flight from the Egyptians, Jacob's dream of the ladder to heaven, and ending with Jacob's return to his Grandfather's land, the Motets touch on the corner stones of the old testament scripture. The Latin texts from Genesis and Exodus are interspersed with the composer's own words, poems in English, which are a commentary on the biblical texts, following the Jewish midrash tradition. Are these stories really 1000s of years old or a timeless comment on our journey today?

Also at the 2003 Proms, Steven Isserlis will give the London premiere of Saxton's Sonata for Solo Cello on a Theme of Sir William Walton, which was first performed at the Aldeburgh Festival in 2002; chamber music Prom, 1pm on 1 Setpember.

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