Music

“Music is liquid architecture Architecture is frozen music”. These words from Goethe distil the essence of this concert. This presentation is an exciting first collaboration between the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, French percussion soloist Jean Geoffroy and Indian trumpeter-composer Rajesh Mehta. It is also a partnership between Grame Centre National de Création Musicale (Lyon, France) and Le French May. The music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is as a model for mathematical perfection in musical counterpoint and formal structure. One can see parallels in the architectural construction. Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001), one of the most important post-war classical composers, was trained as an architect. Xenakis’ music is elemental and ritualistic, anti-Romantic and dispassionate, with a deeply architectural foundation. Indian-born Rajesh Mehta (1964-) was trained in acoustical engineering, trumpet performance and composition. He is particularly known for his work in interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly between architecture, the visual arts and music. Thierry De Mey (1956-) is a Belgian composer and filmmaker particularly known for his work in contemporary dance. His percussion quintet April Suite is a centrepiece of this concert, using musical movement as a choreographic gesture on its own, and creating new perceptions in the relationship between space, movement and music.