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Dateline: 22nd November, 2006
The Sonnets Set to Music A major new work by composer Gavin Bryars, featuring arrangements by musicians including Mercury Prize Winner, Antony Hegarty and former 10,000 Maniacs front woman, Natalie Merchant, has been co-commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and Opera North.
Inspired by Shakespeare’s sonnets, Nothing Like The Sun: The Sonnet Project is a unique two-part performance curated by leading contemporary composer Gavin Bryars which makes its world premiere as part of the RSC’s Complete Works Festival.
Opening at The Courtyard Theatre in February 2007, the first part of the performance features compositions by Hegarty and Merchant, alongside those of Romanian violinist Alexander Balanescu, Elizabeth Fraser from 80s cult band The Cocteau Twins, and Irish singer/songwriter Gavin Friday. Bringing together a unique set of musicians, Bryars has invited each guest artist to set their chosen sonnet to music. The arrangements will then be performed on the 24th and 25th February 2007 by singers John Potter (tenor) and Anna Maria Friman (soprano) and an eight piece chamber orchestra from Opera North directed by James Holmes. Tthe opening half of Nothing Like The Sun will reflect the distinctive style of the five guest composers and straddle pop, contemporary and classical musical genres.
The second half sees the premiere of Gavin Bryars’ major new work - a 40 minute piece based around seven of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Nothing Like The Sun will be performed by the same ensemble using a mixture of music, song and speech and a specially commissioned film by film-maker Pippa Nissen bringing music, voice and image together in a new way.
Following its world premier at the Courtyard Theatre as part of the Complete Works Festival, Nothing Like The Sun: The Sonnet Project will then travel to The Sage, Gateshead (Tuesday 13 March at 8pm), Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester (Thursday 15 March at 7.30pm) and Leeds College of Music (Saturday 17 March at 7.30pm).
Deborah Shaw, RSC Complete Works Festival Director said, "Approaching Shakespeare's sonnets in this way using contemporary musicians and RSC actors seems like a perfect way to represent Shakespeare's sonnets within the Complete Works Festival. Part of our rationale behind the festival is to explore new and exciting approaches to interpreting Shakespeare's work - and it is no surprise that confessional songwriters like Antony Hegarty and Natalie Merchant are inspired by the poetry and raw honesty of Shakespeare's sonnets.
“This is the ideal project for the RSC to collaborate with Opera North on and as curator, Gavin Bryars has brought together an inspired mix of artists who deliver a truly original take on some of the greatest poetry ever written."
Dominic Gray, Opera North Projects Director added, “Opera North Projects makes all of its work at the meeting point between the contemporary and the classical, whether this is in music, text and image. The RSC and Opera North are ideal partners to explore new ways of presenting a text as rich, varies and resonant as Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Opera North has wanted to work with Gavin Bryars for many years. He is a leading figure across the worlds of jazz and contemporary classical music, he writes beautifully for the voice, and he has a great reputation for his collaborations with other musical artists.” Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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