Psappha

Priaulx Rainier: The Bee Oracles*
Klas Torstensson: Pocket Size Violin Concerto (UK première)**
Elisabeth Lutyens: Islands Op.80***
Chai-Ying Lin: New work (world première)
Josh Brown: New work (world première)

A witty mini-concerto for violin – what its Swedish-Dutch composer calls a ‘self-portrait’ by the instrument – prefaces lyrical interior landscapes by two outstanding composers who defied convention, not only in breaking through the sex barrier. Priaulx Rainier, always with the bright heat of her native South Africa in her music, sets words by Edith Sitwell for tenor with fizzing instruments. Elisabeth Lutyens’s journey through islands, with solo soprano, tenor and narrator, has the scope of an opera. Pieces by advanced composition students complete the programme.