Joseph Houston

Event details

Joseph Houston  piano

Horațiu Rădulescu   Piano Sonata no. 4 (‘like a well ... older than God’)
Chiyoko Szlavnics   Constellations I-III (for piano and sinewaves)
Scriabin   Deux Danses, op. 73
Thomas Simaku   Catena I (UK Premiere)
Catherine Lamb   Prisma Interius II (for secondary rainbow synthesizer)

Trumpets of the Eternal

Opening with Rădulescu’s ritualistic Fourth Piano Sonata (‘like a well ... older than God’), this programme immerses the listener in the resonant capabilities of the piano. In Chiyoko Szlavnics’ Constellations I-III, this resonance is accompanied by sinewaves, creating the illusion of the piano playing glissandi while altering the listener’s perception of the instrument’s resonance. A kaleidoscope of sound is then opened up in York-based composer Thomas Simaku’s Catena I; alternating between glacial stillness and fevered motion, highly virtuosic gestures finally build to the work’s furious climax. And drawing the programme to a close is Catherine Lamb’s Prisma Interius II in which the boundaries between inner and outer worlds become blurred; microphones are placed outside the performance space and these live sounds are filtered to create ethereal and beautiful rationally-tuned melodies and harmonies.

Joseph Houston is a British pianist based in Berlin. His performance practice encompasses a range of music, including contemporary and experimental music, late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century piano music, music for synthesizers as well as his own compositions.

‘Houston is emerging as an expert interpreter of experimental music’ (The Observer)