The Danish focus begins on Sunday 02 March 2014 with a portrait concert of the Danish composer Pelle-Gudmundsen-Holmgreen with the London Sinfonietta and the Grammy Award winning vocal ensemble Theatre of Voices. The concert will consist of music especially composed for these two ensembles and amongst others we will listen to the pieces Play performed by London Sinfonietta, Song performed by Theatre of Voices and Company where the two preceding pieces are performed at the same time.
Song is based on John Dowland’s Flow My Tears composed in 1596 around the same time when Dowland worked for Danish King Christian IV. In that way Song comes to represent the musical meeting between the two countries – a meeting which by the concerts in March 2014 is updated to a contemporary context.
At the same time this concert is a celebration of the release of the Dacapo Records CD Mixed Company – a title which is referring to the meeting between London Sinfonietta and Theatre of Voices as well as the meeting between Denmark and England and between the two music historical ages – John Dowland´s 500 year old compositions and Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen´s music from the new millennium.
The music was in itself new and different written – at the same time extremely beautiful in an old-fashioned and very classical way. It clinked and creaked, murmured – and moved.
(Henrik Friis in the Danish newspaper Politiken)
