Good morning everyone,

How are you? I went to a concert at the Southbank last night, and thought that you might like to hear some of the music from that.

Let's start with Mira Calix's Nunu, an absolute highlight of last night not least because it was accompanied by a video of insects. Apparently in South Africa, where Mira Calix was from, nunu is a term of endearment that also means "little precious insect". <3 I totally get it if insects aren't your thing but they were pretty cute, scrambling over each other and fighting with their antennae. 🐜 Fewer insects in this video though. Here's Nunu:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfWMK53FuVE

I've just searched for a YouTube of the next song and found that it was actually the premiere last night. Since I can't share Anna Clyne's Fractured Time with you right now, here's an interview with Anna:

Overflow is inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poem, By The Sea, in which we experience the ocean’s power over the poet’s imagination - both alluring, unsettling and dangerous. The line from which this piece takes its title “Would overflow with Pearl” reminded me of an image from Jelaluddin Rumi’s poem Where Everything is Music whereby the tiniest motion of a pearl on the ocean floor can cause great waves above. The opening sonority of Overflow also draws inspiration from Rumi’s words of a “slow and powerful root that we can’t see” with a low B-flat, the lowest pitch of the ensemble emerging from silence.

https://www.sco.org.uk/news/an-interview-with-anne-clyne

The story behind Julia Wolfe's Tell me everything is delightful, I'm going to copy it from the programme for you here:

The piece was inspired by a cassette tape that a friend had given me. The tape was of a South American band that had recently acquired brass instruments and were roughly playing together. It was a messy sound, cacophonous - everyone playing together and not together. It was joyful and unwieldy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFGEbkH1kgw

Have a lovely Good Friday everyone,

Alex.