Ensemble Fantasque: The Serious and The Absurd

Is there really a clear line between the serious and the absurd? Followed by Tyson Gholston Davis’ innate and evocative Distances, Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No.1, a work ahead of its time, has moments that lead towards insanity.
The second half opens with a series of arrangements of earlier music by Claudia Francesca Rusca, Johannes Ockeghem, and Josquin des Prez. Early music serves as an important influence on the composer of the last work, Ligeti. His Mysteries of the Macabre is adapted from his absurdist opera Le Grand Macabre, arranged by Elgar Howarth. The music embodies the ridiculous and the bizarre, along with nonsense language. Whether you are a fan of chromatic music, or a lover of pure simplicity, there is always something for everyone!

Program:

Tyson Gholston Davis - Distances

Schoenberg - Chamber Symphony No. 1

INTERMISSION

Arrangements of early music by Rusca - Canzon Seconda à 4, Ockeghem - Kyrie from Missa prolationum, and Josquin des Prez - El grillo

Ligeti/arr. Howarth - Mysteries of the Macabre (featuring Sam Jones, trumpet)

Ensemble Fantasque

Tengku Irfan, founder and music director

Host or Publisher Ensemble Fantasque