On Saturday February 12, choral group The Theatre of Voices return to Kings Place, London for the world premiere of A Brief Descent into Deep Time by John Luther Adams, commissioned by Kings Place and Carnegie Hall. The programme is completed by Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen’s Song, a striking refraction of Dowland’s ‘Flow my tears’.
John Luther Adams is a composer known for bringing the sense of wonder that we feel outdoors into the concert hall and reclaiming our connections with the natural world. His latest piece A Brief Descent into Deep Time, represents a procession through the geological layers of the Grand Canyon. As Adams writes, “I’ve been following the rocks deeper into the canyon. Yesterday I passed the billion-year mark. The colours of the rocks and the beauty of their names have carried me away. It’s a journey of fascination, even obsession.” The song texts derive from the names of the geologic eras as well as major events in the history of the earth, including the five mass extinctions, spanning 1.7 billion years.
The Theatre of Voices will perform alongside organist David Bendix Nielsen, percussionist George Barton and led by Paul Hillier.
