Talisker

Ten years ago, the Belgian spectralist Luc Brewaeys passed away. He was a composer of grand sound structures filled with fantastically coloured sound clouds. Antwerp-based I Solisti – a recurring guarantee for adventure in the Thursday Evening Series – pays tribute to this sound wizard from their hometown, joined by the percussionists of HIIIT. Music by Olivier Messiaen, the French maître who excelled in composed birdsong, will also be performed. 

Talisker refers to a smoky whisky that Brewaeys liked to drink. That smoky quality is echoed in the sound of rasping percussion and clarinets infused with gritty double tones, that envelop the listener like a mysterious fog. The theatrical music of young Scottish composer Genevieve Murphy is equally physical and evocative. In Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques, the magnificent song of exotic birds flutter through the concert hall, creating a rainbow of sound.