B'Rock proves how modern early music can sound
In his orchestral suite Les Elements, the French composer Jean-Féry Rebel illustrates how earth, water, fire and air rise up out of the universal chaos to form a new and harmonious order. When one hears the hair-raisingly dissonant opening chord of this simphonie nouvelle for the first time, one would probably associate Rebel more with the 20th century than the baroque court of the Sun King, where, encouraged by Lully, he worked his way up into the highest echelons of music. But contemporary composers sometimes mislead their listeners too. For example, in his Collage über B-A-C-H, Arvo Pärt swings between baroque and modern sounds, and his meditative Tabula Rasa double concerto would not go amiss alongside Rebel’s Tombeau de Mr Lully, a subdued tribute to his mentor. B’Rock proves how modern early music can sound, and vice versa. A surprising and exciting concert for those out to make musical discoveries.
*arrangement by Rodolfo Richter