In Death speaks, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang gives Death a human voice.
Premiered alongside his acclaimed the little match girl passion, this haunting song cycle continues its moving comparison between the worlds of the living and the dead. With lyrics drawn solely from the songs of Franz Schubert, who personified Death numerous times, Lang "connects the dots between Romantic morbidity and emo rock" (The New York Times). Death speaks is paired with songs and instrumental numbers by Dowland, Ravel, JS Bach, Kurtág and Jonny Greenwood, as well as by Schubert himself.
The performers include two City Music Foundation Artists, Lotte Betts-Dean (mezzo-soprano) and Andrey Lebedev (guitar), as well as Iona Allan (violin) and Joe Havlat (piano). Not often open to the public, The Pathology Museum, part of Queen Mary University of London, is a Grade II Listed Medical Museum situated at the top of St Bartholomew’s Hospital; it houses over 5000 medical specimens displayed over 3 mezzanine levels.
Part of a day of music presented by City Music Foundation at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, also including Lunchtime Recital: Abner Jairo Ortiz Garcia (cello) and Jazz in the Hospital Square (4pm-6pm)
Ticket includes refreshments; doors open 7.15pm