PROGRAMME NOTES

In November 2022, I visited the National Museum in Oslo and saw an exhibition dedicated to Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–78). I was immediately struck by the sheer imagination and craftsmanship in his etchings, depicting fantastical buildings, vertiginous staircases and crumbling ruins commandeered by nature. I was amazed!

I later discovered that I owned a book of Piranesi’s complete etchings. When studying the book, with the ability to take time and revisit images, I fully appreciated just how detailed they are, creating the illusion that they are alive and moving. This feeling of movement and having the freedom to look through the book and revisit etchings at different speeds greatly influenced the piece. Etched is fast-paced, changing characters rapidly, as if flicking, stopping, observing, revisiting, pausing and moving through a book of Piranesi etchings.

The etchings that particularly influenced this piece were: Antiquus bivii viarum appiae at ardeatinae... (View of the junction of the Apoian and Ardeatine ways); Carcere VII: The Drawbridge (2nd state); Carcere XIV: The Gothic Arch (2nd state); and Veduta interna del Tempio della Tosse... (Interior View of the Temple of Cough...).

PD

PHILIP DUTTON is a British-Czech composer based in London. As well as an LPO Young Composer, during the 2022/23 season he is also a Britten Pears Young Artist and a Royal Philharmonic Society Composer. His music aims to express his love for storytelling and curiosity by writing music that is direct and vivid. He often draws upon his cultural heritage for inspiration.

Philip’s works have been performed by groups such as the BBC Singers, Engegård Quartet, EXAUDI and the Britten Pears Contemporary Ensemble, across the UK and Europe in venues including the Barbican, Cadogan Hall, Milton Court and Wigmore Hall. Philip was recently invited to participate in Creative Dialogue France, for which he wrote his string trio Ring Out!.

Philip previously studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (supported by the Guildhall Trust), The Purcell School and Wells Cathedral School (supported by the Government’s Music and Dance Scheme). His teachers and mentors have included Julian Anderson, Richard Causton, Brett Dean, Matthew King, Joseph Phibbs, Magnus Lindberg and Simon Speare.

EXPLORE THE EXHIBITION THAT INSPIRED PHILIP, ‘PIRANESI AND THE MODERN’ AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN OSLO, INCLUDING A 3D WALKTHROUGH

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