WORLD PREMIERE of Michael Finnissy's Wisdom commissioned by the Marsyas Trio

Tickets and info: https://www.haymusic.org/events/2025/1/12/the-marsyas-trio-7mybd

The programme includes the world premiere of a major work by British composer Michael Finnissy and a work by Dame Judith Weir who was Master of the Queen’s/King’s Music from 2014 to 2024.

Both composers will be present at the concert and they will join the players for a pre-concert conversation.

Echoes of a Distant Land

The programme is inspired by a rich array of literary sources that underpin each piece. Finnissy's Wisdom draws on a multitude of texts which take the listener around the globe, ranging from Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime myths to Shakespeare’s poetry and Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’. Weir's Nuits d’Afrique, commissioned by Wigmore Hall as a companion piece to the Ravel's Chansons madécasses, represents three female writers from Senegal, Ivory Coast and Congo-Brazzaville, with poems depicting local life. Mel Bonis’ Scenes de la foret includes references to Greek mythology, alongside the beautiful shorter vocal pieces by Ravel and Saint-Saëns.

Judith Weir Nuits d'Afrique

Michael Finnissy Wisdom

Interval

Mel Bonis Scenes de la foret

Saint-Saëns Une flûte invisible

Ravel La flute enchantée (Shéhérazade)

Ravel Chansons madécasses