The world premier and recording of Inscapes by Nicholas Korth, commissioned by the London Chamber Orchestra and The Guild of Horn Players, took place on February 22nd at St John’s Smith Square, London. The London Chamber Orchestra was conducted by Christopher Warren-Green with Toby Spence, tenor and Nicholas Korth, horn. The performance, which included the Serenade for tenor, horn and strings by Benjamin Britten, will soon be available as an online stream.
Inspired by Britten’s Serenade, Inscapes explores further the natural tuning of the horn. The title refers to Gerard Manley Hopkin’s concept of the uniqueness of each component of the natural world, and is both a celebration of it and an elegy to its defilement by humanity.
Midnight Rain, settings of Edward Thomas for tenor, natural horn, string quartet and keyboard will be premiered later in the LCO’s current season.
There are also plans for the BBC Symphony Orchestra to perform and record his Harmoniae Naturales VI send my roots rain – featuring tenor Daniel Norman, soprano Anna Dennis and three overtone singers – at Maida Vale Studios in London conducted by Martyn Brabbins.
Nicholas has recently been appointed as Composer in Residence with the English Sinfonia.
His first work in this role, Jubilare an Enigmatic Fanfare will be premiered by the Orchestra at the Elgiva Theatre, Chesham on July 24th this year
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He is currently working on settings of Jehanne Mehta’s poetry for soprano, string quartet and Saturn Planet Gong, to be performed this Autumn by members of the English Sinfonia with the wonderful soprano Emma Tring of the BBC Singers. He has also begun Osden, a Sci-Fi themed opera based on a short story by Ursula Le Guin, involving overtone singing and conventional vocal techniques and the resulting rich sonic possibilities. There are plans for the opera to be staged at the Elgiva Theatre in 2025.
