Royal Academy of Music Concert
3 - 4.30pm
Included with admission
[ Special Event )
Experience live performances by students from the Royal Academy of Music, who will be performing pieces inspired by works from our collection.
Over the last academic year, six MA composition students from the Royal Academy of Music have crafted new pieces inspired by artworks from our collection. Guided by art historian Michael Bird and composer Philip Cashian, these students have immersed themselves in our galleries for inspiration.
Over the past year, they have each composed 8-minute pieces for acoustic instruments only, ranging from solo to full ensemble configurations including flute, clarinet, trumpet, violin, cello, and piano.
Be part of the journey as these compositions come to life in a special concert, performed by fellow musicians from the Royal Academy of Music in the unique setting of our art store. Dive into the soundscape of creativity and exploration, coinciding with the final Saturday of our John Craxton exhibition.
Follow the instructions in the box on the right to book your ticket.
How to book?
Whilst entry to the performance is included in Gallery admission, we recommend you secure your spot by pre-booking online. It’s the best way to guarantee your place, as these events are expected to be very popular.
You simply need to book a ticket for Gallery entry on the day of the music event (see left for options). When you add a Gallery ticket to your basket, the concert will be suggested as an add-on.
You will have the option of a concert ticket with a £5 donation or just a free ticket on top of your Gallery admission. Your donations help to ensure that we can continue to provide you with top-class performances throughout the year.
Thank you for your support.
Performers and Composers
Eric Davis
Four Pieces for Pallant House
Written for a mixed quintet, this set of four miniature movements was inspired by our Model Art Gallery. This exhibition, titled Masterpieces in Miniature was installed in 2021 and featured a model art gallery with curated rooms displaying miniature artworks from notable British artists. This piece examines just one room of the model gallery, and the four miniature paintings contained within: The Little Lover by George Shaw, Disappearance at Sea by Tacita Dean, The Death of David Kelly by Dexter Dalwood, and The Naked Eye by Glenn Brown.
Ben Hoppe
The Girl in the Corner
Inspired by Portrait of a Girl (1949) by Lucian Freud.
This piece consists of two sonic areas; one is rhythmic and jolty, while the other is still and reserved. This contrast was one that I noticed immediately in the portrait. The almost stiff-upper-lip of the woman along with her blank stare alludes to there being more under the surface than an image can show. To me, it was a matter of determination versus resignation. I let this concept mould the piece into what it is today. The music rarely fully resolves and is full of constant dynamic and harmonic shifts.
Archie John
Kellerbar
Kellerbar was inspired by Patrick Caulfield’s 1997 painting of the same name. I was drawn to the spaciousness and restraint of the painting with each block of material placed so carefully and with such considered thought. A deep sense of loneliness dominated my response to Caulfield’s work, triggered by the absence of any signs of life in much of his output – as if the painting has frozen any sense of movement, leaving the viewer to surrender to its still landscape. I have tried to mirror these feelings of stasis in my music with material slowly unfolding at its own deliberate and unchanging pace.
Zhichang Lin
A Musical Depiction of ‘Respective’
The very characteristic in Richard Hamilton’s Respective to me is the blank space, reminding me of ancient paintings in my culture, but different approach and meaning that drag me into Hamilton’s art world. The limited materials also attract me as they have potentials to be developed in many ways. What I am trying to convey in my music is not about any literary sight or personal mood, but just the painting itself, objectively and rather cold. The music is mainly featured with short notes as “points” and sustain notes as “lines”, almost a complete musical portrait of Respective.
George W. Parris
Danseuse No. 5
Danseuse No. 5 takes its name from an artwork by Italian Futurist painter Gino Severini on which the piece is based. Painted in 1913, the work reflects excitement for noise and power of the age of machinery whilst disregarding and (as observed in the writings of Filippo Marinetti et al.) discrediting the art and culture of the centuries prior to the 1900s. The music is a response to the artwork, capturing the energy, vibrancy and colour that drew me to the painting when visiting the Pallant House Gallery.
Adam Zolty
Within
A hommáge to David Bomberg and his painting: Tajo and Rocks, Ronda (The Last Landscape)
Within is a hommage to the influential painter, David Bomberg (1890-1957) and his last landscape painting Tajo and Rocks: painted in Ronda, Spain in 1956. In this painting, Bomberg searches to capture “the spirit” of the landscape. In this piece, I search for “the spirit” within a single chord. The piece begins softly and introspectively, then migrates to a loud external feel by the end, portraying the majestic subject of the artist – the great rocks of Ronda. The majestic closing also serves to represent this being the final landscape painting of this great artist’s lifetime oeuvre.