One of the things that I love most at Spitalfields Music is to be able to support new music. Now, I know that some people feel their shoulders rise when that term is used, because they think it’s all squeaky gates, but hear me out: we must support composers now so that future generations understand the context of our times through music.
If Pope Julius III hadn’t acted as a patron for Palestrina 475 years ago, we wouldn’t have the transcendent music we’re hearing on the last night of the festival, in the glorious surroundings of the Tower of London. And given Bach reputedly became somewhat obsessed with Palestrina while writing arguably one of the most-loved musical works of all time, the Mass in B minor, we wouldn’t have that either. And so on… My point is that what we are commissioning today is not only for us to enjoy now, but may also provide inspiration for musicians in the future, as pieces become embedded in the repertoire. It’s a privilege to play a small part in the birth of new music, knowing we’re also paying it forward.
The chain of influence and reverence in music is profound, and something that we’ll explore in a couple of events in this year’s festival. The Liebestraum Duo (Aisha Orazbayeva and Peiman Khosravi) present a programme including reimaginings of music by John Dowland, Elvis Presley, David Lynch and Barbara Strozzi, while the Consone Quartet serve up the musical lineages between Purcell, Britten, Haydn, Schumann and a Spitalfields Music commission from Oliver Leith, On a horse, on a hill, faraway, through fog and bonfire.
Although we haven’t yet started the 2025 Festival, we’re already firmly ensconced in planning our next edition, which will kickstart our 50th birthday celebrations. We will be asking for your help over the festival and beyond to build a commissioning fund so we can bring you the most exciting, meaningful and insightful music that’s being written today, alongside masterworks from our back catalogue and the musical canon of the last 500 years. We’ll send more information very soon, and hope you will join us to help realise composers’ genius.
But first, there’s the small matter of this year’s festival. Do come – it’s going to be epic, and we can’t wait to share the music with you all.