Manchester Collective: Hidden Mechanisms at the RNCM
Johnny James, Managing Editor
Exploring some of the best contemporary chamber music, Manchester Collective’s new Hidden Mechanism show comes to the RNCM this February.
Intimate, personal and intricate. Chamber music has always invited a close-knit chemistry, in which you can hear every bow and breath. The quiet, spectral strings of Oliver Leith’s Ivor nominated The Big House exemplifies this, exploring textures and timbres in a way that’s uncanny yet alluring. If chamber performances originally took place in homes, then the perfect setting for this piece would be a derelict mansion.
A brand new piece comes courtesy of Héloïse Werner, a singer and composer who’s one of the most exciting voices on the contemporary British scene. Written for the Collective, Hidden Mechanisms peers into a music box and examines the tiny mechanical parts that power it, each inspiring a different movement. Expect a fun approach to vocals and a bunch of theatrical flair.
But it’s not all delicate sounds in this concert. Cranking up the volume is Olli Mustonen’s Piano Quintet. The piece has a coiled intensity, full of tension, ready to strike with musical jumpscares, scurrying energy and a hint of mischief.
Lean in, make yourself at home and listen closer as Manchester Collective show you what contemporary chamber music is all about.
