Barrett: Vanity

Featuring

Arturo Tamayo
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Richard Barrett'

Did you know?

1/7

Composer's Artistic Vision

The first movement of Vanity, titled Sensorium, is an aural transcription of 17th-century 'vanitas' still-life paintings, using musical 'meta-instruments' to represent symbols like the five senses.

Compositional Technique

Richard Barrett created new composite 'meta-instruments' in Vanity by combining different orchestral instruments to achieve specific attack and sustaining characteristics.

Composition History

Richard Barrett's first orchestral work, Vanity, was initially performed incompletely in January 1995 but secured its reputation after a complete performance in May 1996.

Performer Biography

The BBC Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1930, has a long-standing reputation for performing both new music and large-scale Romantic works.

Compositional Technique

For Vanity, Richard Barrett modified the standard orchestra by replacing timpani with electric bass guitars and adding cimbalom, piano, and saxophones to achieve his desired sonic palette.

Composer Biography

Richard Barrett, born in Swansea in 1959, initially studied genetics at University College, London, before pursuing composition with Peter Wiegold.

Recording & Production

This recording of Richard Barrett's Vanity was made on May 2, 1996, at St. Augustine's Church, Kilburn Park Road, London, with Geoff Miles as the recording engineer.