IDAGIO | Mark Simpson: Geysir - Mozart: Serenade No. 10 in B-Flat Major, K. 361 "Gran partita" 5060189561506

Featuring

Fraser Langton
Mark Simpson
Emma Fielding
Nicholas Daniel
Amy Harman
Dom Tyler

Oliver Pashley
Ausiàs Garrigós Morant
Angela Barnes
Ben Goldscheider
Fabian van de Geest
James Pillai
David Stark
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Did you know?

1/7

Critical Reception

The first documented performance of Mozart's 'Gran Partita' took place in a concert hall, indicating its move beyond its traditional role as background music.

Composition History

Mark Simpson's "Geysir" was commissioned for the Britten Sinfonia and conceived as a companion piece to Mozart's Serenade in B flat (K.361), the 'Gran Partita'.

Compositional Technique

Mozart's 'Gran Partita' expands its instrumental forces and scale beyond typical 'Harmonie' music, making it much more than background entertainment.

Compositional Technique

Simpson's "Geysir" draws inspiration from two ideas in Mozart's 'Gran Partita': the opening B flat major chord and the 'bubbling' clarinet parts in the sixth movement's fifth variation.

Composer Biography

Mark Simpson, the composer of "Geysir", was the first person to win both the BBC Young Musician of the Year and BBC Proms/Guardian Young Composer of the Year competitions in 2006.

Historical Context

The 'Gran Partita' belongs to a tradition of 'Tafelmusik' or 'Harmonie' music, which were dance suites played by wind bands for aristocratic entertainment.

Composer's Artistic Vision

The title "Geysir" (Icelandic for geyser) reflects the piece's volcanic logic, combining a pulsing underlay with lyrical eruptions from clarinets and oboes, mimicking steam and ash.