Royal Scottish Orchestra Collaborates With Turntables, Costello, Computer

Sponsored by stv, orchestra+ explores the synergies between orchestral music and that of three different genres: club music (Concerto for Turntables, Thursday 19 June, 2008), pop and rock (Elvis Costello and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Saturday 21 June 2008) and music composed for the world of computer, arcade and video games (Video Games Live, Thursday 26 June 2008).

Concerto for Turntables - Thursday 19 June 2008, 8.00pm

Concerto for Turntables is a concert project created for the RSNO by composer and producer Gabriel Prokofiev. The centrepiece of the evening is Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra, a five-movement work which puts the talents of acclaimed hip-hop DJ Beni G from the Mixologists centre stage, mixing and ‘scratching’ orchestral instrumental samples, accompanied by the Orchestra.

Gabriel, like his famous composer grandfather Sergei, takes a unique and inspirational approach to orchestral music: “From Edgard Varese’s experiments with reel-to-reel and ‘organised sound’, to the proto-sampling of musique concrete, led by Pierre Schaeffer in the 1950s, classical composers have a rich history of manipulating recorded sounds, that stretches back long before Kool Herc or Grandmaster Flash scratched their first records.”

Concerto for Turntables is accompanied by music including New York composer Todd Levin’s Blur, an 8-minute fusion of orchestral and techno influences, and Russian composer Alexander Mossolov’s 1928 ballet work Iron Foundry which incorporates multiple percussive elements in imitating the sounds of a factory.

Elvis Costello and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra - Saturday 21 June 2008, 7.30pm

Elvis Costello returns to Glasgow for the first time since 2004 and joins the RSNO for an exploration of the musician’s musical eclecticism in a career spanning over thirty years. Costello and his longtime collaborator and keyboardist Steve Nieve will perform a selection of songs from his genre-crossing musical history, including Accidents Will Happen, Shipbuilding, She and God Give Me Strength alongside extracts from his first full-scale orchestral work, Il Sogno. Il Sogno (The Dream) is an impressionistic work blending elements of impressionistic classical style with jazz, originally commissioned by Italian dance company Aterballetto in 2002 as a score for a ballet adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The New York Times wrote of Il Sogno: “A rhapsodic piece full of shifting moods, with moments of eerie delicacy and of comic pomp.”

Video Games Live - Thursday 26 June 2008, 7.30pm

For the first time in Scotland, Video Games Live celebrates the music from the biggest video games. The RSNO is joined by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus in performing to exclusive cutting-edge video footage and synchronised laser lighting and including solo performers, electronic percussionists, live action, state-of-the-art special effects and unique on-stage audience interactive segments.

Video Games Live showcases music from the most popular video games of all time - from the beginning of gaming to the present – and features the soundtracks to over fifty different games, including a nostalgic segment focusing on retro arcade classics from the 1970s and 80s.

The concert is presented and conducted by Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall respectively, two of the most well-known figures in video games soundtrack composition, whose works include soundtracks to The Prince of Persia, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Spider-Man, Advent Rising and Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow.

RSNO Chief Executive Simon Woods announced the concert series: "At the Royal Scottish National Orchestra we are totally committed to the idea that as Scotland's national orchestra we should provide something for all musical tastes. orchestra+ is our latest stop on this exciting journey, and our hope is that the series will become a highlight in Glasgow's summer cultural landscape for years to come." -- www.rsno.org.uk