World premiere of Sleeping Patterns by Justė Janulytė for ensemble , co-commissioned by the Ensemble Modern, the London Sinfonietta and the Remix Ensemble
On 8 October in Graz, the Ensemble Modern will premiere Justė Janulytė's latest work for an ensemble of 16 instruments, Sleeping Patterns, directly inspired by the human sleep cycle: "During sleep, the human brain waves slow down while passing through different phases through to a deep sleep and accelerating as we wake up. All of this happens in specific cycles and patterns that seem like a perfect metaphor for my music this time and so I called my new piece for 16 instruments "Sleeping patterns", also as an indirect answer to Morton Feldman's question "Why Patterns?" After all, the "pattern" is a very musical term, referring to certain repetitive modules, rhythms, structures, melodies... In my work, there are 7 slightly different tempos of pulsating sounds that intersect within the ensemble, made up of micro-groups such as string, woodwind and brass trios, vibraphone or accordion/synthesizer duos, etc, similar to the imaginary limbs of a complex body with a regular breathing, a heart rate, eye movements, blood flow, etc. (Justė Janulytė)
Following this world premiere, a fruitful collaboration between three of the most important European ensembles will lead to a tour of the work performed successively on 6 November at the Casa da Mùsica, conducted by Peter Rundel, on 2 December at the South Bank Centre conducted by Jack Sheen, and on 17 December at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt conducted by Jörg Widmann. So many opportunities to discover this work, an authentic challenge to the monochrome style for which Justė Janulytė is so rightly famous, this time written for a polychromic formation, a "bonsai" version of a larger orchestra (to use the composer’s own poetic terms).
As an exclusive for our readers before diving "into the hypnotic processes of changing intensity and maybe even feeling one’s own pace in this dense polyphony ", here is a video interview with the composer.
Justė Janulytė - Sleeping Patterns
for ensemble
World premiere: October 8, 2022 - Steirischer Herbst festival (Graz, Autria)
Ensemble Modern
Jörg Widmann, conductor
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Portuguese premiere: November 6, 2022 - Casa da Música (Porto, Portugal)
Remix Ensemble
Peter Rundel, conductor
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UK premiere: November 20, 2022 - Huddersfield contemporary music festival (St. Paul's Hall)
December 2nd, 2022 - Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall (London, UK)
London Sinfonietta
Jack Sheen, conductor
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German premiere: December 17, 2022 - Alte Oper (Frankfurt, Germany)
Ensemble Modern
Jörg Widmann, conductor
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US premiere: November 14th, 2023 - Newman Recital Hall (University of southern California)
Thornton Edge, ensemble
Donald Crockett, conductor
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Swiss premiere: March 11th, 2024 - Tinguely Museum, Basel
Ensemble Diagonal
Emilio Pomarico, conductor