Matthew Barley: Light Stories
The cellist harnesses the power of music to console, comfort and uplift in a specially commissioned concert experience, with visuals from Yeast Culture.
Light Stories is tales from Matthew Barley’s life, told through music and projected imagery, narrating his search for meaning in music-making and how, in time, he came to heal past wounds.
The performance incorporates pieces by Joby Talbot, Anna Meredith, John Metcalfe and Bach with new works by Barley, connected by moments of improvisations and electronics.
Barley took a template of a ‘voyage and return’ story and mapped events in his life onto it, selecting or composing music to match the stages of the story.
Light Stories is a passionate celebration of the redemptive power of music, bringing Barley’s teenage story of trauma and recovery into the light for the first time, integrating the twin senses of seeing and hearing, music and memory, sight and sound.
Innovative video designers Yeast Culture create projected images as a vivid counterpoint to the music, evoking the darkness of trauma and its transformation into clarity and understanding.
Light Stories was produced with the support of the Nicholas Berwin Charitable Trust and the Southbank Centre, and first performed at the Southbank Centre.
Performers
Matthew Barley cello
Repertoire
Matthew Barley: Spell; The Dreaming; Cathedrals and Caves
Bach: Prelude from Suite No.6 in D for solo cello, BWV.1012
Jan Bang: Implanted Memories
Giovanni Sollima: Hell 1 from Songs from the Divine Comedy
Anna Meredith: moonmoons; Blackfriars
Matthew Barley: Unravelling
Joby Talbot: Motion Detector
Matthew Barley: In the Crosshairs; Timefolding
John Metcalfe: Constant Filter
Matthew Barley: Full, Empty, The Unwaiting Sky
Need to know
Find out more about the music with our free programme.
The performer’s note on the programme contains references to topics that some may find disturbing. Content warning: attempted suicide, substance abuse.
View the programme
For your visit
This event is held at the Purcell Room Southbank Centre
The Purcell Room is located in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.
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The Purcell Room is an auditorium located within our Queen Elizabeth Hall.
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