The harpsichord is an exquisite machine.

It’s an instrument of contradictions – completely mechanised but totally expressive, part of musical history, but utterly contemporary in its sound.

Mahan Esfahani has made a career exploding stereotypes around the harpsichord. In this programme, he joins us to present a pair of subversive concertos by Joseph Horovitz and Henryk Górecki – the former a witty confection of jazz colours and textures, the latter an intense and devastating musical prank.

Our ongoing collaborations with Mahan have ranged from performances on the biggest possible stage (Royal Albert Hall for the 2021 BBC Proms) to intimate showcases of delicate chamber repertoire. At the heart of this programme is Laurence Osborn’s ‘Coin Op Automata’ – a miniature clockwork piece, a search for the ghost in the machine. In Laurence’s piece, string quartet and harpsichord are fused together into one musical machine – sometimes jerky, sometimes broken, but always compelling.

Tour Dates

5 November – Bristol – St George’s Bristol
6 November – Cardiff – Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama

Check times and book tickets via the venue links

Setlist

Henryk Górecki Concerto for Strings and Harpsichord
Joseph Haydn String Quartet Op. 54, Adagio
Johann Sebastian Bach Chorale (from St Matthew Passion)
Johann Sebastian Bach Art of Fugue, Contrapunctus xiii
Laurence Osborn Coin Op Automata
Antonín Dvořák Notturno
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck Fantasia Chromatica
Joseph Horovitz Jazz Harpsichord Concerto

Approximate run time: 75 minutes

Line-up

Mahan Esfahani Harpsichord
Rakhi Singh Violin
Donald Grant Violin
Carol Ella Viola
Hannah Roberts Cello
Misha Mullov-Abbado Bass
Craig Hanson Drums

“A rollercoaster hour of the sublime, magical and jarring.”

AUDIENCE MEMBER, VOICE OF THE WHALE

“I've never seen anything like that before. It was atmospheric and mesmerising.”

AUDIENCE MEMBER, HEAVY METAL

“Amazing musicianship and eclectic, varied programme.”

AUDIENCE MEMBER, THE HOLY PRESENCE