840 launched their second season with a concert of cello music performed by Tre Voci (www.trevocicelloensemble.com).

http://eightforty.co.uk/events/121015/

The programme featured new music from two renowned experimental composers based abroad – Luiz Henrique Yudo (Netherlands) and Sergei Zagny (Russia) – alongside new works by UK-based composers Timothy Cape, Eleanor Cully, Alex Nikiporenko and Nicholas Peters. The programme was completed by Duo for two cellos by Richard Glover. 

Formed in 2012, Tre Voci is made up of Norwegian cellist Torun Saeter Stavseng and British cellists/composers Gregor Riddell and Colin Alexander. Tre Voci's repertoire ranges from transcriptions of medieval and renaissance vocal music to contemporary commissions including the use of electronics and improvisation.

This concert was kindly supported by Arts Council England.

The concert took place	 on Monday the 12th of October 2015 at St James’ Church, Islington.

840: New Music for Cellos

Modus Triplex explores the rich, resonant sonorities that are available on three cellos, especially when playing multiple strings at once. Three pairs of strings that can be double stopped (CG, GD and DA) and the three cellos in Tre Voci meant that number 3 was a natural starting point for a simple number row (111223), from which the entire piece was constructed. 

Modus Triplex has been released on Nonclassical's 'Outside the Lines' EP 
 https://open.spotify.com/user/nonclassical/playlist/7bw0IuUACL7vS0Vc38ziES

Modus Triplex was written for Tre Voci and premiered at the 840: New Music for Cellos on 12/10/2015.

Modus Triplex

tutto dietro il ponticello /everything behind the bridge began as a piece for solo violin in early 2014. Following the opportunity to write for Tre Voci, I adapted the piece for three cellos and recently completed it. The piece exists behind the bridge of each cello throughout, with the wood of each bow mostly located in the central area between the bridge and the tailpiece. 

www.eleanorcully.co.uk

tutto dietro il ponticello was written for Tre Voci (www.trevocicelloensemble.com) and premièred by them at the 840: New Music for Cellos on 12/10/2015.

Eleanor Cully - tutto dietro il ponticello

Paul Klee's painting of the same name (1932) was the inspiration for this piece through its use of transparency and dots.

www.soundcloud.com/luiz-henri

CLARIFICATION was written for Tre Voci (www.trevocicelloensemble.com) and premièred by them at the 840: New Music for Cellos on 12/10/2015.

Luiz Henrique Yudo - CLARIFICATION

Drangway(s) uses material from a previous piece that I wrote for solo cello in 2009/10, called Drangway, for Anton Lukoszevieze. This version for three cellos is a fractured reconstruction of the original. It uses a process similar to gluing a broken pot back together where some parts appear as the original and some take on a new form. 

www.nicholasrpeters.com

Drangway(s) was written for Tre Voci (www.trevocicelloensemble.com) and premièred by them at the 840: New Music for Cellos on 12/10/2015.

Nicholas Peters - Drangway(s)

A big part of what I try to do as a composer is to help focus listening towards very simple materials, usually pitches and pitch relationships. This piece uses gradual transformation to highlight the pitch relationships involved in a perfect cadence (a tool found commonly in some musics) and various other artefacts which arise from the process of sounding out this transformation. 

www.richardglover.wordpress.com

Duo for two cellos was written for Tre Voci (www.trevocicelloensemble.com) and performed by them at the 840: New Music for Cellos on 12/10/2015.

Richard Glover - Duo for two cellos

NEED looks at the effect that advertising has on our lives, on how we present ourselves in social and professional contexts, and on our clarity to make conscientious decisions which are true to our values. 

www.timothycape.wordpress.com

NEED was written for Tre Voci (www.trevocicelloensemble.com) and premièred by them at the 840: New Music for Cellos on 12/10/2015.

Timothy Cape - NEED

The work contains 141 C-notes, 150 D-notes, 156 E-flat-notes, 129 F-notes and 96 G-notes in different octaves. No other notes are presented in the work. Thus, the total amount of notes is 672. The overall written duration of the work is 627 quarters.

In the last movement there are 20 C-notes, 32 D-notes, 38 E-flat-notes, 17 F-notes and 5 G-notes. 112 notes in total, but I am not sure this is as interesting as 672. 

www.conceptualism.letov.ru/sergei-zagny/SERGEI-ZAGNY.htm

Studies On Rhythm BACH were written for Tre Voci (www.trevocicelloensemble.com) and premièred by them at the 840: New Music for Cellos on 12/10/2015. This recording was made at Tre Voci's concert in the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building in Oxford on 15/10/2015.

Sergei Zagny - Studies On Rhythm BACH

840 is a London-based concert series curated by composers Alex Nikiporenko and Christian Drew. The series is dedicated to providing a platform for new experimental and minimal music. Each concert focuses on a particular chamber instrumentation, showcasing a diversity of works by living composers. 

840 takes its name from Erik Satie's inscription in Vexations - "In order to play the theme 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, and in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities." 

Composer Nicholas Peters co-founded and co-curated the series from 2014 until 2017. Composer James Luff co-curated the series from 2017 until 2020.