but today we collect ads (2008)

For orchestra

Commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra

Programme Note:

The title comes from a quotation from the Smithson Partnership (Peter and Alison Smithson were revolutionary British Architects) regarding a 1953 art exhibition created by the Smithsons, working as part of the Independent Group of artists (the ‘IG’), entitled ‘The Parallel of Life and Art’. The full quotation reads as follows:

‘GROPIOUS WROTE A BOOK ON GRAIN SILOS,

LE CORBUSIER ON AEROPLANES,

AND CHARLOTTE PERIAND BROUGHT A NEW OBJECT TO THE OFFICE EVERY MORNING,

BUT TODAY WE COLLECT ADS.’

‘The Parallel of Life and Art’ featured a disparate array of images displayed without written explanation or introduction and distributed in a quasi-random manner throughout the exhibition space.

but today we collect ads is cast in six (sometimes short) movements and was written for the London Symphony Orchestra through 2008 LSO Discovery Panufnik Young Composers Scheme, supported by the Helen Hamlyn Trust.

Duration:

Approximately 5 minutes