*** We’re sorry to announce that, due to the ongoing coronavirus situation, this concert has been cancelled. ***

PHILIP GLASS Dracula: Suite
BERNARD HERRMANN Psycho: Suite
SCHUBERT (arr. Mahler) Death and the Maiden

Covent Garden Sinfonia
Ben Palmer conductor

A striking programme bringing together Philip Glass’ score to the 1931 film version of Dracula, and the most infamous soundtrack of all time, Bernard Herrmann’s music for Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic 1960 horror thriller Psycho. Mahler’s transcription for string orchestra of Schubert’s dramatic D minor quartet of 1824, Death and the Maiden, completes this dark and thought-provoking emotional and musical journey.

Made famous by the terrifying stabbing music accompanying the notorious shower scene, Herrmann’s soundtrack for Psycho was written for strings rather than full symphonic forces, mirroring the black-and-white cinematography of the film. Hitchcock himself said that “33% of the effect of Psycho was due to the music”.

Directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi, Philip Glass wrote his 1998 score for Dracula for the Kronos Quartet, here expanded (like the Mahler arrangement) for string orchestra, but with the addition of a piano, a part Glass played himself alongside Kronos in live performances with the film.

Though Mahler left what amounts to a complete arrangement of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden, he himself conducted only the second movement Andante con moto, at a concert in Hamburg in 1894. His annotated score was given by the composer’s daughter to musicologist Donald Mitchell, who, together with composer David Matthews, created a performing edition of the full work.

Tickets: £20 • £15 • 25% concessions available
Box office: 020 3879 9555
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