Press release

May 08 2009

EDEN INSPIRES ORCHESTRAL MUSIC

Saturday May 16th sees the second performance of a piece of music inspired by the composer’s visit to the Eden Project.

Christopher Crawley, a Hertfordshire based composer and horn-player with links to Cornwall, has written an ambitious piece for large orchestra called Aspects of Eden, which will be performed in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, by the Dacorum Symphony Orchestra.

The piece, lasting about half an hour, rubs shoulders with Brahms’s massive first piano concerto, played by virtuoso Viv McLean.

“Imaginative and uplifting”

Tim Smit, chief executive and co-founder of the Eden Project, said, "I have just listened to the work Aspects of Eden. It is really inspiring to know that composers and artists are producing work of such quality and that Eden is providing some of the raw material! It is not easy listening, I grant you, and it is certainly not background music, but it is imaginative and uplifting - almost what Kraftwerk might have considered in a classical music idiom.

“As it is, it reminds me (not in a plagiaristic way, but in terms of its genetics) of Saint-Saëns meets Erik Satie - spare, jagged, at times violent, released by moments of great beauty. We wish Chris and the Dacorum Symphony Orchestra every success with their ongoing work."

Different perspective

Chris is looking forward to the concert immensely. He has made a few revisions since the first performance, but, unlike last time, he is planning to play the first horn part himself. “It’s a completely different perspective – and I can hear all the comments of the players round me!” he said.

For further information about the orchestra, visit www.dacorumso.org. Tickets are available for the May 16th concert, which starts at 7:30 in Centenary Hall, Berkhamsted Collegiate School, from the DSO Ticket Secretary on 01442 863830, or at the door on the night.