Nicolas Altstaedt premiere in Barcelona, ‘Prelude’ in Sydney

Craftsmen & Clowns for solo cello will be premiered by Nicolas Altstaedt at L’Auditori in Barcelona on 19 April. In 13 minutes and in three movements, it takes its name from a theory of the makeup of sitcom archetypes – the matriarch, the patriarch, the craftsmen and the clown. He’ll premiere it in a wide-ranging programme alongside music by Gabrieli, Bach, Hume, Turnage, Kurtág and Britten.

Altstaedt will also be giving the piece its UK premiere at the Aldeburgh Festival on 16 June – tickets here. There he’ll be performing it alongside Britten’s Cello Sonata and, with other performers, works by Birtwistle and Shostakovich.

It was commissioned by Royal Philharmonic Society, with support from an anonymous donor.

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My Prelude (after Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe) is also getting about the following week, with two performances by Sydney Symphony Orchestra at Sydney Recital Hall on 23rd April and Wollongong Town Hall the next day. It’s part of a programme with recorder player Genevieve Lacey – they’re also playinng Erkki Veltheim, Caroline Shaw, Giuseppe Sammartini, Thomas Adès, Alice Chance and a new piece by Lisa Illean. The piece has previously been performed in Australia, with Australian Chamber Orchestra.