Total Immersion: The Music of Louis Andriessen

Tom Service presents the first of two programmes featuring highlights from today's Total Immersion celebration of the music of the influential Dutch composer Louis Andriessen. Tonight you can hear works from concerts by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia and Guildhall New Music Ensemble, climaxing with the UK premiere of Andriessen's major new orchestral work Mysterien. In Hear and Now at the same time next Saturday, the UK premiere of Andriessen's newest music theatre work: La Commedia, inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy.

Bach arr. Andriessen: Prelude in B minor (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Part 1)
Britten Sinfonia,
Conductor Andrew Gourlay.

Andriessen: De Stijl
Fanny Alofs (speaker),
Synergy Vocals,
BBC Symphony Orchestra,
Conductor Clark Rundell.

Andriessen: Hout
Guildhall New Music Ensemble,
Conductor Geoffrey Paterson.

Andriessen: Dances
Allison Bell (soprano),
Britten Sinfonia,
Conductor Andrew Gourlay.

Andriessen: Mysteriën (UK premiere)
BBC Symphony Orchestra,
Conductor Clark Rundell.

Andriessen's hard-hitting, propulsive music burst on to the international scene in bold response to the American Minimalists. His dynamic, jazz-influenced art has proved a provocative and invigorating force in European music, while his collaborations with film-makers such as Peter Greenaway have pushed forward the boundaries of musical theatre and cinematic technique. Expect pungent sonorities, hectic rhythms and a feast of ideas.