Christian Mason: Open to Infinity - a Grain of Sand

With the London Sinfonietta conducted by Thierry Fischer. Christian Mason was mentored by Boulez at the Lucerne Festival Academy and has already written a work for him. The title explores what Boulez as a figure means to Mason, as ‘an archetype and a master of fine details’. ‘Someone once told me that “time doesn’t exist for Boulez any more”,’ he says. ‘I liked that idea.’ He also liked and remembered the Blake poem, ‘To see a World in a Grain of Sand’. ‘It connected the Boulezian ideas of detail, precision and eternity.’ Mason’s orchestration echoes the piano, harp, percussion trio in Boulez’s Sur incises, with each instrumental family from the chamber orchestra providing a background colour. ‘Usually I add lots of unusual instruments. With this one I wanted purity and primary colours.’