The Oracle

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Manchester Collective’s ongoing collaboration with the astonishing cellist, singer and composer Abel Selaocoe has been something of a sensation. Live music is always about connection, and there is something very special about this unique combination of musicians – our projects together feel giddy, joyous, chaotic and creative, and the connection with the audience is intimate and intense.

When we were putting this show together, there were two ideas that we were keen to explore. About half the music in The Oracle looks to the past: we’re performing some classical heavy-hitter pieces by Vivaldi and Stravinsky, and two newly commissioned works by Abel that riff on some of the rhythms and techniques used by those greats.

The other works in the show look to the future, inspired by the cultural idea of Afrofuturism – a fusion of Black culture with the worlds of science and technology. As Abel put it in one of our first sessions working on the show: “Sometimes, in order to find peace and a better future, you have to look away from this world”.

Putting this set together has been a wild ride for us. We hope you enjoy listening to the shows as much as we’ve enjoyed making them.

Improvisations

Getting out of the score has always been a highlight of our work with Abel, and so it’s only right that we should start this performance with an improvised piece of music. The rhythm section at the heart of this show is made up of solo cello, electric bass, and a huge array of African percussion. Abel, Alan and Mohamed begin The Oracle with a free and beguiling work that is genuinely different every time they play it. Of course, not knowing how a piece is going to go does make it quite hard to write programme notes, but this is just going to be that kind of performance! Watch out for all of the communication going on during this piece – the players are constantly watching, signalling and cueing each other to move on to new sections of music.

Antonio Vivaldi ‘Concerto for Strings in G Minor, RV 156’

The freedom of the opening improvisation is soon challenged by Vivaldi’s Concerto for Strings in G Minor – music that is earthy, grounded and familiar, yet terrifically exciting. Even if you are new to Vivaldi’s string works, his ‘Four Seasons’ have been the soundtrack to a thousand films, TV shows and advertising campaigns. Vivaldi’s music is baked into a kind of collective subconscious, in the same way that most of us instinctively recognise and respond to music by The Beatles. As the rhythm section is now joined by the strings, the non-verbal communication on stage also expands – there are now twelve musicians from very different musical worlds, working together to bring this baroque masterpiece to life.

Picforth ‘In Nomine’ / Oliver Leith ‘Honey Siren: II. (Full Like Drips)’

Picforth and Leith felt like a fascinating combination – we’ve drawn together the oldest work on the programme with one of the newest. Picforth was an English composer and ‘In Nomine’, written around 1580, is the only known work by them. These harmonies feel curiously modern, as if prefiguring Oliver Leith’s strange, pulsing string writing. ‘Full Like Drips’ from Leith’s work ‘Honey Siren’ feels nocturnal and alien, and a lot closer to the sound that you might expect to hear from a contemporary electronic work than from a string ensemble.

Abel Selaocoe ‘Camagu’ / ‘Tshepo’ / ‘Kae Mo Rata’

When we were programming this show, we kept coming back to the concept of rhythm and groove – how we feel rhythms, how rhythms are taught, and how traditional rhythms connect families and cultures in much of Africa. So much of the traditional music that Abel grew up with is built from the ground up, starting with folk rhythms that have been passed down from generation to generation of virtuosic percussionists and musicians. The three new works in this programme are united by the ceaseless rhythms that run through them.

Abel may be South African, but of course his musical influences are not limited to his home country. In ‘Camagu’, Rakhi and Simmy imitate the sound of the Zeze, a traditional Tanzanian string instrument, by playing on toy violins. In the past, Abel’s work has featured material drawn from the Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, and South Africa.

Igor Stravinsky ‘Concerto in D for Strings’

Stravinsky’s Concerto in D for Strings is a work in three short movements that oscillate wildly between manic, propulsive material and music that is swooning and romantic. The contrasts are jarring, as is the simplicity of the music – often, melodies are constructed of just a few alternating notes. Rhythms are off-kilter, constantly catching the listener off guard. At the end of it all though, Stravinsky leaves us with bright flashes of light, gleaming sunshine and sparkling unison chords.

Mica Levi ‘Love’

One of the key influences for this show was the idea of Afrofuturism, so it seemed fitting that we include this extraordinary work by Mica Levi for string ensemble and two synthesisers. ‘Love’ was originally composed for the ambiguous and beautiful sci-fi film ‘Under the Skin’ by Jonathan Glazer, and its eerie pitch-bends and lack of resolution felt like the perfect contrast to some of the more grounded repertoire by Vivaldi, Stravinsky, and Abel himself.