REFRACTIONS

Manchester Collective x Clark x Melanie Lane

 

Refractions: a new offering on ancient themes.

Music is a sonic inscription that has survived the passage of time. I wanted to put works of old in conversation with those of the present, weaving together an aural tapestry that ruptures our sense of structure. It morphs from the macro to the micro, the acoustic to the electronic, from chaos to order and light to dark. I played with extremes of contrast in order to create, through disharmony, a new experience.

Working with Clark and Melanie Lane, much was done through instinct, finding music, images and gestures that communicate more to each of us than words ever could. We leaned into each others’ senses and listened to the messages that were transmitted.

I wish to encourage you into the part of yourself that feels beyond logic: to feel what others could never explain.

RAKHI SINGH
Creative director

Refractions is produced by Manchester Collective and is co-commissioned with Southbank Centre and The Bridgewater Hall, with support from Jonathan and Ariella Green

Refractions

 
 

Part I: Behold, the Effervescence!  

Clark Caveman Lament
Hildegard von Bingen Antiphon*
Clark Suspension Reservoir*
Olli Mustonen Nonet No. 2, IV. ‘Vivacissimo’
Clark Harpsichord E.C.S.T.*
J.S. Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Paul Clark Gateway 1 – Prologue
Clark Butterfly Prowler*

Part II: Liminal Spaces

Benjamin Britten Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge Variation, IX. ‘Chant’
György Ligeti Étude No. 4, ‘Fanfares’ 
Clark Primary Pluck*
Picforth In Nomine*

Part III: What Ghosts, Echoes, Shadows, Emerge between the Ruins?

There is destruction; in the creation of new meaning, the old paths of meaning must be destabilised. 
The ruins saturate the air, like dust unsettling or particles of fog and within that haze and cloud, something new and transgressive is created. 

Clark Mountain Sine Tone*
György Ligeti Ramifications
Clark Earth Systems*
Oliver Leith will o wisp, III. ‘magic’
Clark Green Breaking*
J. S. Bach Chorale, ‘Du Großer Schmerzensmann’ BWV 300

Part IV: The Ascent

Surpassing things we’ve known before. Take flight.

Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130, II. ‘Presto’
J.S. Bach, Paul Clark, Rakhi Singh Gateway 2 – Prelude
Clark Beacon*

*ARRANGED BY RAKHI SINGH

 

Go behind-the-scenes with…

Clark and Rakhi Singh:

Choreographer Melanie Lane:

The Collective

 
 

CREATIVE TEAM

Creative direction Rakhi Singh
Electronics Clark
Choreography Melanie Lane

Costume design Don Aretino
Lighting design Lewis Howell
Sound design Joe Reiser
Orchestration Hugh Brunt, Ananda Chatterjee, Alistair Vennart
Imagery Alma Haser

LINE-UP

Dance
Samantha Hines
Niamh Keeling
Moses Ward

Electronics
Clark

Violin I
Rakhi Singh
Martyn Jackson
Marie Schreer
Roman Lytwyniw

Violin II
Eva Thorarinsdottir
Will Newell
Lily Whitehurst

Viola
Alex Mitchell
Lucy Nolan

Cello
Nick Trygstad
Peggy Nolan

Double Bass
Alice Durrant

Piano
Junyan Chen

PRODUCTION TEAM

Sound engineer & production manager Joe Reiser
Monitor engineer Lee Aston
Lighting engineer Lewis Howell
Tour manager Tom Lovatt

MANCHESTER COLLECTIVE TEAM

Chief executive Linda Begbie
Co-artistic director Rakhi Singh, Jasmin Kent Rodgman
Executive producer Declan Kennedy
Brand & communications director Joanne Karcheva
Campaigns & content manager Pareesa Tai
Marketing support Will Baldwin-Pask

With great thanks to our friends, followers, colleagues and donors, whose collective support makes this work possible. Join our supporters →