On July 25 at the BBC Proms, the world premiere of Joybox by John McCabe will take place. The BBC Philharmonic conducted by Juanjo Mena will perform the BBC commission at the Royal Albert Hall in London as part of Prom 17: The Apotheosis of the Dance.
McCabe writes:
Joybox was commissioned by the BBC for the 2013 Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, and is a musical souvenir of a trip to Japan a few years ago. I was in Osaka listening with amazement to an ‘entertainment centre’ full of slot machines (one-armed bandits) playing widely different musical jingles, all going on simultaneously but independently. Eventually I seemed to perceive a kind of musical structural pattern to the babel of noise, and this gave me the idea for what I hope is an ‘entertainment’ piece. (I was certainly entertained by the noise emanating from the ‘entertainment centre’). Unlike those of the original, however, my patterns are constantly changing as well as coming together in different ways.
Joybox is dedicated to the memory of Steve Martland.
CONCERT INFORMATION
BBC PROMS 2013
Thursday July 25 | 7.30pm – c9.55pm | Royal Albert Hall, London
Prom 17: The Apotheosis of the Dance
John McCabe Joybox c7’ BBC Commission, World Premiere
Beethoven Symphony No 7 in A Major 40’
Interval
Falla The Three-Cornered Hat 35’
Ravel Boléro 15'
Clara Mouriz mezzo-soprano
Antonio Márquez Company
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena conductor
The world premiere of John McCabe’s BBC commission Joybox opens a concert of music inspired by or written for dance, from the Bohemian stamp and whirl of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony to the slow-burning ostinato of Ravel’s Boléro. Mezzo-soprano Clara Mouriz joins conductor Juanjo Mena and the BBC Philharmonic in Falla’s colourful Ballets Russes commission The Three-Cornered Hat, a tale of intrigue and jealousy shot through with the spirit of Spanish folk dances.
BROADCASTS
RADIO | Live on BBC Radio 3
TELEVISION & RED BUTTON | Recorded for broadcast on BBC Four on August 2
ONLINE | Live and 'listen again'
