Cello Octet Amsterdam & Elisabeth Hetherington

Eight cellists and soprano Elisabeth Hetherington are venturing on the brink of sound and movement. You will hear ancient music by composers such as Gesualdo, Luzzaschi and Strozzi, but also brand-new sounds by Peter Vigh, alto saxophonist and permanent arranger of the Berlage Saxophone Quartet. “Extremely enjoyable, both musically and visually.” (Theaterkrant) For Sonus Motus, Cello Octet Amsterdam and LeineRoebana join forces to strengthen and challenge the listening experience of music with dance, use of space and movement. This way, the audience feels how music is connected to space and how much it is an expression of the body. The performance is inspired by composers who lived and composed on the interface of Renaissance and Baroque. In the compositions of Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613) for example, traditional polyphony clashes with the new insights of the early baroque, and Luzzasco Luzzaschi (1545-1607) and Barbara Strozzi (1619-1977) wrote music in a time when women in Europe were just starting to be allowed to be professional singers. Composer Peter Vigh in turn sees this music as a sophisticated children’s construction set filled with building blocks for a new world of sound. Sonus Motus is a co-production of LeineRoebana and Cello Octet Amsterdam in collaboration with the Cello Biennale Amsterdam. -- (Text and image) https://www.spotgroningen.nl/programma/cello-octet-amsterdam-elisabeth-hetherington/