THE Lady Lever Gallery in Port Sunlight is set to host what is described as 'a multi-media first' this weekend - featuring brand new pieces of music composed to reflect paintings within the historic venue's permanent exhibition.
The premiere performance of Pictures IN an Exhibition on Saturday (January 27), will be played by members of the Heswall Concert Band and the music has been composed by members of the band.
Greg Williams, the band’s musical director said: "The project came out of us rehearsing three movements of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
"I wanted to extend the scope but couldn’t find an arrangement of the other movements, so I set about arranging them myself’.
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"I wanted to play this work in the appropriate place, so we approached the Lady Lever Gallery who enthusiastically agreed.
"I then suggested that our musicians in the band might write music responding to art works in the gallery and perform these world premieres in that space.
"We've had a great and really creative response".
Mike Wood plays clarinet / bass clarinet and his piece is based on The Kelpie painting'.
Greg described the piece of music as "an atmospheric experimental work using some non-instrumental sounds".
Margaret on tenor sax and her son Archie on alto sax came up with a piece based on The Falls of Clyde painting which is described as "a lyrical piece with a strong rhythmic and melodic emphasis".
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Kathy Young plays percussion and had an idea of basing something around ’Bubbles’ the young child in the Lever Brothers Port Sunlight Soap advertising. The work features her playing the xylophone.
John Brice on clarinet wrote a melody based on the Ballet painting. Greg Williams completed it with two variations using the full range of the clarinet.
Pictures IN an Exhibition' will be performed at 2pm in the Lady Lever art gallery on Saturday (January 27). There is no charge for the concert.
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