“Once again this composer breaks new ground with a work which immerses its audience in a music theatre of the mind. It is compelling for the sureness of its unfolding in time and space, the striking soundworlds conjured from its nine-piece ensemble, and its rich underlying vein of melancholy”.
RPS Awards
Red Note commissioned and collaborated with Scottish composer James Dillon for the opening concert of the 40thHuddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2017, and has toured Europe since then. In 2018 the work was awarded the RPS composition prize and nominated for the BASCA British Composer Awards 2018.
“die Glieder, welche nichts als Pendel wären, folgten, ohne irgend ein Zutun, auf eine mechanische Weise von selbst. (*After all, the limbs are pendula, echoing automatically the movement of the centre.)
Über das Marionettentheater : Heinrich von Kleist
Tanz/haus [lit.; ‘dance house’] ‘Tanz’ (‘dance’) from the (old) French ‘dancier’ itself is said to have derived from an (old) Frisian word ‘dintje’ to ‘tremble’ or ‘to quiver’. ‘House’ from Old English ‘hus’ (or low German ‘haus’ ) which simply means ‘dwelling’, can be traced back to its Indo-European root ‘hide’ – to hide, to conceal.
“The specifics of Dillon’s soundworld were ravishing: sortilege bursts of chiming glitter, coloured with florid counterpoint and suspended chords and drones.”
– 5:4
“James Dillon’s composition Tanz/haus is a brilliant piece of music; its construction solid, its expression human, with a breathtaking and shimmering orchestration. The Scotsman is one of the most colourful composers in Europe. His works pair an intriguing complexity with an original and lush dreamy sound world.”
– The Wire
Composer, James Dillon
Red Note Ensemble
Jackie Shave, violin
Robert Irvine, cello
Nikita Naumov, doublebass
Ruth Morley, flute
William White, clarinet
Wiek Hijmans, elec. guitar
Andreas Borregaard, accordion
Tom Hunter, percussion
Simon Smith, piano/keyboard
Conductor, Simon Proust
Sound Engineer, Sami Bouvet
November 2018
November Music, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
October 2018
Sound Festival, Aberdeen, UK
October 2018
Transit Festival, Leuven, Belgium
November 2017
hcmf Huddersfield, UK
