Berceuse from The Exterminating Angel

Commission

Commissioned by Alexandre Devals and Mimi Durand Kurihara for Kirill Gerstein

Programme notes

Commissioned by Alexandre Devals and Mimi Durand Kurihara for Kirill Gerstein, this Berceuse for solo piano is a reworking of music from Act III scene iii of Adès’ 2016 opera. In one of the score’s many lullabies, Eduardo and his fiancée Beatriz, lying hidden together in a cabinet, choose to take their own lives rather than become victims of the exterminating angel.

Availability

Score on special sale from the Hire Library

Scores and publication

• Publisher information
• View score

Upcoming performances

• 16 January 2027 — Wigmore Hall (London, United Kingdom) (17:30) — United Kingdom — Composer

Previous performances

• 14 May 2026 — The Green Room at the Grand (Folkestone, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
• 5 March 2026 — Tempo Rubato (Brunswick, VIC, Australia) — Australia — Composer
• 1 March 2026 — Glebe Justice Centre (Sydney, NSW, Australia) — Australia — Composer
• 28 February 2026 — Glebe Justice Centre (Sydney, NSW, Australia) — Australia — Composer
• 16 July 2025 — Wigmore Hall (London, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
• 13 May 2025 — Boulez Saal (Berlin, Germany) — Germany — Composer
• 5 January 2024 — BBC Radio 3 (United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
• 21 August 2020 — Berwaldhallen (Stockholm, Sweden) — Sweden — Composer
• 20 February 2020 — Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall (New York City, NY, USA) — USA — Composer
• 29 November 2019 — Music Centre (Helsinki, Finland) (19:00) — Finland — Composer, Conductor
• 22 June 2019 — Tivolis Koncertsal (Copenhagen, Denmark) — Denmark — Composer
• 3 June 2019 — Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre (Melbourne, VIC, Australia) — Australia — Composer
• 1 June 2019 — Victoria Concert Hall (Singapore, Singapore) — Singapore — Composer
• 7 May 2019 — Chenery Auditorium (Kalamazoo, MI, USA) — USA — Composer
• 26 April 2019 — No Venue (Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany) — Germany — Composer
• 2 March 2019 — Galvin Recital Hall, Northwestern University (Evanston, IL, USA) — USA — Composer
• 24 February 2019 — Wigmore Hall (London, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
• 17 February 2019 — Großer Saal, Wiener Konzerthaus (Vienna, Austria) — Austria — Composer

Recordings

• Femmes De Légende — 2023 — ATMA Classique (ACD2 2890)
• Adès & Gerstein: In Seven Days — 2020 — Myrios Classics (MYR027)