In Seven Days
piano and orchestra
- Year
- 2008
- Duration
- 00:30:00
- Category
- Piano and Orchestra
Instrumentation
3(II=afl+picc.III=picc).3.3.3(III=cbsn) – 4.3.2.btrbn.1 – timp – perc(4): vib/glsp/crot/t.bells/handbells/cyms/2 susp.cym/tgl/claves/bongos/cabaça/3 hanging bells or bell plates [ossia t.bells]/3 large gongs/tam-t/4 rototoms/SD/BD – strings (preferred 8.8.6.6.4, minimum 6.6.4.4.4)
Commission
Commissioned by the Southbank Centre and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Music Director
Programme notes
This piece is in seven continuous sections, following the Biblical story of Creation:
1. Chaos – Light – Darkness
2. Separation of the Waters into Sea and Sky - Reflection dance
3. Land – Grass – Trees
4. Stars - Sun - Moon
Fugue: -5. Creatures of the Sea and Sky
-6. Creatures of the Land
7. Contemplation
The story is set as a set of variations, reflecting the two-part structure of the story: Days 1, 2 and 3 are complemented by Days 4, 5 and 6.
In Day 7 the Theme is presented in its simplest form.
The visuals also tell the story in an abstract way, using footage and photographs from the two places equally responsible for the work’s commission: Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the immediate surroundings of each.
In Seven Days was commissioned by Southbank Centre and the Los Angeles Philharmonic
© Thomas Adès and Tal Rosner
Reviews
‘the music was just as dazzling as the visuals, and was its own kind of novel imagery… Adès' solo writing are more demanding than Tippett’s…the actual sounds are transparent and instantly telling. One left the hall lost in a kaleidoscope of colour, touched by an exquisitely decorative experience.’
The Sunday Times (Paul Driver) 4 May 2008
‘Not that the piece works to persuade the audience of anything more than to pay attention to its rich array of sounds and imagery. Swept up from the tohu-bohu of unruly waves, the audience is duffeted by the composer’s rich reverberations and the videographer’s eyepopping visuals, uncertain whether the aural propels the visual or vice versa, And therein lies the piece’s power, and the audience’s uncanny feeling of participating in the act of creation.’
The Jewish Daily Forward (Tom L. Freudenheim), 7 January 2011
Availability
Full score on special sale from the Hire Library
Full score, two piano score and solo part, and parts for hire
For the video installation, please contact the Hire Library for a referral to the video artist
Scores and publication
Upcoming performances
- — Philharmonie (Berlin, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Dvořák Hall, Rudolfinum (Prague, Czech Republic) (19:30) — Czech Republic — Composer
- — Dvořák Hall, Rudolfinum (Prague, Czech Republic) (19:30) — Czech Republic — Composer
- — Dvořák Hall, Rudolfinum (Prague, Czech Republic) (19:30) — Czech Republic — Composer
Previous performances
- — Barbican Hall, London (19:00) — United Kingdom — Composer, Conductor
- — Auditorium, Maison de la Radio (Paris, France) — France — Composer
- — Gewandhaus (Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Gewandhaus (Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Palacio Euskalduna (Bilbao, Spain) — Spain — Composer
- — David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center (New York City, NY, USA) — USA — Composer
- — David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center (New York City, NY, USA) — USA — Composer
- — David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center (New York City, NY, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Kentucky Center of the Performing Arts (Louisville, KY, USA) — USA — Composer
- — KKL Luzern (Lucerne, Switzerland) — Switzerland — Composer
- — Kulturpalast (Dresden, Sachsen, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Harpa (Reykjavík, Iceland) — Iceland — Composer
- — Suntory Hall (Tokyo, Japan) (19:00) — Japan — Composer
- — Alte Oper (Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany) (20:00) — Germany — Composer
- — Alte Oper (Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany) (20:00) — Germany — Composer
- — Großer Saal, Wiener Konzerthaus (Vienna, Austria) — Austria — Composer
- — Virtual Online Performance — Composer
- — Robinson Performance Hall (Little Rock, AR, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Robinson Performance Hall (Little Rock, AR, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Konzerthaus (Berlin, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Konzerthaus (Berlin, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Konzerthaus (Berlin, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, The Music Center (Los Angeles, CA, USA) (19:30) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, The Music Center (Los Angeles, CA, USA) (19:30) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London (19:30) — United Kingdom — Composer, Conductor
- — BBC Radio 3 (United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — Seiji Ozawa Hall (Lenox, MA, USA) (20:00) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — BBC Radio 3 (United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — Das Meininger Theater (Meiningen, Thüringen, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Helsinki Music Centre, Paavo Hall (Helsinki, Finland) — Finland — Composer
- — Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre (London, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — Conservatorio di Musica 'G. Verdi' di Milano (Milan, Lombardy, Italy) — Italy — Composer
- — Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco, CA, USA) (20:00) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco, CA, USA) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco, CA, USA) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium (Santa Cruz, CA, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium (Santa Cruz, CA, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse (CNSMD) (Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France) — France — Composer
- — Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse (CNSMD) (Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France) — France — Composer
- — Teatro Auditorium Manzoni (Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy) — Italy — Composer
- — Powell Hall (St Louis, MO, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Powell Hall (St Louis, MO, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Symphony Hall, Boston — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Symphony Hall, Boston — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Symphony Hall, Boston — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Grande Auditório, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon, Portugal) — Portugal — Composer
- — Barbican Hall, London — United Kingdom — Composer, Conductor
- — Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles, CA, USA) (14:00) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles, CA, USA) (20:00) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles, CA, USA) (20:00) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Symphony Hall (Birmingham, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre (London, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — City Halls (Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center (New York City, NY, USA) — USA — Composer
- — David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center (New York City, NY, USA) — USA — Composer
- — David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center (New York City, NY, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne — Australia — Composer, Conductor
- — Philharmonie (Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany) (20:00) — Germany — Composer, Conductor
- — Philharmonie (Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany) (20:00) — Germany — Composer, Conductor
- — Tonhalle Zürich (Zürich, Switzerland) — Switzerland — Composer
- — Konserthuset (Stockholm, Sweden) — Sweden — Composer
- — Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands) — Netherlands — Composer
- — BBC Radio 3 (United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles, CA, USA) (20:00) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre (London, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
Recordings
- Adès & Gerstein: In Seven Days — 2020 — Myrios Classics (MYR027)
- In Seven Days — 2011 — Signum Classics (SIGCD277)