City of London Sinfonia’s musical-literary projects invite a re-examination of our relationship to tradition, artistic medium, and identity. Two cornerstones of English literary publishing, Faber & Faber and the London Review of Books, join CLS in partnerships that centre the established traditions across music and literature whilst challenging and celebrating new dialogues and viewpoints.
CLS’s programming with the London Review of Books draws on the LRB’s important custodial and evaluative function in the publishing ecology. The concerts presented in partnership with CLS stage direct encounters between ideas and the musical stimulus to which they respond, inviting contemporary audiences into the ongoing discussions responsible for shaping the history and future of the arts.
Our collaboration with Faber & Faber cements the contribution of new voices in this lineage of ideas and creative practice. In a series of commissions based on recently published collections of poetry, pairs of poets and composers use CLS ensembles’ experience in collaborative, responsive music making to explore confrontations between media, ideas, and cultures.
Past collaborations
A Form of Exile: On Edward Said and Late Style
City of London Sinfonia and the London Review of Books come together for music and literature celebrating Edward Said, featuring Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge.
Perfection, of a Kind: Britten v Auden
The first of our collaborations with the London Review of Books, tracing the full arc of the creative relationship between Benjamin Britten and W.H. Auden. From their initial collaborations on Auden’s 1936 play The Ascent of F6 to their most famous collaborative work, Night Mail, this production is inspired by a meeting (and parting) of minds like no other.