Across Generations: Birtwistle's Silbury Air

The London Sinfonietta brings new music from Poland to London and sets it beside two British works it commissioned, including Birtwistle’s enigmatic classic. Named after Silbury Hill, an ancient man-made mound on the edge of Salisbury Plain, Birtwistle’s Silbury Air is a short piece for chamber ensemble that creates an imaginary landscape in a single 17-minute span. In it, you hear Birtwistle examining familiar sounds – machine-like ticking, or tolling bells – from ever-changing angles.