Solstices is a 75-minute piece performed in complete darkness. From sleep masks to broken cymbals, percussionist Sam Wilson explains how the Riot Ensemble brings Georg Friedrich Haas’s work to life
“Fade to black.” It’s one of the most ubiquitous lighting directions in existence. If you want to punctuate your final moments and wring every last bit of emotional heft from your material, fade to black.
But when the lights disappear five minutes after the start of the piece and the musicians are still playing? No, you’re not on the Titanic. Georg Friedrich Haas’s In Vain has been hailed by Simon Rattle as “one of the first masterpieces of the 21st century”, and the atmosphere in the hall the night of its
UK premiere at the 2013 Huddersfield contemporary
music festival was electric. Lighting is an integral part of In Vain, and 20 minutes of it are performed in complete darkness. The musicians seemed to be operating as some sort of pulsating amoeba: the sound expanded and contracted as one, but with impossibly intricate details.