DARKNESS AND LIGHT

In ‘Darkness and Light’, Bernard Foccroulle and Lynette Wallworth created a remarkable performance that transcended the conventional form of the organ recital. Taking its title from a work by leading Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina, Darkness and Light ranges across 350 years of organ music: from the baroque constructions of Bach and Buxtehude and Messiaen's ecstatic celebration of God and Nature, to the evocative sound pictures of Toshio Hosokawa, all performed by Foccroulle. Wallworth’s large scale two-channel video projections accompany each piece, the combined work revealing new visual and acoustic appreciations of organ music.

Wallworth’s commission presents rich imagery drawing together evocative portraits of Australian landscapes, natural and man-made, with astronomical footage contributed by NASA. The images and music, in continual conversation, amplify and reshape each other, becoming a powerful and emotive reflection on the forces that bind humanity, landscape and the cosmos.

In describing his intentions for the collaboration with Lynette Wallworth, Bernard Foccroulle said, “In organ music, darkness and light can easily be associated with visual equivalents, but they also refer to obvious theological concepts. Our purpose was to invite the spectator to listen to this music in a new way, and to enrich the music with a visual counterpoint. I very much believe that organ music can be brought into a new life in our time.“

Explaining her inspiration for Darkness and Light, Wallworth said, “In Australia, we live in a country that is defined by nature, and we live in relationship to its rhythms, for better or worse, for richer or poorer. This shifts one’s sense of place and of self. In seeking to respond to this programme of organ music, its history steeped in religious expression, I have come carrying my country.”

Darkness and Light was created by Lynette Wallworth and Bernard Foccroulle in 2014.

Produced by Karsten Witt Musik Management in association with Forma. A co-production by Palais des Beaux-Arts, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Southbank Centre, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Laeiszhalle und Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Concert en congresgebouw de Doelen and Adelaide Festival. Supported by Arts Council England.