Violist Lawrence Power and soprano Héloïse Werner perform Werner’s composition ‘Mixed Phrases’ for voice and viola at the Asylum Chapel, Peckham.

Of the piece, Werner states, ’As a French person living in the UK, I’m interested in the interplay between language and identity, especially in performance. ‘Mixed Phrases’ draws on this dichotomy as it moves between two parallel worlds. In one instance, we find ourselves in a familiar world, right here on Earth, featuring the rich sound of the viola and words by Arthur Rimbaud. In the next, we are in a more unfamiliar place, somewhere higher in the sky, the ethereal violin lines becoming entangled in a new reconstructed language’

The Lockdown Commissions project has seen Power commission ten short viola pieces and filming them in and around vacated London venues as a response to the Coronavirus crisis. The project is supported by the Viola Commissioning Circle.

Watch: Lawrence Power plays Locked in C

Watch: Lockdown commissions 6: Lawrence Power plays William Marsey’s The Poor Room

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