Friday 17 May 2024
7pm
Silk Street Music Hall
The Bauhaus Festival
Digital Programmes
Please silence your devices and lower the brightness of your display.
This digital programme is intended for mobile devices, and may be viewed throughout the performance.
Do you have thoughts on our recent switch to digital programmes? Fill out our Audience Feedback Form.
Silk Street
Eating is not permitted in the auditorium. Drinks are allowed inside the auditorium in polycarbonates.
Filming or recording of the performance is not permitted.
Latecomers will be able to enter the auditorium at a suitable break in the performance.
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Founded in 1880 by the City of London Corporation
Chairman of the Board of Governors
Graham Packham
Principal
Professor Jonathan Vaughan
Vice-Principal & Director of Music
Armin Zanner
The Bauhaus in Britain
This year, the Guildhall Bauhaus company has focussed on the The Bauhaus in Britain - a short period of time from 1934 to 1937, when the most prominent Bauhaus masters (Walter Gropius, Lázló Moholy-Nagy and Marcel Breuer) lived in London at The Isokon - a development of modernist flats in Lawn Road, Hampstead, designed by Wells Coates. Here, the Bauhaus’s impetus to bring art and design into everyday life highlighted how the Bauhaus ethos of interdisciplinary practice permeated through Great Britain’s visual culture in the 1930s and then between 1960’s and ’70’s.
The Guildhall Bauhaus group visited The Isokon on a sunny Sunday morning, and we were lead through the history of the building by curator Magnus Englund, and discovered a vital connection between these three Bauhaus masters and the Isokon Furniture Company - a modernist manufacturer of handmade furniture inspired by the Bauhaus. ‘Invention which makes life more comfortable’, according to the slogan created by Moholy-Nagy in 1937.
Ercol
Isokon Furniture made the connections that would lead us into one of our main strands of practical work this year - Ercol Furniture. Ercol’s ethos of simple, practical design with no ornamentation seemed to echo the sentiments of the Isokon company and the Bauhaus itself. A trip by the Guildhall Bauhaus company to High Wycombe resulted in being lead around the whole of the Ercol factory by Henry Tadros, Chairman of Ercol, and it proved to be inspirational in making connections between the Bauhaus’s belief in artisanal craftsmanship and high technology with a 21st Century company with the same ideals - we witnessed Bauhaus principles at work in Britain in 2024. Ercol’s ethos of fitness for purpose, high quality proportion and form, sculptural awareness and lack of ornament is at one with the Bauhaus, as is Lucian Ercolani’s statement from early on in the history of Ercol: “My idea was to make decent furniture for the masses, such as they had never had - I had it in mind to bring the ordinary man and woman the comfort and the taste which had been the privilege of the well-to-do. We were learning to shun fancifulness and holding factually to the principle of making our work a living spirituality of goodness.”
Vidal Sassoon
Fashion designer Mary Quant often mentioned that Vidal Sassoon was part responsible for revolutionising an era. The style he created aided and reflected the change taking place in London during the sixties, whilst influencing a long-lasting transformation in hairstyling and fashion that had its roots in modernism and the architecture of the Bauhaus - so our second Guildhall Bauhaus external visit was to see Mark Hayes, International Director of Vidal Sassoon in Greek Street, Soho. After a compelling presentation on Sassoon and the Bauhaus, all our Bauhaus company were offered free haircuts at Sassoon’s, many of which were filmed and form part of the Sassoon sequence of videos that you will see tonight. The overall philosophy behind the Vidal Sassoon training programme (led by Joshua Gibson) is solid craftsmanship as the basis for creativity. They believe that by teaching the fundamentals students will then be able to specialise and to interpret the principles creatively, encouraging them to bring their own personality to the fore. Sassoon believed that “the hairstylist, in similarity to the architect or designer, must be incorporated into the modern world as a vital participant.”
Utopia
The first, short section of the performance tonight concerns Utopia, which tonight is a tribute to the architecture of the Barbican. As the most captivating and complete example of Corbusian modernism anywhere in Britain, it retains its bewitching attraction to students of the Bauhaus.
The Guildhall Bauhaus is an academic and practical course for students from all years with an interest in pursuing the interdisciplinary style of learning and practice originated by The Bauhaus School of Art and Design in the Weimar Republic from 1919-1933, and beyond. The course is organised within the Electronic and Produced Music Department at Guildhall School, and many thanks are due to Mike Roberts for his belief in our work. The performance aspect of the course, Bauhaus Saxophones, is kindly facilitated by the Wind, Brass and Percussion Department, led by Richard Benjafield, to whom many thanks are also due. Students Lydia Kenny, Jenny Shen and Olivia Underwood helped organise tonight’s event, and thanks are also due to Dylan Bate, The AV department, Kevin Elwick and Music Stage Managers. Sam Dinley has provided show technical support and the editorial/layout team for tonight’s programme was Eleanor Lee and Finty Woolf.
– John Harle, May 2024
SHOW ORDER I
UTOPIA
Barbican Utopia – Jenny Shen
Barbican New Vision – Eleanor Fineston-Robertson
LIVE MUSIC
Utopia – Sam Meredith
VIDAL SASSOON 1
The story of VS – Seamus Heath
Vidal Experience – Jan Tabecki
Basic Bop – Lydia Kenny
LIVE MUSIC 2
Kitten on the Keys – Zez Confrey
VIDAL SASSOON
So soon Vidal? – Sam Meredith
Sassyoon – Max Ratzky
Vidal Sassoon – Joe Pollard
LIVE MUSIC 3
Sassoon – Sioul Blaphate
VIDAL SASSOON
Vidal Sassoon – Josh Brown
Point and line to life – Eleanor Lee
The Ballad of Sassoon – Will Inscoe
Bob – Jonty Gould
LIVE MUSIC 4 Not Ercol and Not Vidal Sassoon
Film – A study into cosmic methodological deviation – A warning of the dangers found in interdisciplinary practice – Sioul Blaphate
INTERVAL
SHOW ORDER II
ERCOL
Ercol – Eleanor Fineston-Robertson
Ercol – Nuoon
Ercol – Olivia Underwood
LIVE MUSIC 5
Ercol – Sioul Blaphate
ERCOL
Ercol – Herb Smith
Ercol – Finty Woolf
Ercol – Jasmine Meaden
LIVE MUSIC 6
Shrapnel – Theo Sandberg
ERCOL
Wood Magic – Kevin Rodgers
Ercol – Rob Marr
Ercol – James Lansdowne
Walk of Generations – Theo Sandberg
LIVE MUSIC 7
The Ercol Chair Game – Harry Warren
BABICAN UTOPIA
JENNY SHEN
This piece was inspired by the concept of ‘Brutal Beauty’; a term used by the Barbican Centre to describe the work of the French painter and sculptor, Jean Dubuffet. I was captivated by his ability to create beautiful, mysterious and somewhat disturbing paintings. It made me wonder: how can I create music that captures the polarity between brutality and beauty?
Over the past couple of years, I have become increasingly influenced by minimalist com- posers such as Steve Reich and Thomas Newman, shifting my creative focus from long melodic lines to slowly evolving atmospheric textures. So, when it came to writing Barbican Utopia, I was challenged to blend both of these extremes, creating something that was simple in concept, yet subtly complex – evolving and ever changing.
Barbican Utopia is a meditation on life in the city: still and gentle, whilst also moving with great energy and sense of direction.
BARBICAN NEW VISION
ELEANOR FINESTON-ROBERTSON
The Barbican Estate, profoundly influenced by the Bauhaus design movement, offers an abundance of geometric patterns, lines, and shapes. My primary objective with my photography was to locate and capture the most intriguing angles and perspectives: perhaps those that were not immediately apparent, but those hidden within the detail of the buildings.
I am drawn to the way the Estate’s architecture plays with light and shadow, creating unique patterns that change throughout the day. Transposing the photographs into monochrome provided me with the most effective visual backdrop to this soundtrack, potentially provoking introspective thoughts, and creating an all-encompassing atmosphere.
I enjoy working with conventional instruments as much as I enjoy working with modern synthesised sound, combining the two in much of my work. In this piece, I merged the piano/strings/winds with electronics (and found sounds), hopefully creating a more profound ambience.
Utopian dreams are often a bi-product of an unsatisfactory present. They help to nudge humanity forward from time to time, promising to alleviate strife, invent solutions to problems. They are essential, but disappointing. This human motivation for change is, in itself, a positive force. But it can be susceptible to the sinister intentions of individuals or collectives, used for political or capital gain. For instance, some of the ideas and designs of the Bauhaus in the 1930s became co-opted by some big businesses in America, and ultimately consumed into the corporate language of power. In the arts, utopias are everywhere - especially in the process of creation, where the designer’s concern is to reveal and ‘render legible the process for making an ideal real.’
In my piece simply called Utopia, I hope to demonstrate some of my favoured processes that I think work for this unique ensemble.
Useless toil is no good for anyone. I hope the joy that I experienced through writing this piece and working with this group is reflected in the activity of listening to it.
THE STORY OF VS
SEAMUS HEATH
Vidal Sassoon was born in 1928. Vidal was three years old when his family, unable to be supported by his mother alone, fell into poverty, and were evicted. In 1939, when Vidal was 11, World War II began, and he was evacuated from London. “It’s a date I’ll never forget”, he says. “Suddenly my brother and I and all our fellow orphans were on trains with hundreds of thousands of other kids, moving out of London.”
After Vidal returned to London, aged 14, he worked as a messenger. He said he “got used to seeing bodies and blood, and hearing cries of agony” while carrying messages from central London to the docks. His mother insisted he got a hairdressing apprentice, but Vidal saw himself becoming a professional football player - “I could not imagine myself backcombing hair and winding up rollers for a living.”
This piece is an exploration into Vidal Sassoon’s childhood, and his inspiration by the Bauhaus. Visually, the piece pulls from a variety of sources and visual representations which do not have any direct relationship to Sassoon’s personal life or experiences. This music-video explores ideas of poverty, abstract representations of childhood and loss, and transformation, and hair. I hope you enjoy.
VIDAL EXPERIENCE
JAN TABECKI
“vidal experience”
Piece describes my monthly trauma
and debates on how short to cut my hair
A seemingly so insignificate issue,
yet one that affects the mood of the following days.
The piece contains five successive stages of a visit to a hair salon.
Beginning with describing the vision of the hairstyle to a hairdresser,
the cut,
passing through sudden doubts about the shortness of the hair.
It all ends
... usually ...
with a sense of fulfilment and refreshment.
Many thanks to Andrzej Frania for letting me shoot a video in his salon
BASIC BOP
LYDIA KENNY
Basic Bop is a playful response to the music video ‘Basic Black’, featuring hair by Vidal Sassoon.
Sassoon created a vision of hair that allowed it to move “freely with the wearer” whilst retaining its style, thus inspiring the ‘bop’ nature of the music.
I was drawn to the carefree movement of the models in contrast to the mysterious and sensual undercurrent of the original film. This is strongly reminiscent of the multi-layered absurdist art of the Bauhaus movement.
The vibrant characterisations in the video inspired the whimsical main theme which gradually shifts and reappears across the band. before being drawn back to the accented steps of the enigmatic hooded figure.
Inspired by the sound of his grandmother’s cat walking across her piano one weekend in 1921, Kitten on the Keys became Zez Confrey’s biggest hit. It sold over a million copies, and Confrey performed it at the same 1924 concert that saw the public debut of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. (WI, EA)
(Arranged by Adonis and Inscoe)
SO SOON VIDAL?
SAM MEREDITH
The opening bars present a dichotomy between a series of short, angular chords interspersed with short gaps of silence, or sometimes by throwaway improvisations. This texture was inspired by Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture which begins on the same held pitch, C, and is then rudely interrupted by a series of chords, full of tension and angst.
Instead of anger, I used these chords to represent the precise ‘cuts’ of a barbers’ scissors which created the geometric haircuts Sassoon was so renowned for. The piece is initially a struggle between black and white, and colour, which I thought would represent the crossover period between the stiff-upper-lip of the 1950s and the fun abandon of the 1960s.
But this grew to reveal a broader conflict between rationalism on the one hand, and the liberated fantasies of youth on the other, focusing on the antagonism between idealism and realism; a question that created a lot of friction during the founding days of the Bauhaus itself.
SASSYSOON
MAX RATZKY
Sassyoon is written around a progression of three chords, emphasising recurrence and repetition throughout the work. Essential to the sound is a sense of being on a loop, or stuck in a pattern of some kind. The music stays in the same place, with moderate build throughout the first two minutes, before eventually transforming into a darker, more sinister tone, driven by an increasingly present and foreboding ambient guitar.
The video seeks to encapsulate the sense of ritual, routine, pattern, and focus on self-image. To draw attention the latter, I had the actors mostly in states of self- reflection, or exploring their sense of identities in somewhat vain ways (looking in the mirror, doing one’s hair, dancing for the camera, etc.).
For me, the song is about how we seek to project ourselves to the outside world, and the endless spiral one can get into when trying to do so.
In keeping with the tradition of hairstyling, Sassoon, and its modern/sleek aesthetic, the video incorporates some Sassoon and Bauhaus images to go alongside the subjects going through the motions of attempting to appear glamorous, desirable, sexy, and beautiful to the outside world.
VIDAL SASSOON
JOE POLLARD
Volume, colour, and bounce; with a little edge.
I wanted the music in this piece to evoke the sensationally fresh feeling of leaving
the salon with a new head of hair. Whatever your style, you feel a new identity, a new brand,
a new you!
Accompanied by trims of old adverts and iconic Vidal Sassoon cuts, as you watch, take pride in your own masterpiece, just as you did for its first public showing. Vidal Sassoon said, «If you don’t look good, we don’t look good», but of course...
you know you do!
I am perfectly fine with wearing an apron with an integrated follicular containment system. No problem. But I do not want my cranial morphology to be assessed under any circumstances. Due to this dilemma, the idea of going to Vidal Sassoon will forever be a distant, bittersweet infatuation. My remorse is documented in this score.
VIDAL SASSOON
JOSH BROWN
When Vidal Sassoon burst onto the hairstyling scene in the 1960s, his sleek haircuts transformed the industry with their revolutionary, stylish, and instantly recognizable aesthetic.
The consistent rhythmic repetition in the piano evokes the meticulous precision with which Sassoon approached each strand of hair, reflecting the craftsmanship and artistry that made his work stand out. The funky theme running through the piece represents the contemporary flair of his designs while maintaining a timeless quality that made his cuts iconic.
Shorter ‘B’ sections in the composition carry a sense of growth and expansion, suggesting how a Sassoon cut could grow out over time without losing its refined style or elegance. The elements all come together to create a fun modern track that reflects the qualities of the Sassoon brand from its roots in the 1960s to its enduring appeal in the present day and beyond.
POINT AND LINE TO LIFE
ELEANOR LEE
In this piece, I focused on Vidal Sassoon’s geometric cutting styles and his experiments with the hair. I used the Five-point cut and the Veil cut to reflect the identity of Vidal Sassoon, trying to recreate its innovative and unique approach through sound.
Rhythmic patterns and percussion express the cutting points of picture 1, whilst melodic synths show the rawness, experimental and innate vibe of ‘The Veil’.
I focused on reflecting Vidal Sassoon’s currents. The flute doesn’t end with a root note but instead the 3rd note, giving it a more open ending, leaving the audience in anticipation.
The percussion then fades out, and synths become the main lead instrument, showing that Sassoon as a brand are still continuing to develop their ideal and their identity.
At this point, I was inspired by Vidal Sassoon’s AW23 ‘Citizen’ In the video, finding the points, lines and shapes in nature and the world, illustrating its relationship with Sassoon’s cutting styles.
In this piece, I wanted to not only point out Vidal Sassoon’s timeless and classic nature through its past, but also present the future, and Sassoon’s sense of adventure applied to art and life.
THE BALLAD OF SASSOON
WILL INSCOE
The Ballad of Sassoon is based on a visit to the Sassoon Academy on Greek street. The simplicity of the building and the interior design mainly consisting of one colour inspired the relaxed tempo of the piece. Having experienced a haircut at Sassoon, I was struck by the sheer quality and hospitality of it, which instantly sparked the idea to have the piece as a ballad; reflecting on high quality, simplicity and class.
BOB
JONTY GOULD
After taking a trip to Vidal Sassoon in Soho (and having a very lovely time), I wanted to capture the experience of not only getting your haircut, but the journey after. I saw this task as more of an opportunity to create an advert, which had an easy-to-watch story and a clear message; to entice people to go and have the same experience as myself on my trip to Vidal Sassoon. The music is written to accompany the easy- going aesthetic. It contains a mix of samples and live recordings created by me and the Bauhaus Band.
Upon hearing ‘Not Ercol and Not Vidal Sassoon’, it is better not to listen to this as a piece of music, but rather as an equation. The field of subtraction is a perilous one. Where do the smoke rings really go? Let us engage in this pursuit of discovery – together, right now!
FILM - SIOUL BLAPHATE – A STUDY INTO COSMIC METHODOLOGICAL DEVIATION – A WARNING OF THE DANGERS FOUND IN INTERDISCIPLINARY PRACTICE
As well as being a magician, composer and producer, Sioul Blaphate is a furniture manufacturer and a renowned hairdresser. This piece was made entirely by accident,
during an unforeseen journey in the field of thinking outside of the brain.
Dr Transmogrification/Sioul Blaphate
ERCOL
ELEANOR FINESTON-ROBERTSON
The composition unfolds in parallel to the furniture’s transformation from raw timber to finished product. The soundtrack mirrors the repetitive and meticulous nature of crafting furniture, maintaining a continuous uplifting spirit, matching that of the technicians performing their everyday tasks.
ERCOL
NUOON
The amalgamation of traditional and modern technologies within the Ercol furniture factory served as a profound source of inspiration for me.
Focussing on the principles of Ercol, I chose to explore in this piece the concepts of tradition, modernity, timelessness, warmth, comfort, and space-to-shapes.
The fusion of a string orchestra with electronic beats conveys the integration of traditional and contemporary technologies, embodying a timeless essence. Meanwhile, the overarching melody exudes warmth and comfort. Furthermore, the video subtly incorporates symbols of the Bauhaus, featuring Triangles, Squares, and Circles in RGB hues.”
ERCOL
OLIVIA UNDERWOOD
The central ethos of the Bauhaus movement encompasses the idea of art as function; the combination of two things which may seem at first glance at odds with each other. I saw this interesting harmony also expressed within the processes of Ercol: creating pieces of functional art through industry, taking something organic and transforming it into an unrecognisable new identity. There are various moving parts, and yet maintains its sense of a collective community. The balance of all these contradicting elements is what creates what we see as quintessentially Bauhaus. I hope this music can reflect this concept, and how it is embodied by Ercol.
As a child, if someone had suggested to me the possibility of sculpting the per- fect ergonomic contour, I would have scoffed at the notion and laughed in their face. Though the ergonomic contours of Ercol’s Chairs are not hypothetical billiard balls in a frictionless environment, I am certainly not laughing anymore.
ERCOL
HERB SMITH
Many different names have been prescribed to ambient music over the years, one of which is ‘furniture music’ – I thought it would be fitting, then, to use it in this context!
Whilst composing this piece, I imagined the sensation of standing underneath a tree on a sunny day, looking up through the leaves at the scattered rays of sun light. I wanted to create a sense of limbo, stationary drift, spinning. This is a sensation I found specifically in the work of William Basinski.
- I was fascinated how his use of drones and seemingly simple and repetitive melodies could be so enchanting, seeming infinite instead of seeming repetitive.
The sounds in this piece are the products of sporadic yet intellectual knob turning. hopefully it has an effect of nostalgia, comfort, ease, naturality – Just like an Ercol chair!
The video comprises of a collage of shot from my local woods in High Wycombe.
ERCOL
FINTY WOOLF
I made this piece by using loops and repetitive motifs, representing the Ercol factory process. I wanted to represent the back and forth of the chair making process, and how this process seemingly gets further away from the end product, while still progressing towards the end.
I wanted the visuals to be a subtle representation of trees becoming something new. With the main visual focus being on nature, as the growth of the tree is the longest part of the process, and it determines the final outcome the chair is reliant upon. I also used instruments such as trombones to act as a mechanical, steady background, complimenting the natural woodland inspired textures and landscapes.
THE WINDSOR CHAIR
JASMINE MEADEN
The Windsor Chair. I love this chair.
It has travelled from the Ercol factory in 1960, all the way to Surrey in 2024 where I collected it, then to Oxfordshire, and all the way to Cornwall and back.
I hope after watching this video you will love the chair just as much as I have grown to.
Shrapnel is composed for an ensemble of six saxophones, piano, guitar, and drums, exploring the aftermath of a violent explosion. It captures the tumultuous dispersal of shrapnel through a sophisticated web of sounds and rhythms at top speed, conveying the chaos and unpredictability of such an event.
In performing Shrapnel, each member of the ensemble is pushed to play at the edge of their abilities in a violent auditory display of speed, power and chaos.
WOOD MAGIC
KEVIN RODGERS
This piece was inspired by the beauty, sustainability and elegance of the company’s wooden furniture, and the mystery of the forests from which the raw material comes. The piece evolves as a series of variations of the opening theme (played col legno on the strings) all based around a syncopated rhythmic cell vaguely reminiscent of factory machinery
ERCOL
ROB MARR
The theme for this piece is ‘A chair dreaming of being a tree’. It was inspired by a comment during our tour of the Ercol factory; that the wood has a longer life as a chair than it would in the wild.
The opening is intended to be serene, simple. The repeated musical motifs are emblematic of the fixed geometry of the chair as it lives a quotidian, peaceful existence. An echo of the melody from the Ercol March is gently voiced by the cello.
We then enter the chair’s dream, as it grows from a single tiny leaf on slender stalk into full maturity. The Ercol March theme is used again, this time in the brass, reworked and reharmonised from its jaunty original into a more complex, magnificent maturity.
Finally, we return to the chair: as it sits, peaceful in its domestic bliss, dust motes gently eddying, home to a housecat that stretches and washes itself in the warm glow of a lamp.
ERCOL
JAMES LANSDOWNE
You take something well-made and there’s a point of contact there, where the design is an imprint on something that doesn’t grab your attention. It doesn’t stand out, but under scrutiny its object persists.
That’s the impression I had at the Ercol factory, so tactile and comfortable furniture there was clear and somehow impressive. The design leaves an impression. What it comes out of is not dissimilar to the way that I made this piece, a process of deep attention to a piano with many different microphones, spaces, processes and effects, and the sound of my production.
The piece doesn’t have a reference point, although you can hear its influences; Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Harold Budd, Terry Riley, etc.. I don’t like to choose a specific reference, as I think you can come to love the process of making something as its own form of design. There’s something a little bit infinite there. Something feels well-made when there’s nothing left to dislike, nothing you’d want to change. But there’s also no principle which holds this in place, commanding that it be so. We could all come together and change it. But the object persists.
WALK OF GENERATIONS
THEO SANDBERG
Walk Of Generations invites listeners on a captivating musical odyssey, delving deep into
the rich tapestry of Ercol's legacy as both a pioneer in design and a guardian of familial tradition. The composition weaves a melodic tapestry, echoing the rhythms of innovation and craftsmanship that have echoed through Ercol's storied halls since its inception in he 1920’s.
At the heart of the piece lies a recurring motif that takes the centre stage of the composition. The motif itself is based on a fragment of Ercol’s very own ‘Ercol March’, originally performed by The Ercol Band, comprised of dedicated factory artisans. As the music unfolds, this motif serves as an anchor, grounding the composition in the enduring spirit of Ercol's multi-generational workforce, whose unwavering dedication has shaped the company's illustrious journey.
The video echoes this as we see a man walking continuously through most frames. Though his surroundings may change, the man continues to walk. Some of Ercol’s most famous designs can be seen in silhouette subtlety throughout as the man walks on. This is symbolic of the generations of Ercol workers who have remained loyal to their beloved company, and continue to create masterpieces of design in Ercols name in the present day.
The Ercol Chair Game consists of an
arrangement of Harry Warren and Al Dubin’s
1934 hit song I Only Have Eyes for You,
from the film Dames, arranged by John Harle.
ENDE
Donate
We hope you thoroughly enjoy today’s performance at Guildhall School. If you feel inspired by our students and would like to support world-class training for these talented performers and production artists, we would be grateful for a voluntary donation.
Join the Guildhall Circle to access priority booking, exclusive events and more while providing vital support to our students. Join us at gsmd.ac.uk/circle.
Alternatively, you can make your gift using our contactless GoodBox devices located at the Box Office and foyer bars. Thank you.
Please visit our website at gsmd.ac.uk
Guildhall School is provided by the City of London as part of its contribution to the cultural life of London and the nation.