James Burton’s latest work, “The Lost Words”, gets its premiere at Tanglewood on July 21st, with inclusion also in the ever-popular Tanglewood on Parade concert on July 23rd. The 30 minute 12-movement work written for upper voices and orchestra is a co-commission between the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Hallé Orchestra, and is based on the phenomenally successful book by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris. Each movement takes its text from one of MacFarlane’s poems, or ‘Spells’. In Tanglewood the Boston Symphony Children’s Choir will perform the work with piano, and in July of 2020 the Hallé Children’s Choir will premiere the full orchestral version. Both premieres will be conducted by James.
Read more about the Tanglewood performance here.
Before the full Hallé premiere, two Spells will be performed on 25th August at the BBC Proms in a concert dedicated to the Lost Words, performed by the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and Southbank Sinfonia, conducted by Jessica Cottis.
James’s catalogue with Edition Peters is here.