The Viking of 6th Ave - The Music of Moondog at the Barbican
Moondog - in New York in his iconic viking outfit
Britten Sinfonia with Andre de Ridder conducting and featuring Andi Thoma (Mouse On Mars), will perform (2nd half of concert only) material from Moondog (1969) and Elpmas (1992), while London Saxophonic join forces with pianist Liam Noble and percussionist Paul Clarvis take a wide-ranging look at Moondog´s brass and sax arrangements. The Moondog All-Star Choir including Lightspeed Champion, Adem, Pictish Trail and more will provide vocals while Max de Wardener makes a specially-commissioned Freestage appearance. Kieran Hebden aka FourTet will play a post-show DJ set.
Following Britten Sinfonia’s acclaimed tour of 2006 entitled Bach meets Moondog, the orchestra once again take to the stage to perform a selection of this iconic composers' work whose music has influenced a generation of artists. Moondog was the pseudonym of Louis Thomas Hardin (1916-1999), a blind American composer, musician, cosmologist and poet. He spent much of the 1950s and 1960s living on the streets of New York; the Viking costume that he adopted made him one of the most photographed and familiar urban figures of the period.
Moondog's unique work has been sampled, cited and celebrated by generations of musicians, from early disciples like Steve Reich and Philip Glass to later devotees like Mouse On Mars, Anthony Hegarty, Damon Albarn and Elvis Costello.
This unique concert event features a range of guest artists celebrating the music of a true legend. The performance is produced by the Barbican in association with Eat Your Own Ears.
There will be free events on the Barbican Freestage and Clubstage before and after the show.
In a companion event, Moondog Around Midnight takes place in the beautiful setting of the church of St Giles Cripplegate at 11.30pm on the same evening. US organist Paul Jordan, a veteran Moondog collaborator, will play a concert of the composer’s organ music; tickets are at a 50% discount for main concert ticket holders.
‘Moondog was as recognisable in the NewYork City landscape as the Empire State Building.’ New York Times
‘Wonderful music: strange, jaunty, sad, eerie, virtuosic, maddeningly catchy.’ The Independent
Dates
London
Saturday 30 May
7.30pm
Box Office: 020 7638 8891
