Collections Considered (solo violin) by JH
Peter Sheppard Skaerved commissioned Jean's solo violin piece, Collections Considered, in 2006 for performance at the British Museum, London, as part of the series: A History of the World in 100 objects. Entitled Objects and today's world, the day-long events on 14 October included workshops, lectures and a concert in the evening. Peter also played works by Philip Glass, Paul Pellay, Paul Archbold, David Gorton and Howard Skempton.
Peter writes: "The tally sticks in the Enlightenment gallery are a powerful symbol of our times, dominated by invoices and receipts. Alongside these, composers respond to the original translation programme, the Rosetta stone, to the idea of a modern collection of objects, and to the astounding modern notion of our place in the universe."
Collections Considered was premiered in the British Museum's Enlightenment Gallery by Peter in June 2006, played there again in October 2010, and also performed at St Paul's Cathedral in August 2007.
More information on Peter Sheppard Skaerved can be found here.
Fragment for Peter (and Tamayo)
This short 'fragment' for solo violin was composed for Peter in 2004. It was played by him over 200 times during the last week of July 2004 in Mexico City's Museo Tamayo.
As part of the exhibition, ´Sodio y asfalto´, every morning of the week Peter played a cycle of small pieces while walking around the exhibit. Jean's fragment was used as a kind of theme/"promenade" between each of the other fragments, written by eighteen composers from around the world.
Subsequent performances took place in Ankara, Turkey and Nashville, Tennessee, and London (Royal Academy of Music).
