John Tilbury

Legendary UK pianist John Tilbury presents a homage to writer and poet Samuel Beckett. The concert begins with Beckett's 25 minute radio play Cascando and then ...but the clouds the 1977 12 minute TV film directed by Jayne Parker. John will also perform some of the late poems of Beckett as well as a solo piano piece based and inspired by Beckett's late novella Worstward Ho.  
Fri 21 May 2010
During the 1960s, Tibury was closely associated with the composer Cornelius Cardew, whose music he has interpreted and recorded and a member of the Scratch Orchestra. His biography of Cardew, "Cornelius Cardew - A life unfinished" was published in 2008.

Tilbury has also recorded the works of Howard Skempton and John White, among many others, and has also performed adaptations of the radio plays of Samuel Beckett.

With guitarist AMM bandmate Keith Rowe's electroacoustic ensemble M.I.M.E.O. Tilbury recorded The Hands of Caravaggio, inspired by the painter's The Taking of Christ {1602). In this live performance, twelve of the members of M.I.M.E.O. were positioned around the piano in a deliberate echo of Christ's Last Supper. The thirteenth M.I.M.E.O. member (Cor Fuhler) is credited with "inside piano" as he interacted and interfered with Tilbury's playing by manipulating and damping the instrument's strings, essentially doing piano preparation in real time. Critic Brian Olewnick describes the album as "A staggering achievement, one is tempted to call The Hands of Caravaggio the first great piano concerto of the 21st century.

Another notable recent recording of Tilbury's was Duos for Doris (like The Hands of Caravaggio also on Erstwhile Records), a collaboration with Keith Rowe. It is widely considered a landmark recording in the genre of electroacoustic improvisation.

Date: Friday 21st May 2010
Tickets: £12
Time : 20:00
Booking & Information Call:
01424 229 111
http://www.dlwp.com