100 Demons

The Manchester Collective (managing director Adam Szabo, musical director Rakhi Singh) is presenting the world premiere of Daniel Elms 100 Demons as part of an evening which also includes music by the underground electronic artist Vessel (Sebastian Gainsborough), Steve Reich, Jonathan Harvey, Edmund Finnis and Michael Gordon. They will be at the Chimney House, Sheffield (1/3/2018), The Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool (2/3/2018) and the Stoller Hall, Manchester (3/3/2018). The programme will feature special guest Oliver Coates (cello), a musician who combines classical training with other approaches and who has just finished an international tour where he supported Radiohead

Daniel Elms' 100 Demons is 'a manifestation of Elms' frustrations and feelings of disempowerment in the face of governance that, at the cost of the many, distorts and obscures in the name of personal, political and financial gain'. Inspired by Hyakki Yagyō ("Night Parade of One Hundred Demons"), which in Japanese folklore is a parade of yōkai - a class of supernatural monsters, spirits and demons, the work includes pre-recorded materials – split, sliced and phased through digital recording technology – alongside a live string quartet. The 'tape' element of the composition hosts a series of un-pitched vocals and harmonic fragments, recorded with the collective back in November 2017. The manipulation of the pre-recorded strings and voices blurs the line between real and myth.

Full details from the Manchester Collective website.