Thomas Bartlett & Nico Muhly

Colin McPhee, whose music inspired tonight’s performance, was the first composer to seriously study the music of Java and Bali, producing a number of transcriptions for two pianos that reimagined the gamelan for Western ears. In turn, Nico Muhly and Doveman reimagine McPhee’s transcriptions for the 21st Century, borrowing their mesmerising interlocking patterns for a new collaborative album to be released on Nonesuch Records, Peter Pears: Balinese Ceremonial Music – which they will perform in its entirety tonight.

The record, ten years in the making, was born from Muhly’s and Bartlett’s shared love of Colin McPhee’s music. McPhee himself was a close friend of Benjamin Britten and his partner Peter Pears – an accomplished musician in his own right, for whom this collaborative project is named.