The Centre Is Everywhere Manchester Collective

• Philip Glass (b. 1937): Company:
• 1 Glass: Company: I. 03:07
• 2 Glass: Company: II. 01:47
• 3 Glass: Company: III. 02:05
• 4 Glass: Company: IV. 02:26
• Edmund Finnis (b. 1984): The Centre is Everywhere:
• 5 Finnis: The Centre is Everywhere 12:50
• Arnold Schoenberg (1874 - 1951): Transfigured Night, Op. 4:
• 6 Schoenberg: Transfigured Night, Op. 4 28:29
• Total Runtime 50:44

Info for The Centre Is Everywhere

‘The Centre is Everywhere’ is our first album. We created it in rather extraordinary circumstances, at a time when we were all slowly sinking into the banal dystopia of a pandemic-stricken world. Our lives, it felt, had slowed to a crawl. Normally we’re fueled by our audiences, but touring was off the menu. So, we made this record. For us, it was personal.

In such an uncertain time, we wanted to play music that we loved. We ended up with a set of work written over a 120-year period – weightless and transcendent new music alongside Schoenberg’s anguished fin de siècle storytelling.

Edmund Finnis’ work in particular (the titular ‘The Centre is Everywhere’) is important to us. He’s a friend and a colleague, and it’s been a profound experience for us to live with this piece, to tour it, and to make the first ever recording. Somehow in the writing of it, Edmund seems to have prefigured the lack of certainty that has been one of the defining characteristics of this period. His music spins freely through time and space, wraithlike and beautiful.

Whilst recording both ‘Company’ by Philip Glass and ‘Transfigured Night’ by Arnold Schoenberg, we found ourselves drawn to a pervading sense of wildness and nature. The hypnotic rise and fall of the rhythms and textures in Glass’ quartet (presented here in an arrangement for string orchestra) feel quite separate to industrial, man-made structures and forms. Like Edmund’s work, these short movements feel out of time and cyclical, like eternally repeating tides or moon-phases.

Schoenberg’s masterpiece for string sextet opens on a moonlit forest scene, two lovers venturing through a bare, cold grove. We’ve tried to create a recording that paints the violent contrasts of this piece as vividly as possible, from the claustrophobic confessions that open the work through to the gleaming sound world of the second half. As the piece closes, our wooden, earthbound instruments seem to have been transmuted by the glamour and glow of Schoenberg’s music. We finish amongst the stars.

Manchester Collective
Rakhi Singh, violin, director

anchester Collective
is a new kind of arts organisation, built for a fresh and diverse musical world. We create intimate and intense human experiences inspired by the music that we love, for everyone.

We are the true believers. We passionately believe in the power of music to move us and to excite us. It doesn't matter to us if you're a seasoned concert-goer, or if it's your first time. All are welcome.

From the concert hall to the factory, from the recital room to the mill, the only thing we ask of you is that you open your ears and let yourself listen. Really listen.

And in return, we will create something extraordinary.

Known for their experimental programming and daring collaborations, the work of Manchester Collective has expanded at breakneck speed since their formation in 2016. They now play in concert halls, gig venues and factory spaces across Europe and the UK, performing a combination of cutting edge contemporary music, classical masterpieces, and staged work to a hungry, new audience.

New music is of vital importance to the Collective – in recent years, they have commissioned major works by artists including Edmund Finnis, Hannah Peel, Lyra Pramuk, and Laurence Osborn. Highlights include their Royal Albert Hall debut as part of the 2021 BBC Proms Festival; the creation of Dark Days, Luminous Nights, a daring audio-visual installation made under lockdown with Blackhaine and Simon Buckley; and Sirocco, the international sensation featuring South African cellist Abel Selaocoe.

This album contains no booklet.