A new work by Birdsong Charlotte Bray entitled A Sky Too Small receives its world premiere on 13 July at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence by Orchestre de Paris conducted by Klaus Mäkelä. The seven-minute work was commissioned jointly by Orchestre de Paris and the festival. The concert programme also includes Mozart’s Symphony No.31 (Paris) and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. Mäkelä conducts performances of A Sky Too Small with the orchestra at Philharmonie de Paris on 4 and 5 December.

Reflecting on the ideas behind the piece, Charlotte comments:

“Based on a shocking and ultimately tragic true story, where the basic human right of freedom is stolen, enforced incarceration is a central theme in the work. And, locked away in a dark hole, there is too small a sky. Then, in an instant, it snaps closed. In time, and far too late, the captor becomes captive. The sky is outspread and unbounded, seemingly and sadly like the never-ending conflict.”