LONDON - First there was the book. Now there is the festival. The Southbank Centre announced the details Tuesday morning of The Rest Is Noise, a year-long festival of 20th-century music inspired by Alex Ross's 2007 book of the same name. Mr. Ross, a music critic for The New Yorker magazine, won considerable acclaim for “The Rest Is Noise,†a sweeping survey of 20th-century classical music.
“When I read the book in its proof form, I called up Alex Ross right away,†said Jude Kelly, the artistic director of the Southbank Centre, speaking to journalists and music professionals at the press launch. “I said, let me stage this.â€
Ms. Kelly stressed that Mr. Ross, while giving his blessing to the festival, has had no involvement in the programming. That has been largely carried out by Ms. Kelly and Gillian Moore, the head of classical music at the Southbank Centre, and Timothy Walker, the artistic director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
The a mbitious plan is to survey 20th-century music and arts chronologically. Twelve intensive weekend programs throughout 2013 will aim to contextualize the music through talks, workshops and films. (The festival opens with the first of the weekends, “Here Comes the 20th Century,†on Jan. 19.)
Ms. Kelly said that she hoped to give audiences the chance not just to discover and explore 20th-century music, but to link the music to “the history of science, technology, philosophical and political movements,†and to ‘the ideas and individuals that shaped the 20th century and the music that was its soundtrack.†The packed schedule of talks over the 12 weekends includes several by Mr. Ross, as well as figures from diverse fields, including the mathematician Marcos Du Sautoy, the historian Orlando Figes, and Jane Pritchard, the dance curator of the Victoria & Albert Museum.
The music program, beginning with works by Richard Strauss and concluding with John Adams, will be the centerpiece of the festival, with 100 concerts given by 18 orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Southbank Sinfonia, the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. An accompanying BBC series, “The Sound of Fury: A Century of Modern Music,†will run during the festival.
Vladimir Jurowski, the principal conductor of the London Philharmonic, which is resident at the Southbank Centre, claimed that his orchestra will be the first in the world to devote an entire year's program to 20th-century music. “If I had my way, we would be the first in the world to devote a year to playing just 21st-century music,†Mr. Jurowski added. “Perhaps that's the next project.â€
Mr. Ross, are you listening?
