Featuring

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Carl Mackey saxophone
James Sherlock electric guitar
Sam Anning  bass
Ben Vanderwal drumkit

Program

Mark-Anthony Turnage Blood on the Floor

About the performance

It’s jumpy, angry, and lyrical all at once! Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Blood on the Floor is a striking, melancholy mix of genres that uses classical, jazz and modern expression to enormous impact. The MSO and some of Australia’s finest soloists present this work not seen in Melbourne for more than 10 years.

Four of the country’s jazz masters in Carl Mackey, Carl Morgan, Sam Anning and Ben Vanderwal reunite for MSO’s 2021 Metropolis, following their captivating performance of Blood on the Floor in Perth in 2016. 

Named for the Francis Bacon painting, Blood on the Floor is one of English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage’s most celebrated works. It doesn’t conform to musical stereotypes, resulting in a piece that’s utterly imaginative, compelling and emotionally sincere. Exploring aspects of alienation and addiction, one of the work’s nine movements is a lament for the composer’s brother who died of a drug overdose. Ambitious contemporary ensembles around the world have performed Blood on the Floor since its premiere in 1996.

Duration: approx. 75 minutes with no interval

https://www.mso.com.au/whats-on/2021/metropolis/