Page 257 - Media Coverage Book - 75th Aldeburgh Festival 2024

This act of commissioning feels so vital to the world we are currently living in. ‘I used to check on

Laura when her mother first died,’ says Rand. ‘When I thought about the programme, I said to her,
“I know you're not in a good place but I know that you are composing – do you fancy writing

something for mothers?” And she was like, “yes, yes, yes.” And actually the words are from her
mother's eulogy. It's unlike anything she's written.

‘The aim is always to try to do something different, and it’s not always the easiest thing to do,’
Rand tells me when I ask how she keeps motivation for these massive projects. ‘Can we just

dream big and see what's possible? Having Rachel on board should have been an impossibility,
but it ended up being just a meeting of minds and colors and music and wonderful things.’

Gweneth Ann Rand performs Messiaen Song Cycles I on Saturday 8 June; Messiaen Song
Cycles II on Friday 14 June, and Messiaen Song Cycles III on Monday 17

June. brittenpearsarts.org