Page 117 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

VI. Don Quixote (Masson) [sketch only]
VII. The Burning of the Houses of Parliament (Turner) [a fragment]

While the origins of the project stretch back into the 1990s, Knussen began intensive work on
the pieces in 2003, finally conducting the New World Symphony in a private read-through of
the extant material in 2008.

Sam Wigglesworth, Director of Performance Music writes:

“It is a huge privilege to be publishing Knussen’s Cleveland Pictures. Throughout the many
painstaking discussions that have led to this point, Sonya Knussen and I have always been
united in our belief that every note of these extraordinarily vivid orchestral pieces must be
presented exactly as Knussen left them – with no interventions or attempts at completion.
Knussen’s music, in all its meticulous artistry and dazzling invention, speaks for itself. We
are so grateful to Roger Wright at Britten Pears Arts for creating the special context needed
for the first public performance, and we are very excited to share this important work with
listeners.”

The US premiere of the Cleveland Pictures is being planned by the Cleveland Orchestra, who
originally commissioned Knussen and has been gracious in allowing these first performances
in Snape Maltings to go ahead.

For more details about the Cleveland Pictures, and to enquire about performance
opportunities, please contact Sam Wigglesworth