'The Mouthpiece of the Gods'- a lecture recital by John Kenny
Recital Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
200 Jennens Road, B4 7XR
£10
£8 under 16s, over 60s
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'The Mouthpiece of the Gods'- a lecture recital by John Kenny
John Kenny, internationally acclaimed trombone soloist and first person for 2,000 years to play the great Celtic war horn, the Deskford Carnyx, presents an event part recital, part lecture, part detective story - how the carnyx was discovered in the far north of Scotland, forgotten, and eventually reconstructed. How it has risen to take its place as an exciting contemporary musical instrument - how it is played, and what conclusions we can draw about the people who made it 2000 years ago. However, Kenny also puts the carnyx in context by showing how it is related to a great family of instruments world-wide, from the dawn of time to the present day, performing music on instruments from many periods and cultures: trombone, Polynesian Conch, animal horns, and the beautiful Numantian clay trumpets which were made and used by the Arevaci people, a Celtiberian tribe that inhabited the lands between the Central Mountain System and Duero Valley over 2,000 years ago and contemporary with the carnyx.
The story is still unfolding – he will show you the great Tintignac Carnyx of ancient Gaul, discovered in 2004, and the litus made by the Etruscans, lost after ethnic cleansing by Rome, but now reconstructed in collaboration with the European Early Music Project. Many composers have dedicated works to John Kenny and in addition to performing on this dazzling array of instruments, both exotic and ancient, he performs both his own compositions and contemporary classics.
Running time approx. three hours, including interval