Tristan Perich & James McVinnie: Infinity Gradient

Boundary-pushing organist James McVinnie plays Tristan Perich’s Infinity Gradient, for organ and 100 speakers in 1-bit audio. You won’t just hear this music, you’ll feel it with your whole body. Tristan Perich composes music inspired by the aesthetic simplicity of maths, physics and code. James McVinnie has built a multi-faceted career as an organist, collaborator and programmer, always seeking new directions and contexts for his instrument. So it’s no surprise that a request from McVinnie resulted in Perich’s most ambitious work to date, a one-hour, seven-movement tour de force. Pulsating patterns of sound, reminiscent of Steve Reich or Philip Glass, fill the church of St-Giles-without-Cripplegate, a medieval survivor within the brutalist spaces of the Barbican. With four giant subwoofers, 24 medium-sized speakers, and 72 small speakers arrayed across the performance space, and the pipe organ towering over the nave, the church itself becomes part of the music as it vibrates with the sounds of Perich’s groundbreaking work. Programme Tristan Perich Infinity Gradient Performers James McVinnie organ