Written for the London Symphony Orchestra’s Soundhub scheme, premiered on the 9th of February 2019 by Tabea Debus and the LSO Ensemble, conducted by Darren Bloom.
Aesop (c.620-c.564 BCE) was a storyteller and former slave active in Ancient Greece. He is most well known for Aesop’s Fables, though it is unclear whether these moralistic stories were actually written by him or not. In this piece, the solo recorder takes the role of a storyteller or teacher, while the ensemble represent a gathering of listeners. Aesop is the third in a series of pieces written for recorder player Tabea Debus, following In Feyre Foreste (2016) and Twenty One Minute Pieces (2018). - Robin Haigh