Keaton Henson Releases 'Initium' from Six Lethargies
Keaton Henson has shared new work ‘Initium’, the opening piece from his upcoming album Six Lethargies. The record will feature six pieces written by Henson, which are performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. 'Six Lethargies' marks the culmination of over three years of work from the musician, artist and composer. Composed around, and from within, issues of mental illness and human emotion, the piece aims to express and explain the feelings of anxiety and depression through six connected movements for string orchestra. Six Lethargies received it’s world premiere at the Barbican Centre to a sold-out audience in July 2018, and has since received performance at the Sydney Opera House and the National Concert Hall, Dublin. Following the enormous success of the live performance, the record will be released on the 25th October 2019 via Mercury KX.
As a performer known for his inability to perform live due to anxiety, 'Six Lethargies' was Keaton's way of handing his story over to the orchestra. Not performing himself, he allowed them to be his voice. As well as using pure introspective composition, Keaton met with neuroscientists, music theorists and bio feedback specialists to bring an immersive installation element to the performance, which aimed to provide human connection and empathetic insight, and ask the simple question; “if i write how it feels to me, will it make you feel the same”. To heighten and illuminate this question, a portion of the audience were monitored, with their bio feedback and anxiety levels controlling the lighting of the show in real time.
Speaking about the video to ‘Initium’, Keaton explains:
“Shot in one unbroken take, with nature somehow perfectly mirroring the changes in the music, the film for “Initium” is a visual representation of the unrelenting struggle to see past current traumas and the desperate attempt to keep your head above water. It is designed to heighten the effects of the music, adding further subconscious responses to an already effecting experience. And in spite of being so seemingly simple, when watched fully can be profoundly moving, as a perfect expressionistic representation of a humans desperate attempts to stay afloat and breathe among the chaos.”