eighth blackbird runs out the clock, 5.15 in Chicago

We don’t know much about the 14th Century British monk Richard of Wallingford, except that he was abbot in the monastery at St. Albans, and that he spent a good part of his time designing and constructing an elaborate astronomical clock, which he named Albion. Although the actual clock was destroyed in the Reformation (Thanks for nothing, Henry VIII…), Richard’s plans were preserved in his treatise Tractatus Albionis, and one or two modern scholars have attempted to reconstruct what was, by all accounts, an impressive piece of astrophysical machinery.

“Albion” is a beautiful name. Besides the clock, it’s also an ancient name for Great Britain. It’s also the name of the street I grew up on. In a concert on May 15 at the University of Chicago, Contempo’s world-class ensemble-in-residence eighth blackbird will premiere my own Albion, a collection of eight miniatures for various combinations of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, and piano. Admission is free.