The acclaimed guitarist performs music that overwhelms and music to sanctify

Originally written for ‘robots’, Aphex Twin’s Computer Controlled Instruments pt2 is performed in transcription for live prepared pianos and percussion.

Computer Controlled Instruments pt2 is Aphex Twin’s most fully realised work for acoustic instruments.

Originally written for ‘robots’ (solenoid drum machines and prepared player pianos), this transcription for live prepared pianos and percussion becomes a tightly-choreographed dance: the four musicians, freely changing roles and instruments, constantly alter the exact combination of screws, bolts and chains inside the pianos that transform them into the engines of Aphex’s acoustic techno.

The EP Computer Controlled Instruments pt2 was released in 2015 on Warp Records. Pitchfork’s review said, ‘the individual sounds do indeed seem to be physical objects vibrating in space, as if James had marshaled a battalion of robots to realize his latest compositions.’

This is the second event in a double bill that straddles a musical dispute, pairing Stockhausen’s landmark KONTAKTE with Aphex Twin’s Computer Controlled Instruments pt2. The Stockhausen work is performed in the Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall before this event.

GBSR Duo – George Barton (percussion) and Siwan Rhys (piano) – combines two of the UK’s finest young contemporary chamber instrumentalists.

The duo has built its reputation on a combination of exceptional interpretations of the existing piano-percussion repertoire, committed performances of ambitious new commissions, and inventive collaborations.