Era forse destino che l'ultima volta di Mike Westbrook su un palcoscenico coincidesse con una rappresentazione del suo celebre The Westbrook Blake: è accaduto a Londra a Blackheath Halls lo scorso 20 dicembre, con la partecipazione al suo fianco di Kate Westbrook, Phil Minton, Billy Thompson, Karen Street, Chris Biscoe, Steve Berry e Matthew Bourne, il Blackheath Halls Community Choir diretto da Paul Ayres e Matthew North alla regìa sonora. Presente in sala e anzi direttamente coinvolta nell'iniziativa era anche una rappresentanza della Blake Society londinese, che oggi per voce di Camila Oliveira Querino saluta il Maestro ripercorrendo a tappe - a partire naturalmente da Tyger - l'evoluzione di uno dei suoi massimi capolavori: "Westbrook’s close relationship with Blake endured into the very twilight of his life. He spread Blake’s words far and wide, introducing him to international audiences, often incorporating translations of his poetry into concert programmes so listeners could better understand and appreciate what they were hearing. His insatiable curiosity often led him to return to the same material over the years, across different contexts, each time exploring new facets of the text and developing new musical inflections. This continuous reworking mirrors Blake’s own compositional practice, reinforcing the idea of the artwork as a unique outcome of a specific moment and context, and rich in its distinctive qualities - or what Blake called ‘minute particulars’ - at each new performance and in each new arrangement. It is painfully moving to realise that the last time Westbrook stepped onto the stage was to perform his Blake songs at Blackheath Halls on 20 December 2025, on the brink of his 90th birthday. Equally touching was his participation along with his wife Kate in the Blake Society Annual Meeting in January 2026, when he gladly accepted the proposal to compose music for the bicentennial of Blake’s death. What might that song have sounded like? We are left to wonder and to reimagine it, just as we continue to do with the songs Blake himself once sang."
https://blakesociety.org/mike-westbrook-obituary
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