Nigel’s BRUEG[H]EL – symphony for piccolo/flute to be recorded this September by Jennifer M. Gunn (piccolo/flute) and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Neil Thomson. BRUEG[H]EL was composed specifically for Jennifer M. Gunn, who was appointed flute and piccolo of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by Daniel Barenboim in 2005.

BRUEG[H]EL is inspired by four extraordinary Northern Renaissance paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger (father and son) displayed at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium. The four paintings are Pieter the Elder’s Winter Landscape with Bird Trap and The Fall of Icarus, (the latter of which is attributed to him though is possibly by a follower) as well as Pieter the Younger’s The Massacre of the Innocentsand Battle of Carnival and Lent, which are reworkings of his father’s work.

BRUEG[H]EL will be released on the Divine Arts record label in the spring of next year. The recording will also feature two additional works: ‘Samurai’, newly arranged for symphony orchestra, and ‘Pulp and Rags’ for string orchestra.

`Winter Landscape and Bird Trap’ – Photograph with thanks to The Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium