George Stevenson, Bloodshift (2025)

Bloodshift, by George Stevenson, was commissioned by the Britten Sinfonia as part of their Magnum Opus scheme. Clare performed the world premiere with the Britten Sinfonia and conductor Tom Fetherstonhaugh at Kings Place in November 2025. Scored for chamber orchestra, the piece captures the sights, sounds, and extreme sensations of a winter wild swim.

The pianist is reimagined as a swimmer plunging into an icy-cold ensemble. Tentative beginnings in murky waters are interrupted by waves of head-freeze, fading to strange ecstatic calm. An early attempt to find rhythm becomes too much to maintain. We float on our backs to recover, taking in the frozen landscape. Eventually the body finds its natural pace and the music of that strange initial ecstasy can be reimagined – its motion sustained almost to the end.

Bloodshift is 16'30 minutes in length and is scored for 1.1.1.1 - 1.1.0.0 - perc - strings.