The Burgess Foundation and new music ensemble Psappha are collaborating for a series of performances in which music takes inspiration from words. Featuring pieces by Kurtág, Stravinsky and Walton, the programme also includes three brand new commissions from contemporary composers drawing on material from the Burgess Foundation collection.  Tonight’s opening concert features György Kurtág’s Scenes from a Novel, musical settings of 14 texts by the Russian writer Rimma Dalos. Enhancing the text’s exploration of loneliness, experience and memory will be films of movement and dance projected onto the walls of the venue. David Fennessy’s Piano Trio – Music for the pauses in a conversation between John Cage and Morton Feldman features silences punctuated by musical material. The closing piece from Icelandic composer Halldór Smárason is the first in a series of completely new commissions from one of three composers in residence at the Burgess Foundation. Using archive video footage from one of Burgess’s numerous TV interviews as his stimulus, Smárason creates unity by echoing acoustic music and quotes from the interview throughout the work. Tickets available from skiddle.com. Soprano, Gillian Keith. Director, Elaine Tyler Hall. See future listings for other performances in the series (4th Feb, The Soldier’s Tale / 18th Mar, Facade Entertainment).