Courtesy the artist
Concert
Matthew Herbert in "The Horse"
November 20 2025, 7.30pm
Running time: 60'
Tickets: €18
Membership: included with subscription
British artist, producer, composer and experimentalist Matthew Herbert presents in our theater The Horse, his latest composition for orchestra and electronics. The project, born from a collaboration with musical archaeologists, instrument makers, and the London Contemporary Orchestra, centers around the skeleton of a horse. One of the central narrative arcs through the album is its representation of the evolution of human music itself, opening in a compelling, primitive flurry of custom-made flutes from the horse’s thigh bones and bows crafted from ribs and horse hair, and culminating in a vast electro-acoustic dimension that transcends genres – a reflection of Herbert’s experience across diverse fields of contemporary music. The result is a vibrant collective performance which, for the Milan edition, realized in collaboration with UBI Unione Buddhista Italiana, features a 16-piece ensemble that includes young performers from the Bazzini Consort of Brescia. The Horse is an invitation to reflect on the interdependence between animals and humans – both as individuals and as species – and on the vital and symbolic connections with the animal world that have shaped the origins and evolution of music, art, and human consciousness.
Matthew Herbert, also known as Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo, Transformer, Wishmountain, and DJ Empty, is one of the most original contemporary musicians. Composer, producer, DJ, record label owner, film score composer and director, he has been a prominent figure on the international scene since the 1990s. At the heart of his work is the idea that any sound can be transformed into music. In 1998, with Around the House, he blended dance rhythms with sounds generated using kitchen utensils and voices. Bodily Functions (2001) was composed using sounds from the internal organs of the body, as well as manipulated skin and hair. He created Plat du Jour using sounds from the food production chain, and for One Pig he recorded the life cycle of a farm pig, from birth to the dinner plate. With The Horse, he won the 2024 Ivor Novello Award for "Best Large Ensemble Composition." He was born in 1972 in England, where he still lives.
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Credits
In collaboration with: UBI Unione Buddhista Italiana
Calendar
Highlights
In collaboration with:
Modella posa nella sezione del Messico durante un servizio fotografico di moda
Veduta della Torre Littoria
Veduta notturna dell’abitazione a cupola geodetica di Füller, progetto dell’allestimento dell’architetto Roberto Mango, realizzata nel parco Sempione per la decima Triennale
Ingresso principale sul fronte ovest del Palazzo dell'Arte