2020

The poet Arthur Rimbaud burst upon the Paris literary scene at the age of 17, making a name for himself with his shocking, visionary poetry, and his equally shocking lifestyle. But he turned his back on poetry completely just a few years later. He traveled the world, and then lived in Ethiopia for several years before his early death at 37. During his time in remote obscurity, his reputation grew to the point that there were calls for a statue to be erected in his honor. But despite many rumors of his whereabouts, the first confirmed sighting was at his funeral in his hometown on the Belgian border.

C4 is proud to present an original semi-staged work about the life of Rimbaud. Featuring new music by C4 composers, and centered around Steven Gerber’s 20-minute epic Une Saison en Enfer based on Rimbaud’s prose poem of the same name, the work will delve into how Rimbaud's strange life unfolded as a working-out of his unique vision of himself and his place in the world.  And just as Rimbaud’s restlessly wandering imagery ushered in a new age of symbolist poetry, the concert will feature its own original and restlessly wandering images generated in the modern way: by artificial intelligence, in real time using the subtitles.

Compositions by:
Steven Gerber, Mario C. Gullo*, Brian Mountford*, Bettina Sheppard, 
Martha Sullivan ​and Perry Townsend* 
* indicates current C4 member