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A song of crocuses and lightning
No full textFor solo soprano with horn, harp, viola and double bass, duration 4 minutes. This piece is a setting of the Raymond Carver poem Two Worlds and was commissioned by London Weekend Television for the South Bank Show Arts Review of 1989. It was given its first concert performance on 20 March 2002 by Rosemary Hardy (soprano) and the Nash Ensemble
Cançiones
No full textFor solo mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble, duration 25 minutes.
Cançiones are settings of three Spanish poems: Eyes to the Shadow (Anon.), Cançion de Jinete by Federico García Lorca, and La Muerte Dentro del Rosal (Anon.).
It was commissioned by the Nash Ensemble and recorded by them in 1991 with Fiona Kimm (mezzo-soprano) on NMC Recordings (NMC D008): https://nmc-recordings.myshopify.com/products/simon-holt-era-madrugada.
This piece has also been performed by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, TAIMAgranada, and members of the Aurea Ensemble and the Maverick Chamber Players
Goldmark’s wild Amazons: drama and exoticism in the Penthesilea Overture (1879)
No full textAlthough Goldmark’s reputation today lies principally in his development of scene and character in operas, his dramatic capabilities were equally in evidence his symphonic works. Several of his concert overtures are programmatic and are based closely on works for the stage. Striking amongst these is his Penthesilea overture. The inspiration for Pentesilea came from Heinrich von Kleist’s colourful and exotic play of the same title. Based on the ancient Greek story of the Queen of the Amazon Warriors, its setting and subject matter were very much in vogue in certain contemporary Viennese circles. Violent battle scenes stand in stark contrast to sensual dreams, and the tension between love and death is ever-present. Selecting three key scenes for his overture, Goldmark created a vivid representation of the subject, abounding with exotic detail. The music is highly chromatic, the orchestration rich, the contrast extreme.
Contemporary critical response to the overture was mixed: understandable as it was written at a time when polarised opinions about programme music were emerging. Ever keen to pursue his agenda both against programme music and Kleist’s play, Eduard Hanslick found the opening particularly shocking and the subject distasteful. Even Wagner’s Valkyries could not compete with Goldmark’s wild Amazons, he asserted. Meanwhile, Hugo Wolf questioned his ability to do justice to Kleist’s play, though this standpoint may have been motivated as much by his rivalry with Goldmark as by genuine musical critique. Other critics, however, viewed the work positively, and its performance under Hans Richter led to its more widespread inclusion in orchestral repertoire in the years that followed. Using these diverse reactions as a starting point, this paper will explore how Goldmark recreated the drama of Kleist’s Penthesilea. In so doing, it will address the extent to which it was designed to appeal to the tastes of a late 19th-century audience at a time when opinions about programme music were in a state of flux.
A video of this presentation is available at http://videotorium.hu/hu/recordings/12479/jane-roper-goldmark-s-wild-amazons-drama-and-exoticism-in-the-penthesilea-overture-1879
First tomb of Ionia
No full textFor flute, violin, percussion and piano, duration 15 minutes. This piece was first performed on 2 December 1999 by the Szram Quartet, at Hinde Street Church, London
Penthesileia
No full textFor large ensemble, duration 11 minutes. This piece won first prize in the Daryl Runswick Competition. It was first performed on 17 February 2000 by TCM Contemporary Music Group, at Hinde Street Church, London
Three pieces after a Rothko’s exhibition
No full textFor solo piano, duration 12 minutes.
This piece was first performed on 20 February 1998, by the composer, at Thermaikos Center, Thessaloniki
Another set to
No full textFor trombone and orchestra, duration 10 minutes. This work was premiered on 22 October 2000 by Christian Lindberg (trombone) and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin at the Barbican Hall, London. It has also been recorded, by the same musicians (Chandos, CHAN 10018) see https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010018
Night dances
No full textFor amplified ensemble, off stage string quintet and orchestra, duration 14 minutes. This work has four movements: I) Prelude; II) Dance 1; III) Nocturne; IV) Dance 2.
Night Dances was awarded the 1981 Guinness Prize for composition and was premiered on 1 February 1982 by the London Sinfonietta conducted by Simon Bainbridge at St. John's, Smith Square, London.
It was recorded in 1996 by Gareth Hulse (oboe), John Wallace (trumpet), Helen Tunstall (harp), John Constable (celesta), Gareth Hulse (cor anglais) and the London Sinfonietta conducted by Oliver Knussen. This recording is available on Argo (4525982) and Decca (4688142 and 4788356), see https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/works/45003--turnage-night-dances/browse. It is also now available on YouTube, see the video tab below
