Not a soul but ourselves.....(1977) for four amplified voices, is to be performed in Dublin by London Sinfonietta Voices on October 26th during a weekend festival devoted to the music of Luciano Berio.
The Song of Abigail is to be performed by the Seattle Symphony, USA on October 24th 2002. The soprano is Lucy Shelton, the conductor Christopher Kendall.
Pierrot Lunaire: Parts 1 and 2 This is nothing to do with Schoenberg! Albert Giraud's original poems 'Pierrot Lunaire: 50 Rondels Bergamasques' are a symbolist delight, with hardly a trace of the expressionism associated with Hartleben and Schoenberg. Giraud imagines a 'chamber theatre' peopled with the characters of the Commedia dell'Arte, and with sets by Brueghel and Watteau. In Pierrot Lunaire: Part 1 the first 22 of Giraud's 50 rondels, are set for ensembles ranging from 2 to 8 voices, and closing with two numbers for combined ensembles. Texts are set in French with English translations woven into the settings in a variety of ways. The sequence of 22 settings invite realisation in the form of music theatre. The first performance was given as the culmination of the Hilliard Summer School at Schloss Engers on August 4th 2001, by ensembles from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland and the UK. Part 2 is not yet complete, but will be finished in time for rehearsals to begin in York in October. The complete work will be premiered as the University of York's 'Practical Project' in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, York on November 13/14//15 2002.
2001
Heathcote's Inferno (for Wind Orchestra) is now available on CD.
'Elements' on the Doyen label also includes pieces for
wind orchestra by Adam Gorb and Judith Bingham, and sells at £11.95.
(DOY127)
The Naxos Audiobook of James Joyce's Dubliners (Part Two),
read by Jim Norton and produced by Roger Marsh, has been awarded the 'Spoken
Word 2001' award for Best Unabridged Modern Fiction. The award
was presented at a star studded ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel in London
on September 6th. Dubliners (Part Two) completes the Naxos collection
of Joyce novels on audiocassette and CD, all of which have been produced
by Roger Marsh.
Sozu Baba a music theatre piece for solo voice, was performed by
Frances Lynch in Alkmaar, Holland on September 7th. The piece was performed
from a barge on the canal....in steady rain! This was only the second performance
of the work, which was premiered in Utrecht in 1997. Frances Lynch plans
to tour the work in 2002. The text of the piece, by York English lecturer
Judith Woolf, concerns the mythical haridan who guards the entrance to the
ancient Japanese underworld. Her job is to receive payment from the
dead. Those who arrive unprepared with their 'three rin' - suicides,
those killed in battle etc - are allowed to pass only after they have surrendered
their clothing, which is then hung by Sozu Baba on the tree which stands at
the divide between the 'Three Rivers'.
Vocal pieces by Roger Marsh were featured in the CANTUS Music Festival
in Pula, Croatia in November 2001. A Little Snow for solo voice and
The Bodhi Tree for voice and trombone, were performed by Anna Myatt(voice)
and Barrie Webb (trombone), both members of the contemporary music ensemble
Black Hair. Roger Marsh attended
as a guest of the festival, and took part in a panel discussion on the subject
of festival funding. A number of Marsh's pieces, including the ones
performed in Pula, are to be broadcast on Croatian Radio in March 2001.
'Black Hair' were musicians in residence at Dartington College of Arts from in May 2002. They gave world premieres of new works by Lisa Reim, Matthew McGaughey, Andrew Hamilton and Damien Harron. Roger Marsh gave his first performance of Dum (a vocal percussive fantasy) for ten years!
The James Joyce website 'Brazen Head'
now includes a new page devoted to Roger Marsh's Joyce recordings, and a separate
page contains reviews and a descriptive analysis of 'Not
a soul but ourselves...'
last updated July 29th 2002