Sir PETER MAXWELL DAVIES Eight Songs for a Mad King (1969) Peter Maxwell Davies Eight Songs for a Mad King, for male voice & instrumental ensemble, J. 80 AMG Description by Jeremy Grimshaw [-] This Organ was George the third for Birds to sing, reads a note accompanying a small mechanical organ willed to Sir Peter Maxwell Davies in 2000. Its previous owner had once shown it to Randolph Stow, who was so intrigued by its music and its history that he composed a series of eight poems, which Peter Maxwell Davies then set to music and devised as a semi-theatrical work for male vocalist, piano, violin, cello, flute, clarinet, and percussion. The resulting work, Eight Songs for a Mad King, was completed in 1969 and stands as one of the most distinctive, and arguably one of the most disturbing, musical works from the twentieth century. Inspired by the little mechanical organs repertoire of eight tunes, the eight songs depict several documented and imagined events from King George IIIs famous and well-documented descent into insanity. The work draws on various extremes of compositional and performance technique to explore the emotional and expressive extremes of a disturbed mind, and remains the best-known example of Davies eclectic musical style. Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of this work is the timbral array utilized by the vocalist. The part spans a range of over four octaves, and employs all manner of noises: Sprechgesang (something between highly inflected speech and song), falsetto, glissandi, portamenti, grunts, burbles, howls, and screeches. In the course of the work, the King attempts to teach his bullfinches to sing; the birds are played by the winds and strings, who perform within cages. This creates surreal dialogues between voice and instruments, demanding incredible virtuosity from both. The effect has a powerful stage impact; at one point in the seventh song, the King grows so frustrated with this enterprise that he grabs the violinists instrument and smashes it to pieces. Other dramatic associations are created as well; the Lady-in-Waiting whom George tries to engage in conversation in Scene Three is represented by the flute; his rant in Scene Six is largely directed at the clarinet; the cellist takes the role of the River Thames in Scene Four, carrying the King momentarily away from his troubles; and in the first and last scenes the percussionist stands as the Kings sentry, always keeping him under close guard and finally escorting His howling Highness off stage at the end with solemn, whip-like drum beats. The piano throughout assumes no particular roles but alternately provides commentary on the proceedings and takes the part of harpsichord continuo for the numerous musical quotations and allusions. Representation even extends beyond instrumentation; in one scene, the notes on the page of the score are arranged so as to resemble a cage visually -- the one in which the bullfinches are kept, as well as the one in which the King feels himself trapped. The music itself throughout the work is a strange hodgepodge of various materials, from foxtrot to Handels Messiah, the highly anachronistic juxtapositions creating the kind of disorientation for the listener that George himself might have experienced during his less-than-lucid moments.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 03:39:07 +0000
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