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- Piers Hellawell
Fatal Harmony
- Peters Edition Limited (World)
This solo ‘cantata’ in three verses for soprano is a setting of the poem ‘To A Singer’ by Andrew Marvell. It was written for Victoria McLaughlin in 1993. The three verse settings (ii and iii being elaborations of verse i) can be performed as a set, or interspersed among other works.
Programme Note
This setting of Andrew Marvell’s poem ‘To A Singer’ was commissioned by the Greenhouse Ensemble for Victoria McLaughlin, and was composed in September 1993. In fact it was first performed by Jane Manning, at the BMIC in London, on 27 April 1995. This singer also included an entry about the work in her writings on modern vocal repertory.
I had previously noted as a potential text Marvell’s outstandingly sensual and subtle poem about a singer. The poet is noting that, while he might have broken free from either the vocal perfection or the physical beauty of the woman of his admiration, he cannot extricate himself from the combination of the two.
The setting follows an aspect of my first quartet, The Still Dancers of 1992, in that its three stanzas can be performed as a traditional cycle or, the mixed programme of short items common in vocal recitals, as a series of separate items, interspersed among other music.
Piers Hellawell 1993/2024