The Fires of London
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The Fires of London THE FIRES OF LONDON (FORMERLY THE PIERROT PLAYERS) 1967 – 1987 1. The Pierrot Players and The Fires of London – a history 1967-75 2. Eight songs for a Mad King - 1969 3. Vesalii Icones - 1969 4. Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot - 1974 5. Ave Maris Stella - 1975 6. Arts Council Contemporary Music Network Tour - 1975 7. Charity Commission 1975-76 8. Peter Maxwell Davies’ Disappearance/First visit to Orkney – January 1976 9. Television relay of Eight Songs for a Mad King 10. North American Tour – October-November 1976 11. Latin American Tour – March- April 1977 12. First St. Magnus Festival/ The Martyrdom of St. Magnus June 1977 13. Tour of Hungary – October 1977 14. Residency at Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich – April 1978 15. Le Jongleur de Notre Dame 1978 16. Touring The Martyrdom of St. Magnus 1978-79 17. Tour of Australia and New Zealand March 1980 18. Musicians Union Strike Prom July August 1980 19. The Lighthouse – 1980 20. Touring The Lighthouse – Summer 1981 21. Arts Council Contemporary Network Tour – 1982 22. Image Reflection shadow - 1982 23. Sacra Umbra Festival - Sept 1982 24. Birthday Music for John 25 - Jan 1983 25. Britain Salutes New York Festival – April 1983 26. The No. 11 Bus –March 19844 27. Tour of North America - November 1985 28. Other Composers 29. Elliott Carter/Hans Werner Henze 30. Fires Farewell – January 1987 31. Composers performed by The Fires of London 32. Principal Players and Associates of The Fires of London Note In my memories of The Fires of London, hereinafter referred to as The Fires, I will attempt to give the main outline of the history and chief events during my period as Manager from October 1975 until January 1987. There are of course thousands of other details which I will not be mentioning. There were numerous one-off concerts, and changes in personnel which are not mentioned The large tours always gave the most amount of work, and they are the ones in which the group came together at its best, due to the repetition of the works, which naturally 1 The Fires of London improved performance, and in which the group, under Peter Maxwell Davies’ leadership was able to project its’ unique identity. In managing any kind of ensemble, there are three items which cause a vast amount of additional work and worry. These are new music, theatrical works and touring The Fires involved coping with all three of these, the whole time, and all at the same time. Someone once asked what punishment could be given to Hitler to make him realise what pain and havoc he had caused in the world. The answer was – “send him on tour”. I concur with this. I am writing all these reminiscences under individual headings. However, because I had two hats on, one as manager of The Fires, and the other as Max’s manager, I was intimately involved in the creation of several new works which Max wrote for The Fires, and so some of these memories are doubled up elsewhere under each of the individual works. Where this occurs, I have made mention of it. The Pierrot Players and The Fires of London – a history to 1975 The ensemble was called The Pierrot Players, named after Pierrot Lunaire by Arnold Schoenberg, which was a core work of its repertoire, having been conceived and put together by the composer Harrison Birtwistle (referred to as Harry), together with Stephen Pruslin (the American pianist of the group - always known as Steve)), Alan Hacker, the clarinettist and the composer Peter Maxwell Davies (hereinafter referred to as Max). The four of them discussed the frustrations arising out of the difficulties of obtaining performances of contemporary music at a highest level. The major organisations tended to either ignore composers who were not yet established, or not to treat the new compositions with sufficient diligence and attention which might have been expected from their high level of competence and experience. What was needed was a group of musicians who would always be performing the works of composers who was one of them, and with whom they could make the journeys of exploration together. The group was chosen and assembled in 1967 to give performances in concert venues of chamber music written by its own composers. It was decided that a key work of contemporary music should be included in its repertoire. This was to be Pierrot Lunaire, by Arnold Schoenberg, a song-cycle of twenty-one numbers to be performed by a female singer, Mary Thomas in Pierrot costume. However, unlike other groups which performed this work, the protagonist would be in costume. Steve thought up the name of The Pierrot Players, combining Pierrot together with ‘players’ giving the idea of theatricality as well as musicality. The musicians that comprised The Pierrot Players were those of the original for which Schoenberg had written it. These were violin doubling viola, cello, flutes, clarinets and piano. To these five players was added a percussionist. The ensemble stayed with this combination, occasionally adding players, especially a guitar, as was necessary for specific works. During the years 1967 to 1970, Max wrote a considerable body of work; including many arrangements of ‘early’ music to cheer the audience up at the start of concerts, works with a reciter, and two show-stopping 2 The Fires of London music-theatre works. Harry’s focus was elsewhere as he found his energies directed towards writing works for larger forces than the very small group, and in 1970 he left. The group decided to continue as previously, but to change its’ name. Once again Steve came up with the brilliant solution as to what the group should be called. The word ‘London’ was there so that people would know that the group was centred on London, and the word ‘Fires’ draws images of flames evoked by the great Fire of London in 1666. The name gave rise to a host of inflammatory headlines down the years. Thus in 1971 The Pierrot Players was re-launched as The Fires of London. The Fires of London logo Louise Honeyman, well versed in orchestral managing and fixing, took over as manager from James Murdoch, the Fires’ first manager who returned to his native Australia. The Fires thrived under Louise’s management, but in 1974, she resigned to set up her own agency for fixing musicians. Manfred Fox, a friend of Max’s was brought in, but his heart was not in it, and the impetus to move forward was lost, and things dropped away Eight Songs for a Mad King 1969 ‘Theatre’ was a crucial element from the start. In 1968, Max wrote Missa Super L’Homme Armé, a parody Mass for male or female singer or reciter, who should be costumed. The costume would be that of a religious figure, but the opposite of the gender of who would be singing or reciting. It caused a great stir, but that was nothing compared to what happened in April 1969 with the premiere, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, of Eight Songs for a Mad King. It was a sensation which resounded not only through the entire contemporary music world, but through all the world of classical music itself. In 1965/6 Max had spent a year teaching composition at the Elder Conservatory in Adelaide in Australia where he met the writer Randolph Stow. In 1969 Max was thinking of the next work he would write for The Pierrot Players when he and Randolph travelled together to meet Sir Steven Runciman, who was an old friend of his. Sir Steven showed them a mechanical miniature organ which played eight tunes, which once had been the property of George III. There was a scrap of paper which had been sold with the organ which stated ‘this organ was George III for birds to sing’. Randolph Stow imagined the torture of King George, dressed in his purple dressing gown, and night-cap, trying to make the birds sing, or trying to sing along with them himself Randolph Stow's text includes known quotations from the King himself. They are intended sometimes as monologues (as the King listens to the birds singing), and 3 The Fires of London sometimes as dialogues (when his tortured mind invests the birds with different characters). Eight Songs had originally been intended to be performed as the previous works by the Pierrot Players, with the king in costume, standing still. But in a flash in inspiration, Max had decided that it would be an idea to have the birds sitting in cages, and the king interacting with them. A designer was brought in, and the cages constructed following a drawing by Max. The birds are represented by the flautist, the clarinettist, violinist and cellist; sitting in cages, they also play mechanical birdsong devices, while the percussionist represents the King's keeper (the percussion part is sometimes shared by the keyboard player, who otherwise alternates between piano and harpsichord, acting either as continuo player or musical commentator). As well as their own instruments, the players have mechanical bird-song devices operated by clockwork, and the percussion player has a collection of bird-call instruments. In No. 6 - the only number where a straight parody, rather than a distortion or a transformation, of Handel occurs - he operates a didgeridoo, the simple hollow tubular instrument of the aboriginals of Arnhem Land in Australia. The keyboard player moves between piano and harpsichord, sometimes acting as continuo, sometimes becoming a second percussion part, and sometimes adding independently developing musical commentary. Roy Hart, the South African singer and actor, known for his flexibility and the great range of his singing voice, sang the role of the king.