Eight Songs for a Mad King
E560408
Eight Songs for a Mad King is an avant-garde monodrama for baritone and chamber ensemble that portrays the mental disintegration of King George III through extreme vocal techniques and fragmented musical textures.
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
contemporary classical music work
ⓘ
monodrama ⓘ musical composition ⓘ |
| associatedMovement | British avant-garde ⓘ |
| commissionedBy | South Bank Centre NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| composer | Peter Maxwell Davies NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | United Kingdom ⓘ |
| dedicatedTo | Roy Hart NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| depictsTheme |
isolation
ⓘ
madness ⓘ psychological breakdown ⓘ |
| genre |
avant-garde music
ⓘ
contemporary classical music ⓘ music theatre ⓘ |
| hasInstrumentation |
cello
ⓘ
clarinet ⓘ flute ⓘ percussion ⓘ piano ⓘ violin ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| narrativeFocus | mental disintegration of King George III ⓘ |
| notableFeature |
extreme demands on the solo singer
ⓘ
integration of music and theatre ⓘ use of fragmented, collage-like musical materials ⓘ |
| numberOfMovements | 8 ⓘ |
| performancePractice |
often performed in contemporary music festivals
ⓘ
requires theatrical staging ⓘ |
| periodOfComposition | late 1960s ⓘ |
| portraysCharacter | King George III NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| premiereDate | 1969 ⓘ |
| premiereLocation | London NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| scoredFor |
baritone
ⓘ
chamber ensemble ⓘ |
| structure | cycle of eight songs ⓘ |
| style |
experimental
ⓘ
expressionist ⓘ |
| subject | George III of the United Kingdom NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| theatricalElements |
Sprechstimme
ⓘ
acting ⓘ screaming ⓘ spoken voice ⓘ |
| timePeriod | 20th-century music ⓘ |
| usesMusicalTexture | fragmented musical textures ⓘ |
| usesVocalTechnique | extended vocal techniques ⓘ |
| vocalRange | baritone with extreme range ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject surface form:
Peter Maxwell Davies