Music archive entry


 Composer:
Alan Taylor
Title:
Those Voices
Instrumentation:
Mezzo soprano and piano
Duration:
9 minutess
Difficulty:
Professional or music student
Technical Issues:
Since the piece used fragments of various operatic arias, the singer will need to be change quickly from one style of singing to another. Good acting ability would be an advantage, since the piece needs to be acted out and not just sung.

Programme note:

This piece was written for Belinda William's when we were both studying at Trinity College of Music. She suggested the piece, and we worked together closely during its development.

As a Mezzo, she found herself performing a wide variety of roles, including boys and male castrato roles, and suggested using this variety of roles in a new piece. We worked out a drama using sections of familiar operatic arias, based on the singer feeling the characters were taking over he head - those voices from which she is unable to escape.

The characters and arias used are:

  • Charlotte, Ah, Werther from Werther, by Massenet
  • Giulio Cesare, Presti omai from Giulio Cesare, by Handel
  • Cherubino, Non so piu cosa son from Le Nozze de Figaro, by Mozart
  • Baba the Turk, As I was saying from The Rake's Progress, by Stravinsky

Available from:
from Alan Taylor


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This page created on
14.06.07