319
See also: Pierrot lunaire 240–245 ■ A Child of Our Time 284–285 ■
Peter Grimes 288–293 ■ In Seven Days 328CONTEMPORARY
theatre. Davies meanwhile rebelled
against conventional teaching
methods in the quest for a modern
composing idiom developed from
the musical techniques and
structures of Renaissance Europe.Music theatre
In the 1960s, the avant-garde
genre of “music theatre” provided
Davies with a vehicle for his
modernist style. In music theatre,
musicians shared the stage with
vocal and theatrical performers,
all taking part equally in the
drama. The idea had its origins
in Schoenberg’s groundbreaking
atonal work Pierrot lunaire (1912),
with its new kind of part-singing,
part-spoken vocal performance
and strong theatrical elements.
In 1967, Davies and Birtwistle
founded a chamber group to
perform Pierrot lunaire and more
contemporary pieces. It was called
the Pierrot Players, after the
Schoenberg work, and in 1970
reformed as The Fires of London.
The group set out to stage
provocatively subversive dramatic
works in small venues. Among
these was Eight Songs for a Mad
King, portraying the unhinged
psychological world of the British
monarch King George III. Some of
the group’s players were deployed
on stage in cages to represent the
caged birds that the king liked to
talk to. Alongside the traditional
instruments used, such as violin,
cello, and clarinet, were unusual
examples, including a railway
whistle, steel bar, didgeridoo,
and toy bird calls.
The vocal part, written for
the South African baritone Roy
Hart, exploited an extraordinary
range of sounds, from singing toscreaming and screeching,
extremely high or low notes,
and even simultaneous notes
sung together in chords.Fusion sounds
Although the work was a huge
success, Davies soon moved away
from composing purely avant-garde
pieces. From 1972, he turned his
attention to classical forms and
went on to write 10 orchestral
symphonies, many of which were
inspired by his new home of
Orkney, Scotland.
Over the course of his career,
Davies gained a reputation for
polystylism—combining disparate
genres in one piece. By the turn of
the 21st century, classical music
in Britain had similarly moved far
beyond the dominance of any one
set of stylistic values. The music
of Jonathan Harvey mastered the
fusion of vocal, instrumental, and
electronic sounds, whereas John
Tavener successfully absorbed
the music of Eastern Orthodox
Christianity into the Western
concert hall. The music of Mark-
Anthony Turnage, meanwhile,
has boldly incorporated elements
of jazz into classical pieces. ■Peter Maxwell Davies
Born in Salford, Lancashire,
in 1934, Davies won a place at
the Royal Manchester College
of Music. After further study
in Italy, he taught music at
Cirencester Grammar School,
starting a lifelong commitment
to musical education. After
spells studying and teaching
in the US and Australia, he
returned to England in 1966,
where he gained a reputation
as a controversial figure in
contemporary music.
A visit to the Orkney
Islands in Scotland in 1970
began a deep involvement
with the islands and their
culture. He settled on Hoy in
1974, later moving to another
island, Sanday. In 1976,
he founded the St. Magnus
International Festival, named
after Orkney’s patron saint,
involving local people
alongside professional
musicians. Davies was Master
of the Queen’s Music from
2004 until his death in 2016.Other key works1960 O Magnum Mysterium
1962–1970 Taverner
1969 Worldes Blis
1976–1977 The Martyrdom
of St MagnusSometimes I suspect that
Davies himself may be a
little bit mad.
Peter G. Davis
Music critic (1983)US_318-319_Maxwell_Davies.indd 319 26/03/18 1:02 PM