The Duchess of Malfi (1990)
s sax, a sax, t sax, b sax, 2 tpt, t tbn, b tbn, timp (t bells), db
Duration: c. 16 minutes
Commissioned by Moving Being Theatre Company
Incidental music for the Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster, scored for 10 musicians: saxophone quartet, brass quartet plus timpani and double bass.
The music was conceived in close relation to the theatrical space and the dramatic action. The musicians played from memory, a choice that helped shape both the style and the content of the music. Built around passacaglias, canons and ostinati (repeated musical phrases), the score enabled the musicians to perform processionals in different parts of the former church, allowing the music to move through the space as an integral part of the drama.
The music draws inspiration from two Italian composers working in the same period as Webster: Giovanni Gabrieli, renowned for his antiphonal brass music for St Mark’s Basilica in Venice, and Claudio Monteverdi, celebrated for his operas and other works for the stage. Their music provides a historical and stylistic point of reference for the interplay of instrumental colour, repetition and spatial effect.
First performed at St Stephen’s Theatre Space, Cardiff on 14 May 1990
with Jonathan Mainwaring (trumpet), Andrew Jones (trumpet), Gwyn Daniels (trombone), Pete Smith (trombone), James Mainwaring (soprano saxophone), Nick Wilkinson (alto saxophone), Peter Stacey (tenor saxophone), Matthew Bailey (baritone saxophone), Andy Cookson (timpani), Davey Strachan (double bass)
1 Intonazioni / Lighting the Time to Come
2 Calculating Aspects of the Astrological Houses
3 A Treasury of Secrets (The Wedding)
4 Scorpions Strung On Whips
5 Near Some Great Hill
6 Canzon a Tre
7 Murder Shrieks Out
8 Diamonds Cut Diamonds
“Ten musicians play brass sonorously, threateningly, lining up at the sides of the action.. Charlie Barber’s music is one of the triumphs”
David Adams, The Guardian 22 May 1990
Score
Instrumental parts
Instrumental parts available at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
Alternatively, parts can be downloaded via the ZIP file below
Video
Audio
Images
Press
Performances
| 14 – 15.05.90 | CARDIFF | St Stephen’s Theatre Space |
| 17 – 19.05.90 | CARDIFF | St Stephen’s Theatre Space |
| 28 – 30.05.90 | CARDIFF | St Stephen’s Theatre Space |
| 07 – 09.06.90 | CARDIFF | St Stephen’s Theatre Space |
| 11 – 13.06.90 | CARDIFF | St Stephen’s Theatre Space |
| 21 – 23.06.90 | CARDIFF | St Stephen’s Theatre Space |
Programme
Related content
Works index
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |
