Seven Face Pictures is a setting of Caroline Bird’s ‘Facial’, a cycle of wonderfully evocative poetic vignettes, each based on a different feature. Each movement is strongly characterised, from the solemn prayer of ‘Eyes’ to the strong rhythmic profile of ‘Lips’ and the acceleration/deceleration vortex of ‘Nose’. The structure is symmetrical, with the instrumental texture thinning out towards the middle, leaving just the lone voice to sing the central movement.
Instrumentation:
mezzo soprano, flute & cello
Duration:
13 mins
Performances:
14 October 2014
Trio Atem
St Ann’s Church, Manchester, UK
2 June 2013
Trio Atem
Nip & Tipple, Manchester, UK
3 February 2012
Trio Atem
Bridgewater Hall Foyer, Manchester, UK
4 November 2011
Members of Opera Viscera
Birmingham Conservatoire Recital Hall, Birmingham, UK
7 October 2011
Trio Atem
International Anthony Burgess Institute, Manchester, UK
13 January 2011
Trio Atem
Cosmo Rodewald Hall, Manchester, UK
World premiere