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.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Eight Songs for a Mad King canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf contemporary classical music work ⓘ
monodrama ⓘ
musical composition ⓘ
associatedMovement British avant-garde ⓘ
commissionedBy South Bank Centre ⓘ
composer Peter Maxwell Davies ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom ⓘ
dedicatedTo Roy Hart ⓘ
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 ⓘ
premiereDate 1969 ⓘ
premiereLocation London ⓘ
linked to: London, England
scoredFor baritone ⓘ
chamber ensemble ⓘ
structure cycle of eight songs ⓘ
style experimental ⓘ
expressionist ⓘ
subject George III of the United Kingdom ⓘ
theatricalElements Sprechstimme ⓘ
acting ⓘ
screaming ⓘ
spoken voice ⓘ
timePeriod 20th-century music ⓘ
usesMusicalTexture fragmented musical textures ⓘ
usesVocalTechnique extended vocal techniques ⓘ
vocalRange baritone with extreme range ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Peter Maxwell Davies → notableWork → Eight Songs for a Mad King ⓘ
subject linked to: Sir Peter Maxwell Davies