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Tachograph (1993) |
baritone, piano. Text by Simon Armitage - 15'
A Tachograph is an instrument fitted in the cab of long-distance lorries which registers all the details of a journey such as mileage, speed, number of stops etc. Simon Armitage's specially commissioned poem traces a journey through the landscape of the body, through the 'leaves and needles of the lungs', 'in the heartbeat of the tide', and 'in the coves along the coast, between the toes'. The text, which also contains a 'Beaufort Scale' to help the listener progress through the musical settings, is in three sections. First there is the future, the anticipation of the 'tingle in the track before the train', the 'movement of catch before the ball', then comes the present, 'Begin again inside', and finally the past, 'Where was it?', 'the flight-path or the shipping lane after the graze of the boat and plane'. Like some vehicle first heard in the distance, which roars as it thunders by, the future so quickly becomes the past. Simon produced pages of wonderful poetry for me, but from the outset he insisted that I take scissors to it and cut drastically, using only the parts that I needed, if necessary altering the order. This was a novel and rather disconcerting instruction for a composer to follow, but I eventually found the confidence, and the result was a text that was perfect for my purposes and a joy to set. This piece was commissioned by the South Bank Centre, and was first performed by Stephen Varcoe and Ian Burnside in the Purcell Room on the 5th May 1993
© Diana Burrell