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Prologue (1984) |
orchestra - 10'
Commissioned by the Royal Ballet, London with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain. First performance: Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet, 3 January, 1985, Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, Barry Wordsworth,conducting.In 1983 the choreographer Jennifer Jackson heard the premiere of "At the White Edge of Phrygia" (for chamber orchestra) in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London and asked to use it as a ballet score. The time allotment she had for the programme was half an hour but "At the White Edge of Phrygia" was only 18 minutes. She then asked if there were any way I could make the orchestral work longer by adding repeats or perhaps writing a new section. I quickly decided the only answer was to write a new movement, one which could both stand alone as a work, but also introduce the main work, "From the White Edge of Phrygia" (my new full orchestral version of the chamber score). The result was Prologue.
© Stephen Montague