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Tongues of Fire (1983-93) |
For piano, stones, live electronics and computer tape
Commissioned by pianist Philip Mead with funds provided by The Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon. First performance: 30 October, 1983, Mumford Theatre, Cambridge, UK, Philip Mead, piano, Stephen Montague, live electronics. Tongues of Fire is a line taken from the poem Mouth of Anger by the Spanish Civil War poet, Miguel Hernandez. The drama of Hernandez’s intense verse inspired certain theatrical elements in the composition of the music and was written as a virtuoso vehicle for Philip Mead’s formidable pianistic skills not only on the keyboard but also inside the piano on the strings. The tape was created with material developed at IRCAM, Paris, where the composer worked in 1982 but completed in his London studio. It was a work-in-progress for 10 years with nearly each performance refining some aspect of the score or computer tape.
© Stephen Montague 1993