Page 79 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

surprised when he read it! But whilst the broad trajectory of the piece was agreed upon, he left the
details to Alice.

What would you do if you and everyone else had hours to live?

As to what the opera is about, for Tom, there are two points, a general one and a specific one. The
general point is the question what would you do if you and everyone else had hours to live? Would
you scream at the gods, get in a boat for safety knowing that there is none, hold hands with your
family or what? The specific point is about the character of Violet. She has been in a stultifying
marriage where she feels profoundly unfulfilled and so, has a different way of looking at the world.
When time changes, she is excited, something is happening (even if it is the end of the world), and
the old order is changing.

Tom has written extensively for orchestral and chamber forces, but fewer works for voice and he
admits that writing for voices is not his first language. But he has tried quite hard over the years not to
ride roughshod over the reality of writing for voices, and when working with singers is always open to
changes. And when writing for singers, has learned a lot, tried his best to work with the voices and
talked to the singers. He was written concert pieces for singers and had sessions with the performers
that were very helpful. And he comments that the more you speak to singers, the more you imbibe
things you should think about. Also, when he was a student he studied with George Benjamin at a
time when Benjamin was busy writing his own operas, so Benjamin had lots to say about writing for
voices.

These are all operas that wear their structures on the outside

When I ask about the opera most important to him he names Mozart's The Magic Flute, a work he
would be happy to see any night of the week. He admits that in certain respects, the piece does not
work and has a bizarre plot, but the music is generous, inventive and charming, and it gives him a
sense of enormous joy. Another opera he names is Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges. And Tom finds
Birtwistle the most amazing dramatist, the way he sculpts drama over time. Tom also enjoys Baroque
operas by composers such as Handel and Monteverdi. Then Tom points out that these are all operas
that wear their structures on the outside. Some are number operas, but both Ravel and Birtwistle's
operas have that sort of structure too with vigorous demarcations of sections. And this is true
for Violet; between each scene there are pre-recorded and treated bell sounds that delineate scenes
as well as indicating the passage of time, creating a formalised and ritualised element that Tom likes.

Violet is written for an ensemble of 13 instruments (six strings, flute, two clarinets, percussion, harp
and brass), but Tom adds that there are extra little treats, interesting doublings and all sorts of fun
things too. He describes his music as having quite a lot of orchestral and harmonic colour, especially
when he is writing for large ensembles, and he admits that it can be technicolour music with a touch
of the flamboyant. He also tries to cultivate a lightness about things, not jokes as such but a lightness
of touch.