Page 433 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

Anna Dennis as Violet (Photo: Marc Brenner)

I was particularly impressed with the concision in Coult’s writing. Driven
partly by the libretto, itself a reflection of the story, there is an immediacy to
the composer’s musical ideas that drives focus in the audience. At the same
time, the music maintains originality and integrity throughout. It is a
remarkable balancing act that serves the storytelling.

Its most potent storytelling twist was the outlying conceit: we know what’s
going to happen at the end of the story long before most of the characters do
by virtue of the display visible to all from the stage. Yet, as the realisation
grows amongst the inhabitants, so the sense that this story needs to slow
down because of the characters impending demise. That same sense of tension
is present in Tom Coult’s music.