Programme Note
Five poems by or about Wagner:
Wagner (Rupert Brooke)
The Return of Napoleon to Paris (Wagner)
Le silence deja funebre (Mallarme)
The Death of Wagner (Swinburne)
Epitaph (Wagner)
The Great Question Mark – version for soprano with piano
1983 • 15' • soprano/pfte
Performance History
First Performance
Alte Oper Frankfurt
8th September 1983
Kathryn Harries – soprano
Michael Pollock – piano
Reviews
” . . . a striking new work by John Metcalf . . . Through a series of texts as diverse as they are penetrating the composer has created what is ostensibly a song cycle of impressions each hinting obliquely at a number of Wagner-related issues. . . . There is no doubt that he writes very skillfully for the voice . . . compelling and provocative . . . ”
Edward Seckerson – The Guardian