Instrumentation
fl(=afl).ob.cl(=bcl) – hn – harp – pno – vln.vla.vlc
Availability
Score and parts for hire
Programme Notes
These two poems by the Scots poet John Davidson (1857-1909) - 'Battle' and a fragment from the Eclogue 'New Year's Eve' - have no obvious connection, but in the process of setting them I found it impossible to keep them apart, and so their texts are intertwined. 'A voice to wake' is scored for soprano and nine players and lasts around twelve minutes. It was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for the 40th birthday of the Nash Ensemble, an anniversary which is belied by the group and its founder's unfailing capacity for self-renewal.