I was the shadow
(2022)

Composer's notes:

'Pale Fire' is a 1962 work of fiction by Vladimir Nabokov. The plot centres around a poet called John Shade who, shortly before he died, completed a cryptic 999-line poem entitled 'Pale Fire'. In this, he described how his neglect of his teenage daughter led to her death. I have set three extracts from this extraordinary, multi-layered poem, to tell the story of Shade’s daughter. Like Nabokov’s poetry and prose, my setting contains a dark sense of humour, as well as many references and allusions (including quotations from Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion and Mahler’s Second Symphony). Furthermore, as Nabokov’s work is a hybrid between novel and poem, my setting is a hybrid between opera and song. Many thanks to tenor Sam Knock and the RNCM Brand New Orchestra.

Duration: 12'

Instrumentation: Tenor solo and orchestra

First Performance: Samuel Knock and the RNCM Brand New Orchestra, 2022.