Large orchestra (2012)
Processional and Bacchanal is a single-movement piece which depicts an approaching, riotous Bacchanal.
Listen to an excerpt:
A slow repeated rhythm underpins the music, which gradually accumulates other ideas and layers, before finally being piled-up and pushed to saturation point. The kinds of images found on ancient carvings – of Dionysus surrounded by a parade of maenads and satyrs, all dancing, drinking and playing music – suggested various ‘scenes’. And the idea of seeing this procession gradually approach from the distance, before drawing the spectator into its raving frenzy – provided a formal model.
Besides trying to reflect a primal sense of intoxication and ecstasy, the overall crescendo of the piece (moving from one extreme to the other) also representsthe regenerative, phoenix-like life-cycle of Dionysus, as he is reborn each spring, and then burns himself out.
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