Anna Clyne was born in London, England, on March 9, 1980. The first performance of Masquerade took place at Royal Albert Hall in London, England, on September 7, 2013, with Marin Alsop conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Masquerade is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets in B-flat, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns in F, three trumpets in C, two tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani (with tambourine), bass drum, suspended sizzle cymbals, castanets, three kazoos, snare drum, two cowbells (low, high), pair of crash cymbals, motor horn, whip, tam-tam, suspended cymbal (with brushes), ratchet, vibraslap, triangle, harp (with two guitar picks or plastic cards), and strings. Approximate performance time is five minutes.
Masquerade draws inspiration from the original mid-18th century promenade concerts held in London’s pleasure gardens. As is true today, these concerts were a place where people from all walks of life mingled to enjoy a wide array of music. Other forms of entertainment ranged from the sedate to the salacious with acrobatics, exotic street entertainers, dancers, fireworks and masquerades. I am fascinated by the historic and sociological courtship between music and dance. Combined with costumes, masked guises and elaborate settings, masquerades created an exciting, yet controlled, sense of occasion and celebration. It is this that I wish to evoke in Masquerade.
The work derives its material from two melodies. For the main theme, I imagined a chorus welcoming the audience and inviting them into their imaginary world. The second theme, Juice of Barley, is an old English country dance melody and drinking song, which first appeared in John Playford’s 1695 edition of The English Dancing Master.
—Anna Clyne
program notes by Ken Meltzer
