Masquerade
Anna Clyne (b. 1980)

THE STORY

British-born composer Anna Clyne received her graduate degree from the Manhattan School of Music and now calls New York City her home. She has spent the past decade collaborating with orchestras, choreographers, filmmakers, and visual artists across the globe.

Masquerade premiered on September 7, 2013, with Marin Alsop conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra for the Last Night of the Proms. Clyne had this to say about her work:

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.

LISTEN FOR

• Swirling chromatic lines (marked “powerful and vigorous,” “stately with undulation,” “vigorous and thorny,” “slightly pompous”) that take the audience on an imaginary aerial view of the masquerade
• The recurring, majestic main theme (“soaring with grandeur and undulation”) in the strings

INSTRUMENTATION

Piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, strings