Choroi kai Thaliai (Revels and Dances) (1982) for solo percussion, solo soprano and tape
Texts: Ancient Greek
Duration: 24 minutes First performance: June 1982, St, Bartholomew's Festival, London James Wood, Sara Stowe, John Whiting
'...a declamatory tour de force for soprano soloist, percussion and taped voices, describing yet another night of pagan festivities but with an exhilarating rhythmic vitality that is utterly compelling and, almost literally, heart-stopping. Choroi kai Thaliai proved to be an enthralling work...'
Ho shang Yao (Songs by the River) (1983) for solo soprano and solo percussion
Text: Shi Jing (Ancient Chinese)
Duration: 23 minutes Commissioned by the Worfield Charity Concerts Trust First performance: October 1983, Oxford Sara Stowe, James Wood
'...appeared the more perfect achievement. Again the appeal is to an ancient culture, but now Chinese: Ho shang Yao is a setting of pre-Confucian poems in the original... The music is based on a quartertone-flavoured pentatonic scale... a totally successful means of achieving a genuinely new simplicity, a transparent clarity detached from any western tradition.'