Michael Finnissy
Tom Fool's Wooing
Duration: 20'
Choir: hoher Sopran, 3 Soprane, Mezzosopran, 2 Alte, Contratenor, 2 Tenöre, 2 Baritone und 2 Bässe (3 Sänger bedienen auch Trommeln)
Finnissy - Tom Fool's Wooing for 14 voices
Translation, reprints and more
Michael Finnissy
Finnissy: Tom Fool's WooingOrchestration: for 14 voices
Type: Chorpartitur
Work introduction
Tom Fool’s Wooing for 14 solo voices, was initially conceived for the John Allldis choir, who had performed an earlier work of mine (Cipriano) for 10-voice ensemble. The writing took from 1975 to 1978, three emotionally and financially turbulent years, and by the time it was finished, the choir was no longer in existence. In 2013 James Weeks told me of his intention to finally perform the work, and, after looking through the score, I decided to considerably revise the central folk-play that lends the work its title. The folk-play is a satirical courtship and wedding-preparation, crude and coarse in content. I have framed it with amatory verses from Eastern Europe and Ancient Greece, along with excerpts from the ‘Epithalamion’ of Edmund Spenser. This ‘love poetry’ concerns the different ways women and men form relationships. The framing sections are elaborate in texture and demand extraordinary virtuosity from the singers, the central play is in extreme contrast – homophonic and simple in rhythm, with two of the singers playing drums.