Estimated duration

1 h

Organizer

Radion sinfoniaorkesteri

David Hackston, vocalist and contratenor
Tze Yeung Ho: over the threshold; right foot, world premiere
Isabella Leonarda: Trio Sonata Op.16, Sonata Quarta
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies: Eight Songs for a Mad King

Numerous works have been dedicated to kings, margraves and religious leaders. These people have most often been the composer’s patron, but their fascinating lives have in themselves often provided sufficient inspiration. Isabella Leonarda was an Italian nun and a prolific Baroque composer who dedicated a Trio Sonata to both an Archbishop and the Virgin Mary. The monodrama Eight Songs for a Mad King by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies for singer and small chamber ensemble pictures the English King George III, who suffered from mental illness. A provocative work involving various tricky vocal techniques, it is a real tour de force for the singer.