Boosey & Hawkes
A Short Procession was co-commissioned by the Moritzburg and Rye festivals. It's a joint memorial for Nora Moore and Katrin Cartlidge. Nora is the mother of my great friend Jonathan Moore who wrote the libretto and directed the premiere of my opera Greek. Katrin was a brilliant actress and friend of Jonathan who died tragically young.
The piece was originally intended to be slow and quiet throughout but I added a more animated and passionate middle section. Towards the end there is a short quote (heard on harmonics in the cello)from a beautiful Irish folksong entitled Women of Ireland which I first heard at Nora's funeral. So it's a tribute to two wonderful women who affected me deeply.
Mark-Anthony Turnage
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