David Horne: interview about Friend of the People
In his first full-length opera, the talented young Scottish composer David Horne explores the life and trials of Thomas Muir, a key 18th century political reformer. Robert Maclennan’s libretto relates how Muir’s ruthless championing of political freedoms results in betrayal, a famous show trial, deportation and a fractured life as an international refugee. In the following interview David Horne discusses how his work on Friend of the People evolved:
You’ve worked with Robert Maclennan on a number of projects. How did your collaborations lead you to Thomas Muir?
Robert Maclennan first raised the idea of a Thomas Muir opera, and I was immediately attracted by the story of his life, but there was something more to it, and Muir soon came to represent an enigma. What would possess someone to attempt so much, often so recklessly? At so many points in his short life, Muir had the opportunity to take the easy way out, but yet he persisted in trying to attain some higher goal. There are obvious historical reasons why a new opera about him in 1999 would be so timely, with the reopening of a Scottish Parliament, and the bicentenary of his death. However, it was Muir’s personal side which interested me the most, and this required some creative elaboration to provide an underlying emotional thrust to the drama. Ultimately, he is a flawed character. Whether or not he is a tragic one is hopefully up for debate. The ending of the opera is purposely meant to ask as many questions as it appears to answer. Were the trials (physical and emotional) he endured worthwhile and did he really achieve anything? Could he have done things differently? Or, did Muir choose this path, because his conscience gave him no other choice?
How did you go beyond the specific 18th century setting to create a more universal drama?
With the exception of the fact that this opera is set immediately after the French Revolution, the opera conveys emotions and ideas which are timeless: friendship, love, betrayal, oppression, elation, pride, recklessness, adventure, temptation and death. In addition, Muir's progression from a reformer to a refugee has an enormous effect on the overall dramatic trajectory of the opera. When we are introduced to Muir in the prologue, we see a man at the end of his life - he is unattractive, bitter and impatient. Yet a tension is immediately set up in the first flashback scene when we see him in his prime, surrounded by friends, and full of confidence about the life and work he sees before him.
The succession of short scenes is often quite cinematic. How do you bind the opera together?
The prologue to the first act begins very simply with a series of chords, which were my first musical idea for the opera. I really wanted to explore the myriad ways in which they could be sewn into the harmonic fabric of the work and, as a result, these chords influenced a great deal of the melodic as well as harmonic material. The 'ça ira' theme, a French Revolutionary song, was also used extensively, and often in very different emotional contexts. It can represent the optimism of the ‘Friends of the People’ but is also associated with the oppressive counter-reform forces in the opera such as Lord Braxfield. As the themes crop up in such unexpected contexts it is not a straightforward leitmotif technique, yet this can add dramatic friction to the compositional process. There are also issues of instrumentation which act as a 'glue' in the work. One such example concerns Reverend Lapslie, Thomas Muir’s betrayer. It's no mistake that whenever he sings, the contrabassoon isn't too far away, usually adding a weird (and very low) counterpoint to Lapslie's bleatings.
The structural frame for the opera is a series of 'present-day' (ie Bastille Day, 1799) dialogues between Muir and the boy John James, and it is in this real-time situation that Muir undergoes the most significant emotional transformations, including incipient insanity, hallucination and ultimately death. In the ‘recollection’ scenes, which provide the bulk of the opera, we see the dramatic narrative unfold, but it is in the present that we are faced with Muir’s innermost feelings.
How do you approach vocal writing and opera in general?
In the short stageworks I composed for the ENO Studio and the Stephen Oliver Prize I came to realise that verbal clarity in opera is a real challenge, as there is a fairly limited range in any voice where the words can be comprehended. Many composers have found ways round this, such as when text needs to be sung in the highest register of female voices it is best to repeat words that have already been understood, or perhaps reach the top notes by leaps when the start of the word has already communicated the full meaning. I can’t claim to have fully solved the problem but it is part of the mystery of the genre. Opera is an elusive animal, and it is often hard to pin down what makes a piece ‘work’. Dramatic situations which would seem ridiculous or unbelievable in a theatrical setting suddenly spring to life when set to music.
Your ensemble works are characterised by virtuosic instrumentation and subtly shifting colours. Have you had to adopt a less sophisticated approach in the opera?
Yes, I have used broader strokes, but many of the instrumental ideas which concern me in my ensemble works have found their way into Friend of the People. At times, I wanted extremely dense textures, just as at other points it was important for the orchestra to take longer 'breaths' around the voices. Even in the simple opening bars, each successive chord employs a different distribution of the strings to create a constantly shifting timbre, thereby adding tension to the sound of the chords. But my interest in instrumentation doesn’t grow from trying to be as colourful as possible (though that is sometimes a result) but from the need to exploit instruments to their fullest potential in order to give character and emotion to the music.
Interviewed by David Allenby
Horne
Friend of the People
Opera in three acts with a prologue
Libretto by Robert Maclennan on the life of Thomas Muir (E)
Scottish Opera
Richard Farnes conductor
Christopher Alden director
6 November, Glasgow
17/19 November, Edinburgh
26 November, Sunderland
7/11 December, Glasgow
> Further information on Work: Friend of the People
Photo: © Hanya Chlala