The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
- Submitting institution
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Birmingham City University
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 33Z_OP_J0048
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
- -
- Year
- 2015
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Howard Skempton’s setting of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, presented as score and recording, represents a translation of his exceptional compositional economy onto a much broader canvas without loss of his stylistic essence. Commissioned for Roderick Williams and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, the score is published by Oxford University Press and the NMC recording was shortlisted for a _Gramophone Award_ and received reviews in, among others, _BBC Music Magazine_, _The Times_, _The Wire_, _American Record Guide_, _Fanfare_ and _BBC Radio3 Record Review_.
Skempton writes:
“My aim was to make as few cuts in the text as possible, and these occur mainly towards the end where the imagery is more elusive, brief instrumental interludes occurring where sizeable cuts had been made. The instrumental ensemble accompanying the baritone began with piano quintet, a startlingly traditional choice for BCMG, to which I added horn, perhaps heralding the more supernatural turns of events, and a double bass.
The aim throughout was to follow speech rhythms. A clear example is at bar 200, ‘Came to the mariners’ hollo’. Coleridge’s poem is a ‘Lyrical Ballad’ and I intended to capture that aspect of its character. The harmonic language is modal. The opening tune is like a folk song. Only six notes are used, but this diatonic material is part of a 9-note mode of limited transposition, allowing the musical language to become easily and naturally chromatic. This happens immediately after ‘the harbour cleared’ at bar 69. The narrative unfolds, but stanzas are set in groups, so the form is like a song cycle. Canon is an abiding principle, and its use in the passage from bar 533, ‘The western wave was all aflame’ is notable. The accompaniment is relatively spare, especially at the end, with the baritone accompanied only by double bass playing open strings.”
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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