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George Lloyd: The Transformation of that Naked Ape for solo piano [Printed Music]
£12.99
In stock
Catalogue Number
SRMP0113
28 page A4 saddle-stitched score
approx 21 mins
In 1972, Lloyd wrote the first draft of The Transformation of that Naked Ape. He had been reading Desmond Morris’s book, The Naked Ape (1967) and the idea for a solo piano piece came to him. In his own words, ‘I had always refused to accept the notion that we humans are just superior animals so this book decided me to stand up and be counted amongst those who believe another dimension must be added to explain our natures’. In 1987, the composer revised the work for the present recording. There are six movements in the piece, entitled ‘Her Hair’, ‘Her Tongue’, ‘Her Eyes’, ‘Her Brain’, ‘her Mind’ and ‘Her Soul’. If this sequence suggests a progression from the physical to the spiritual, such a development is also apparent in the music. Hence the helter-skelter scherzo-like frivolity of ‘Her Hair’ and the florid introspection of ‘Her Tongue’ give way gradually to the tender lyricism of ‘Her Mind’ and the brio and joyfulness of the closing movement, ‘Her Soul’. © Paul Conway
A PDF Version of this score is available upon request. Please contact publishing@wyastone.co.uk
A recording of this work is available on CD [SRCD2423] or to Download and Stream
Manufacturer: Wyastone Estate Limited, Wyastone Leys, Monmouth, NP25 3SR
Email: sales@wyastone.co.uk
Reviews:
"In Lloyd's music, one can experience the existential, traumatic experiences and the longing for redemption and transcendence at every turn. And one immediately understands that he must have been a born opera composer (his three operas will be released in the Lyrita edition): melodically as catchy as they are distinctive, rhythmically extremely vibrant, and consistently captivating in its events characterized by strong contrasts. While these events do not unfold in contradiction to purely musical laws, they follow an almost tangible plot that, in its surprising and extremely effective twists and turns, enthralls the listener like a thrilling film. The expressive range extends from capriciously lively scherzos (flirting with "light music") to the most intimate lyricism and on to the catastrophic.
Lloyd has amalgamated the entire tradition and transformed the simple and the complex into something unmistakably his own. He constructs his large-scale forms with a sure hand, and except in the first symphony, there is no schematic approach and no dullness. The orchestration is of magnificent power, delicacy, and versatility (one has to invoke names like Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninoff to make suitable comparisons). For beginners, I would recommend works such as the vehement first piano concerto, the transfigured cello concerto, the profoundly visionary John Donne cantata "A Litany," and, of course, all the mature symphonies. The second violin concerto (with strings) and the piano and chamber music are also wonderful. There are no shortcomings, even though around 1970 he went through a phase that tended more towards factual brevity! As a symphonist, Lloyd reaches a solitary peak in the tragic Seventh Symphony (1957-59). With "H. M. S. Trinidad," he wrote one of the most magnificent marches in history. And when, at the end of the monumental "Symphonic Mass," the solo trumpet, in an improvisationally liberating manner, winds its farewell around the vocal line, we are all simply moved. George Lloyd is a great discovery!” Christoph Schlüren, Fono Forum