Three Baudelaire Songs (2011)
mezzo-soprano and string quartet (7’)

1. Parfum exotique
2. Harmonie du soir
3. La Fontaine de Sang

These songs set three texts by the great French writer Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), taking three of the most sensual and evocative poems from his magnum opus Les Fleurs du mal ('The Flowers of Evil') first published in 1857. In 'Parfum exotique' ('Exotic Perfume') a dreamlike succession of images leads to an imaginary port where the waves of the sea and a sailor’s shanty are heard in the accompaniment. The delirious descriptions of ‘Harmonie du soir’ ('Evening Harmony') are set to a relentless waltz in the strings against which the first violin “quivers like a tormented heart”. The violently gritty music of ‘La Fontaine de Sang’ ('The Fountain of Blood') is interrupted by a brief recollection of the mood of the first song before the final chilling outburst.

These songs were written for Size Zero Opera and first performed at the King's Head Theatre, Islington on 8th May 2011 by Laura Bowler (mezzo-soprano) Aisha Orazbayeva (violin I) Eloisa-Fleur Thom (violin II) Asher Zaccardelli (viola) Melinda Gourlay (cello)