Weir THREAD!

Judith Weir THREAD! after a text from the Bayeux Tapestry

for instrumental ensemble and reciter

NOVELLO Nov. 19 19 May

This work was commissioned by the New Music Group of Scotland with ďŹ nancial assistance from the Scottish Arts Council. It was ďŹ rst performed by the New Music Group of Scotland conducted by Edward Harper at the MacRobert Centre, Stirling, on 2nd March 1981.

SCORING Flute (doubling alto ute* and piccolo) Clarinet in B * (doubling bass clarinet in B *) Percussion (1 player): wood block, 3 temple blocks, triangle, anvil (or metal block or metal pipe) and hammer, guiro, orchestral rachet, xylophone, dinner gong (or small gong), ďŹ shing reel, 2 saucepan lids, bamboo chimes, claves, suspended cymbal, aluminium can chimes, bread knife with serrated edge, swanee whistle, vibraslap, an unresonant wooden surface (eg chopping board), a heavily bound, thick book

Piano Reciter String quartet * Notated in C in the score

Duration c. 18 minutes Score and parts available on hire

COMPOSER’S NOTE I chose to set the text from the upper horizontal border of the Bayeux tapestry, which in my piece is declaimed severely by a narrator. For dramatic reasons, I made small alterations to the original text in places, repositioning one or two scenes, adding the occasional word, and translating the whole from Latin into English.

The story has a three-act structure: (1) the background to the Norman invasion of England in 1066, particularly the French contention that Harold of England had promised the English throne to William of Normandy; (2) the extensive technical preparations for the invasion; and (3) the Battle of Hastings and the death of King Harold.

In the original performances, the extensive percussion element consisted largely of post-industrial junk found around the streets of Glasgow and the shores of Fife, where the piece was written. For me, the instrumental music mirrors my reactions to the tapestry itself: at first, one is charmed by its cartoon-strip matchstick men, but on closer inspection, its content is found to be increasingly vicious.

J.W.

THREAD! By the grace of God; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Here is Edward, the pious English King. Here is Harold, and this is William of Normandy.

Here Harold and his henchmen ride to the English coast, and here they have embarked on a ship, intending to land in Flanders. Here a storm arises, and with the wind full in his sails, Harold comes by accident to the country of Guy de Ponthieu. Here Guy seizes Harold, and leads him to Beaurain, and keeps him there.

Here two messengers from Normandy hasten to Harold’s rescue. William of Normandy proposes that Harold should be his ally, and Harold agrees. Here they besiege the town of Rennes and capture the castle at Dol and, nearby the monastery of Mont-St.-Michel, they kill many enemies. Duke William makes a treaty of friendship with Harold, and Harold makes an oath to Duke William, and swears allegiance on the holy relics of St. Ravennus. After this, Duke Harold returns to English soil.

Here King Edward, in bed, addresses his faithful friends, and here he is dead. Here the body of King Edward is carried to the church of St. Peter the Apostle.

Here they have given the King’s crown to Harold. Here sits Harold, the King of the English!

These men marvel at a bright star which moves in the sky. Harold imagines that the flying star is a portent of disaster.

Here a messenger hastens to the land of Duke William. William orders his men to build three thousand ships, and here the ships are floated on the sea. These men are carrying armour to the ships, and suits of chain mail, and swords and lances, and pikes and clubs and axes.

Here Duke William, in a great ship, crossed the sea and came to England. Here the boats are unloaded, the horses are led from the boats, and the soldiers have hurried to Hastings. Here they have set fire to a house, and here the soldiers went out of Hastings, and came to the battle against King Harold.

Here news is brought to Duke William; this man has seen the English army, encamped at the top of a ridge. Here Duke William exhorts his soldiers, and here he has raised aloft the banner which was the Pope’s gift.

Here are the English. Here a man is wounded with a sword. Here a man’s armour is pierced by a lance.

Here a man is felled by an axe. Here a man has been clubbed to death. Here a man’s body has been piked to the ground. Here a man’s eye has been pierced by an arrow. Here many English soldiers have fallen dead on the ground. Here King Harold has been killed and the English have turned in flight.

This is how righteous victory came to the men of Normandy, by the grace of God. Amen.

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