Singcircle conducted by Gregory Rose

Alan Belk, tenor (a)
Rogers Covey-Crump, tenor (b)
Suzanne Flowers, soprano (c)
Paul Hillier, bass (d)
Stephen Jackson, bass (e)
Nancy Long, mezzo soprano (f)
Nicole Tibbels, soprano (g)
Penelope Walmsley-Clark, soprano (h)
Richard Wistreich, bass (i)

Ophelia's Dream II, completed in September 1979, was commissioned by Elms Concerts with financial assistance from the Arts Council of Great Britain. It was first performed by Singcircle, directed by Gregory Rose, at St John's, Smith Square, London, in October 1979. Ophelia is 'represented' by the two sopranos, who are 'trapped' in various ways: by the other singers, by the musical material and by the technology. The character splits in two and then steadily disintegrates until her words break down into an undifferentiated noise - thu rush of water perhaps. What is heard derives from vocal sounds altered 'live'. The work is one of a series which develops the idea of a 'natural theatre of technology'. The work is dedicated to Singcircle and its director Gregory Rose. The text is derived from permutations and combinations of fragments of sentences and phrases from Shakespeare's Hamlet:

To be; Ophelia; Sing sweet Ophelia
Like sweet bells jangled out of tune and harsh
White his shroud as the mountain snow
Farewell Ophelia and remember well what I have said to you
'Tis in my memory locked and you yourself shall keep the key of it
With true love.