On 1st December, Emma will join the Leiden Toonkunstorkest and conductor Jeppe Moulijn to perform Willam Walton’s settings of Edith Sitwell’s poems, ‘Façade.’ The poems, which are spoken, not sung, have catchy rhythms and word play around assonance and dissonance.

The work was conceived as a tongue-in-cheek answer to Schönberg’s ‘Pierrot Lunaire.’ The poems have been compared to Edward Lear’s ‘Nonsense Verses.’ Walton’s music, composed when he was living with Sitwell, sets down the rhythm for the spoken text and provides musical accompaniment to them. Sometimes there are well-known melodies quoted alongside the text, such as ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.’ At other moments, the music has a dance form, such as tango, waltz, or tarantella. There are also references to hornpipe music and Alpine music.

Practicing the poems at home has been tremendous fun, since our toddler seems to enjoy trying to dance to the rhythms of the texts, even without the orchestral accompaniment. If you are able to attend the performance, I hope it brings you the same feeling of joy!

For tickets, please use this link.