Vic Hoyland
Composer

Seneca-Medea

for voices and instrumental ensemble

Text from Seneca’s “Medea” in Latin

SATB soli, afl, cl – perc. vib, mba – pf – vc

12’ 00” duration 1985

1st Performance

31 March 1985, London. Singcircle & Circle, Greg Rose

Review

Yet a new vocal piece from Vic Hoyland did, as well as paint its text, appear as a useful stage in his development. In fact, Hoyland may well have found an ideal collaborator across the centuries in Seneca; for like the first-century Roman’s his output seems to veer between white-hot creativity (Michelagniolo) and as it were, post-coital moments of calm repose. As a setting of choral meditation, Seneca/Medea proved an example of the latter. Hoyland more or less ritualistically transferred the graciously tripping Latin metre into some cool, but highly effective contrasts of spare patterns of notes.
Stephen Reeve “Messages in chosen texts”

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