David Fennessy
THE RIOT ACT
Short instrumentation: 5 5 5 5 - 8 4 3 2 - timp(2), perc(4), str
Duration: 7'
Solos:
tenor
Instrumentation details:
piccolo
1st flute
2nd flute
3rd flute
alto flute in G
1st oboe
2nd oboe
3rd oboe
4th oboe
cor anglais
clarinet in Eb
1st clarinet in Bb
2nd clarinet in Bb
3rd clarinet in Bb
bass clarinet in Bb
1st bassoon
2nd bassoon
3rd bassoon
4th bassoon
contrabassoon
1st horn in F
2nd horn in F
3rd horn in F
4th horn in F
5th horn in F
6th horn in F
7th horn in F
8th horn in F
1st trumpet in C
2nd trumpet in C
3rd trumpet in C
4th trumpet in C
1st trombone
2nd trombone
3rd trombone
1st tuba
2nd tuba
timpani(2)
percussion(4)
violin I
violin II
viola
violoncello
double bass (all woodwinds doubling whistle)
Fennessy - THE RIOT ACT for tenor and large orchestra
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David Fennessy
THE RIOT ACTOrchestration: for tenor and large orchestra
Type: Studienpartitur (Sonderanfertigung)
Language: Englisch (Großbritannien)
Work introduction
The Riot Act (1714) was a proclamation which was historically read out by a sheriff or law enforcement official in the event of a riot, and was famously implemented in Glasgow in the ‘Battle of George Square’ in 1919, as well as the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester in 1819. The act granted special powers to the authorities to disperse the assembled crowds and enforce punishments including the death sentence.
This short, declamatory setting is intended as a warning of sorts ? a noisy rebuke to the seemingly inexorable tide of populism sweeping the West and the abuses of power that seem to inevitably follow in its wake.
“Our Sovereign Lord the King chargeth
and commandeth all persons, being assembled, immediately to disperse themselves, and
peaceably depart to their habitations, or to
their lawful business, upon the pains contained
in the Act made in the first year of King
George the First for preventing tumults and
riotous assemblies.”
GOD SAVE THE KING.