Luna-cy

I had an animalistic expression of madness in mind for this piece. A Japanese tanka originally by Fujiwara Sanesada seemed to encapsulate the idea of madness associated with the moon (‘lunar’= ‘lunacy’) and with cuckoos. I was also highly influenced by my new discovery of the work of Meredith Monk, and the overlapping, yodelling cries found in the traditional music of the Baka people from the Central African rainforest.

Luna-cy was the first original work written for the then-newly founded Juice Vocal Ensemble (Kerry Andrew, Sarah Dacey and Anna Snow), and recorded for Nonclassical. It can be performed as a single voice or choral work.

Luna-cy also appears as part of Juice Vocal Ensemble's 'genre-defying' SSA Songspin Songbook, which also includes works by the likes of Gabriel Prokofiev, Sarah Dacey and Elisabeth Lutyens.