Elizabeth Maconchy - ACE157.6

Maconchy says she writes best for the viola as this is her favourite stringed instrument. Working with Nicholas Logie. Logie playing 1 of 5 Sketches for Solo Viola (1984). Actor reciting Gerard Manley Hopkins’s Pied Beauty over views of countryside. Maconchy talking about her love of poetry, some of which she likes to set to music. Maconchy’s setting of Pied Beauty (1976). Countryside, seashore and sky views. Maconchy on her Irish background and Irish literature, in particular J. M Synge’s prose versions of Petrarch’s sonnets, three of which she used in My Dark Heart (1981). Irish seascapes, fishing boats, etc. My Dark Heart sung over. Rodney Bennett on how Maconchy’s music combines intellectuality and passion. Nicola LeFanu on her mother’s hard work. MacNaghten on Maconchy’s need to write music. Maconchy on composers being engaged in a "continuous exploration". She agrees with W H Auden’s inaugural address at Oxford where he said he never wrote from experience. She doesn’t want to stop composing. Credits