A Worker Speaks
Additional Recordings
- A Worker Monologues (edited by Andrew Hugill) Listen
- A Worker Monologues (edited by Christopher Fox) Listen
- Mr Worker's Favourite Melodies (Leroy Anderson: 'Forgotten Dreams'; Svendsen: Violin Romance in G Op. 26 (played by Artur Grumiaux); Warlock: 'Pieds-en-l'air' from the Capriol Suite; Gretry: 'Air de ballet' from Zemire et Azor; Schumann: Romanze Op. 28 No. 2; Mantovani: 'Charmaine'.) Listen
Notes
Mr Alfred Worker was a former customs and excise officer who was my family's next-door neighbour during my teenage years. He lived an idiosyncratic lifestyle in only a couple of rooms of his large bungalow. His garden was massively overgrown and a haven for wildlife. Every day, always at the same times, he would take his consitutional walks. At Christmas, we would have him over for lunch and he would dress in full Ghurka uniform, complete with spurs. He was a truly unique individual and this work is really a piece of oral history with music.
Mr Worker used to talk endlessly, re-telling certain anecdotes over and over again. With his permission, I recorded some of these monologues on an old reel-to-reel tape recorder with a mono microphone. Listening to him talk was an oneiric experience. Time seemed to slow down and there was an sense of langeweile (long while) that was both seductive and profoundly affecting.
'A Worker Speaks' consists of an edited recording of Alfred Worker speaking (performers may prepare their own edited version) and recordings of his five favourite melodies. These are accompanied by a solo piano, which plays fragments of each of the pieces in turn, starting at the given speed and then slowing down. A violinist may also be used to play the Svendsen. At the same time, two or more offstage pianos work their way through the material given in the score, always providing a background. The aim is to recreate my oneiric langeweile experience.
The score envisages a theatrical performance, with a Mr Worker figure seated with his back to the audience playing the recordings and the solo pianist also dressed appropriately. However, ithas been done without this theatrical component and still worked well. Full details are in the score. The piece was performed several times during the 1980s, at the University of Keele, at the Black Swan, York (arranged by Christopher Fox) and by George W. Welch in London.