Sir Peter Maxwell Davies Telos 135
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ new work, Telos 135 (Adagio-Allegro-Largo-Finale), was given its public premiere on 24 June 2004 when The Academy of Ancient Music went to the annual Spitalfields Festival for the first UK date in their Sound the Trumpets tour.
Telos 135 was commissioned by Nicholas and Judith Goodison and was first performed earlier in 2004 at a private birthday party at the Wallace Collection, which itself played a part in the genesis of the piece. According to Nicholas Goodison “the inspiration behind the music-making was Nicholas Poussin’s Dance to the Music of Time, which hangs in the Great Gallery... We had originally thought of relating the piece to Poussin’s painting, in which time plays on a lyre and the four dancing figures represent the cycle of poverty, work, wealth and pleasure.” The Goodisons stipulated that the piece include an element of dance rhythm (which is particularly evident in the Allegro) and express joy (Finale). In compliance with their third request, Peter Maxwell Davies scored Telos 135 for four baroque trumpets and two kettledrums. Recognising the compositional challenge of writing for valveless baroque trumpets which limit the number of notes available, Maxwell Davies writes: “I have tried to overcome the natural limitations by writing for two trumpets in C, one in D and one in B flat, which means the particular sound quality can be preserved, whilst increasing the chromatic possibilities somewhat.”