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"The Yellow Sofa", chamber opera (commissioned by Glyndebourne Festival Opera)

The research goal of "The Yellow Sofa" was to challenge two central aspects of traditional operatic process and material: the unfolding of narrative and the voice through which that narrative is expressed. The even wider goal, dependent on the first, was to propose new models that might reanimate established operatic aesthetics.

The research process took as its starting point Eça de Queiros’s novella "Alves e Companhia". Its subsequent radical treatment allowed the researcher/composer to experiment with different notions of time related to the emerging narrative, a narrative presented by new voices. So, for example, the opera sometimes tells its story through a conventionally-paced narrative that uses a Fado style of storytelling and vocal production, yet its tableaux, overture and mobiles are moment-forms, anti-narrative in effect, halting the action as the work waits for something to impel it forward. The result juxtaposes movement and stasis, opera and anti-opera - perhaps a metaphor and response to an age that both constructs and deconstructs, acknowledging both as spurs to creativity.

The research process contributed to Glyndebourne’s Jarwood Chorus Development Scheme in that it involved young singers collaborating with the composer/researcher and director on the aims of the opera and its overall design. These singers then became both soloists and chorus members in the eventual opera.

"The Yellow Sofa" was commissioned by Glyndebourne Festival Opera and received three performances in the 2009 festival. It was revived there in 2012 before going on a national tour ending at the ROH, Covent Garden. The opera was shortlisted for a British Composer Award in 2010. "The Yellow Sofa" is published by Peters Edition, London.