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“Blood on the Floor” (1996)
Work suggested by ... Sir Simon Rattle
Composer ... Mark-Anthony Turnage
“Blood on the Floor is one of
the most successful blends of jazz and classical
styles to emotionally connect with both audiences
and musicians.”
Originally begun as a single-movement work inspired by expressionist Francis Bacon's painting of the same name, Blood on the Floor, by British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage, later expanded to a nine-movement suite for orchestra and three jazz-soloists that was premiered at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall on May 30, 1996, by the Frankfurt-based Ensemble Modern; conducted by Peter Rundell; featuring solo performances by legendary American drummer Peter Erskine, guitarist John Scofield, and British saxophonist Martin Robertson. Quickly establishing itself as one of the great new works by a living composer, Blood on the Floor has been described as "a masterpiece of contemporary sensibility," and has continued to be performed by leading orchestras throughout London, Birmingham, Vienna, Hamburg, Berlin, and Los Angeles.
Considered one of the most gifted British composers of his generation, Mark-Anthony Turnage is known for compositions influenced not only by the visual and literary arts but also, to an often greater extent, by the world around him. Turnage has referred to Francis Bacon's 1986 painting, Blood on the Floor, with its simple theme of a splash of blood on a sand-colored floor (set against a bright orange background), as a source of enduring "musical images" for him. In his resulting composition, Turnage's musical imagery has since been referred to as "an exploration of urban alienation and drug addiction, having a tremendous sense of the rawness and complexity of the modern city."
Other details of Bacon's painting, such as a simple wall-switch, a hanging light-bulb, and the small area of the room it features, serve to even further re-enforce those effects, but it was the tragic drug overdose of Turnage's younger brother, occurring while the work was still being completed, that would bring to light the deepest emotional relevance of his work. In the second movement of Blood on the Floor, entitled Junior Addict, in reference to the Langston Hughes' poem of the same name, Turnage incorporates a tender saxophone melody that was written after receiving the news of his brother's death. In the sixth movement, entitled Elegy for Andy, a hauntingly touching melody is based on one also performed by Turnage at his brother's funeral.
Begun as a 1994 commissioning of a jazz-influenced piece for Frankfurt's Ensemble Modern, the titles chosen by Turnage for the numerous sections of his work, namely Junior Addict, Needles, Sweet Decay, Cut Up, and Crack Down, tell the full story of the remarkable human tribute that the work embodies.
About Mark-Anthony Turnage:
(b Grays, Essex, 10 June 1960). English composer. Gaining wide, international recognition for his 1988 opera Greek, Mark-Anthony Turnage has since firmly established his reputation as an important, new voice in contemporary music. Strongly influenced by twentieth-century composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Alban Berg, and Miles Davis, Turnage's music is renowned for being powerfully dramatic, lyrical, and emotionally direct.
About Sir Simon Rattle:
(b Liverpool, 19 Jan 1955). English conductor. One of the most respected conductors of his generation, Sir Simon Rattle made his debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony in 1979; the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1986; the Berlin Philharmonic in 1987; and the Vienna Philharmonic in 1993. He was appointed principal guest conductor of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in 1992; was honored with the CBE in 1987, and knighted in 1994. He became Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic in September 2002.
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