The Fires of London, founded as the Pierrot Players, was a British chamber music ensemble which was active from 1965 to 1987. The Pierrot Players was founded by Harrison Birtwistle, Alan Hacker, and

Stephen Pruslin Stephen Lawrence Pruslin (16 April 1940 – 25 September 2022) was an American pianist and librettist who relocated to London in the 1970s to work with Peter Maxwell Davies and Harrison Birtwistle. Early life and career Born in New York, Pruslin ...

.''Who’s Who 1975'', page 1302, (A&C Black: London) From 1967 it was under the joint direction of Birtwistle and Peter Maxwell Davies. The ensemble was formed to play

Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

's '' Pierrot Lunaire'' and new works, often with a theatrical element, for a similar scoring (usually with the addition of percussion). The instrumentation proved to be too limited for Birtwistle and he left in 1970. Maxwell Davies took over as sole director, renaming the group the Fires of London. It was disbanded after its 20th anniversary concert in 1987. Maxwell Davies subsequently endorsed a new group Psappha, based in Manchester. During its existence, the Fires of London was particularly associated with Maxwell Davies' music, and gave first performances of many of his works, including '' Eight Songs for a Mad King'', ''Vesalii Icones'', ''

The Martyrdom of St Magnus ''The Martyrdom of St Magnus'' is a chamber opera in one act (with nine scenes) by the British composer Peter Maxwell Davies. The libretto, by Davies himself, is based on the novel ''Magnus'' by George Mackay Brown. The opera was first performe ...

'', '' Ave Maris Stella'' and ''Revelation and Fall''. However it also premiered works by other composers, including Elliott Carter's ''Triple Duo'', Birtwistle's Cantata, ''I Met Heine on the Rue Fürstenberg'' and ''The Viola in My Life 1'' by

Morton Feldman Morton Feldman (January 12, 1926 – September 3, 1987) was an American composer. A major figure in 20th-century classical music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School ...

, ''Ocean de Terre'' by Oliver Knussen, and ''

Der langwierige Weg in die Wohnung der Natascha Ungeheuer ''Der langwierige Weg in die Wohnung der Natascha Ungeheuer'' (''The Tedious Way to the Place of Natascha Ungeheuer'') is a composition by the German composer Hans Werner Henze. It represents one of the most examples of his early socialism-inspir ...

'' by Hans Werner Henze. The group collaborated with the Early Music Consort of London on the soundtrack for the film ''The Devils''.

Instrumentation and players

Maxwell Davies described the basic instrumentation as flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, keyboards, percussion. Principal players in the formative years included Judith Pearce (flute), Alan Hacker (clarinet),

Duncan Druce Robert Duncan Druce (23 May 193913 October 2015) was an English composer, string player and musicologist, noted for his breadth of musical interests ranging from contemporary music to baroque and early music, as well as music of India. Educatio ...

(violin),

Jennifer Ward Clarke Jennifer Ward Clarke (20 June 1935 – 1 March 2015) was a British cellist. After an early career in contemporary music, she later specialised in baroque music and performances on period instruments. Early life and career Jennifer Ward Clarke was ...

(cello) and Stephen Pruslin (piano). The Fires of London was one of many ensembles created to play ''Pierrot Lunaire'', and the presence of these ensembles led to many new works being written for the same instrumentation. This in turn led to the formation of yet more groups, leading to the establishment of the Pierrot ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano) as a standard instrumentation in contemporary music.

References

External links

The Fires of London
Chamber music groups London orchestras Disbanded orchestras Contemporary classical music ensembles Musical groups established in 1965 1965 establishments in England Musical groups disestablished in 1987 1987 disestablishments in England {{Classical-ensemble-stub