Written on Skin

A pupil of Messiaen, contemporary London-born composer George Benjamin is a master of musical precision. His soundscapes are as atmospheric as they are meticulously detailed, conjuring sound worlds that seem to shimmer and seethe with inner electricity. Written on Skin (2012), Benjamin’s first full-length opera, reunites the composer with librettist Martin Crimp, his collaborator on 2006’s chamber opera Into the Little Hill. The two works share a fable-like simplicity as well as a pervasive sense of unease and threat. Based on the legend of troubadour Guillaume de Cabestanh, the opera’s action (watched over by a group of angels) takes place in 13th-century Provence, where The Protector, a wealthy landowner, commissions artist The Boy to create a beautiful manuscript about his family. When The Protector’s young wife, Agnès, is drawn into a dangerous relationship with The Boy, the manuscript becomes a record not just of the family’s history, but also their horrifying end. At times abrasive and densely uncompromising in its modernism, the score melts into passages of astonishing clarity and beauty. Colours are distinctive and constantly shifting thanks to some unusual orchestration, which includes a bass viol, glass harmonica and mandolin alongside a typewriter and pebbles. Since its premiere, Written on Skin has become one of the most frequently staged contemporary operas internationally, winning several major awards.