ABSTRACT
John McCabe built his reputation on his output of symphonies, concertos, chamber and instrumental works. In the 1990s, however, he achieved sustained success with three full-evening ballets: Edward II – written for the Stuttgart Ballet – and the diptych Arthur, for Birmingham Royal Ballet. However, McCabe's involvement with music for theatrical media is far more wide-ranging than this suggests, with over two dozen scores reaching back to much earlier in his career and featuring operas, entertainments, ballets, music for film and television – even a TV commercial for car tyres. McCabe found his way into the project through the character of Mary herself, or what he imagined her musical character to be like. A feature of the scoring for Arthur Pendragon is the relative economy of the orchestra, unlike the large ensemble required for Edward II.
