Leo Chadburn, X Chairman Maos
Leo Chadburn & Apartment House version
Jamie Doe & Phaedra Ensemble version
Instrumentation
Singer and amplified quartet: cello, electric guitar, electric bass, keyboards. An alternattive trio version is also available for singer doubling bass, cello and keyboards.
Duration: 10 minutes | Written: 2011 | Commissioned by Apartment House
Programme Note
A setting of a fragment of the infamous “Hundred Flowers” speech, as found in the Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung. The singer's brief phrases always use the same rising scale, but each one is accompanied by the ensemble in a different arrangement.
Separated by silences, the varying timbres and harmonies of each phrase are analogous to a series of screen prints: the same image, repeated in different hues, pallid to lurid. The piece was originally performed at the De La Warr Pavilion to coincide with their exhibition of work by Andy Warhol.
Live Performances
- Apartment House + Leo Chadburn, 21 October 2011, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea
- Apartment House + Leo Chadburn, 30 March 2014, University of Birmingham
- Leo, Lucy Railton, Kerry Yong, 28 February 2015, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes*
- Leo, Lucy Railton, Kerry Yong, 6 March 2015, The Old Dentist, London*
- Leo, Lucy Railton, Kerry Yong, 7 March 2015, The Northern Charter, Newcastle*
- Leo, Laura Moody, Chris Branch, 18 March 2015, The Scope, Brighton*
- Phaedra Ensemble + Jamie Doe, 22 March 2018, Brick Lane, London
*As part of The Text Message, a solo tour funded by Sound and Music
Recording
The Leo Chadburn and Apartment House version appears on the album Slower / Talker, performed by Leo Chadburn, Sam Cave (guitar), Max de Wardener (bass), Anton Lukoszevieze (cello) and Kerry Yong (keyboards).
The version by Jamie Doe and Phaedra Appears on the O Superman EP, performed by Jamie Doe, Jamie Hamilton (guitar), Phillip Granell (bass), Sergio Serra (cello) and Richard Jones (electric piano).