Study Score of George Benjamin's Upon Silence (1990) for Mezzo-soprano and string ensemble of 7 players.
Published by Faber Music.

'This transcription of Upon Silence for modern strings was commissioned in 1991 by the Opéra Bastille. Viols have six strings, modern instruments only four, hence the required seven players (two violas, three ‘cellos and two double-basses) instead of the previous five. I have attempted to recapture the magic sonority of viols by exploiting various unusual performing techniques. Occasionally an extra line has been added, and here and there the lower octave of the double-basses is used to add increased depth to the texture. The core of the work however - the melismatic vocal line - remains unchanged.'

~ George Benjamin

‘This is a remarkable work, a setting of Yeats’ ‘Long-Legged Fly”, where Benjamin has found a newly expressive sound world - rasping colours in rich dissonant chords, pizzicato and tremolo effects. And in his use of the voice in hesitant parlando style, the claustrophobic nature of the poem is decisively captured.’

~ Anette Morreau, The Independent, 30th of October 1996