Farmer George

Thomas Florio and Osmo Tapio Räihälä (E)

Bar; 1.0.1.0-0.0.0.0-perc-pft-vln.vlc

King George III (1738–1820) was known as The Mad King in his later years due to his mental illness. However, in his youth, his subjects affectionately—and somewhat ironically—nicknamed him Farmer George, a moniker that alluded to his love of rural life, his interest in agriculture, and his domestic modesty.
As a complement to Peter Maxwell Davies’s 1969 work Eight Songs of a Mad King, baritone Thomas Florio created the libretto for the monodrama Farmer George, which was set to music by the Finnish composer Osmo Tapio Räihälä using the instrumentation originally employed by Maxwell Davies. While Maxwell Davies’s Eight Songs explores the tormented soul of the deranged king, Räihälä’s preceding monodrama focuses on the youthful years of Farmer George. This juxtaposition made it possible to create a full-length program centered on King George III, whose two parts — despite their differing compositional styles — are formally united by the same instrumentation and thematically connected through the exploration of the king’s varied psychological facets, resulting in a powerful and moving psychological portrait.
Both works, which together run approximately 75 minutes without intermission, place demanding technical and interpretive requirements on the instrumental ensemble and soloist alike. At the same time, they offer the singer an immense expressive range in probing profound human emotions.

The work is conceived as a companion piece for Peter Maxwell Davies’s Eight Songs for a Mad King.

‘George III was an eccentric figure. He was the first Hanoverian king to speak mainly English, and he had unusually down-to-earth interests: Woodturning, ceramics, botany - and above all agriculture. He walked through vegetable patches and fields and stopped to chat to ordinary people about farming. No wonder he was nicknamed Farmer George. Although his marriage was of course a political arrangement, he genuinely and dearly loved Queen Charlotte and - goodness me! - took an active part in the upbringing of their 15 children, which was unusual at the time. The loss of several of them hit him hard. The early death of the young Prince Octavius and later that of his youngest daughter, Princess Amelia, are said to have accelerated his mental decline.
(...) The new piece lasts just over twenty minutes. When I composed it in early 2025, it was undoubtedly the most intense working period of my life - at times I was in a state that could be described as hyperfocus: Everything in my waking (and occasionally dreaming) life revolved around Farmer George and his music. My starting point for this composition was rather unusual. I had no desire to write an imitation of 18th-century music - although I do quote both Handel and William Boyce, the Master of the King's Musick of George III - but neither did I want to attempt a revolutionary new form of avant-garde music. I wanted the music to reflect Farmer George's sanity, serenity and nobility - qualities that eventually collide with deep disappointment and ultimately despair. The score contains both lyrical harmony and explosive turbulence - just like life itself.
The power of Farmer George depends entirely on the presence and intensity that the performer brings to the role. There is no need for operatic backdrops or costumes - George's struggle is internal and psychological. What finally drives him to the edge of the abyss, to the point where his mind tips over into madness?’ (Osmo Tapio Räihälä)

Tragic