Cyrano was on the family bookshelf and I was repeatedly drawn to it. Although I saw the 1950 Hollywood film starring Jose Ferrer and the stunning 1990 French production with Gerard Depardieu, live stage productions and David Bintley’s earlier ballet slipped past my radar. But in 2004 when the offer to compose a new score for David came, memories, not so much of the films, but of my childhood stagings came flooding back. I had one niggling doubt – the subject of the play is eloquence, i.e. words. Can words be translated into movement? David, through gesture, immediately convinced me that it can and we were off!
Style – a lifelong love of French music.
Form – of my 3 full-length ballets, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland and Cyrano, this bears the strongest relationship to the dramatic scores required for the silent cinema. But now the long paragraphs to parallel the vivid scenes on the screen must be dance, and yet continue to drive the narrative forward. Consultation with David was intense – much re-writing – compressing, lengthening. Also, getting to understand each other’s working process. And then, the final thrill – seeing the first steps to my music. Downtown Brooklyn to the Royal Ballet Birmingham – the circle was complete.