Doth Protest Too Much was written for the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet in 2018, largely at the VICC residency in Visby (Sweden). The piece is inspired by the Russian poet Nadezhda Lvova and her poem Belyj, belyj, belyj, belyj [White, white, white, white]. Nadezhda Lvova (1891-1913) took her own life with pistol shot to her heart when her older and married lover distanced himself from her. Excerpts from the poem (in Russian) are mixed with words I have written (in Englsih) and the piece reflects on power: imbalances of power and the (im)possibilities of rectifying these.
The voice part of the piece is meant to be performed with an electrioc bullhorn.
Doth Protest Too Much was premiered on 16 March 2018 at Teaterstudio Lederman, Stockholm, as part of the Svensk Musikvår 2018 festival. It was performed by Stockholm Saxophone Quartet and myself. We performed it again on the 5 April 2018 at Gottsunda Dans & Teater in Uppsala as part of the Vår Yra festival.
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