The Ogre Lover
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The Ogre Lover is a 2007 composition for string trio by the British composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad.
Background and inspiration
The Ogre Lover has a duration of roughly 9 minutes and is composed in seven short, connected movements.[1]
The piece was inspired by the Ted Hughes poem "Fairytale" from the collection Birthday Letters, which was based on his relationship with Sylvia Plath. The composer described the work in the score program notes, writing, "The poem is full of the vivid imagery of the couple's dreams, of high palaces with forty-nine doors, 'tingling stars', and an ogre lover that waits 'inside death' for Sylvia to return to him every night." She added:
The Ogre Lover was written immediately after finishing a large-scale orchestral piece (which completed my recently submitted PhD portfolio). This had left my brain somewhat frazzled (and temporarily unable to cope with the 'large-scale harmonic structures' with which I had become so obsessed): in The Ogre Lover I therefore simply had fun, indulging myself with all the timbres, motives and harmonies that the poem suggested.[1]
Instrumentation
The Ogre Lover is scored for a string trio comprising violin, viola, and cello.[1]