Higgins: Rough Voices for Large Ensemble or Orchestra – Stud

Rough Voices was commissioned by Radio 3 for the 2020 BBC Proms - a strange festival in the middle of the pandemic where orchestras played to empty halls across the country. As I was writing the piece I came across the poem 'Tough' by Tony Walsh (born 1965, aka Longfella) - a battle cry for the working-class - and his words resonated with the music I was composing: They don't like it when we make it despite all their ifs and cuts; They don't like it when we take it as our right to shake things up; They don't like it when rough voices start demanding better choices; But it's tough, we've had enough and we are coming. Being from a working-class background myself I know how life changing music can be; and so I wanted to write an anthem for those communities. As the number of people living in poverty continues to rise and working-class voices are marginalised, it's more important than ever that we are heard. As such, Rough Voices is a rallying call to arms: we've had enough. And we are coming! The piece starts with a scream - of anger, frustration - that seems to interrupt a chorale played on strings. The 'interruptions' move into an insistent, incessant procession that drives relentlessly onwards. The 'scream' returns at the climax of the work, though now in a righteously indignant tone, before the chorale reappears, changed somewhat with echoes of the rhythmic pulse that dominated much of the piece. © Gavin Higgins