Do we need a little madness to set us free, or just a little freedom to be mad?

Experience the madness, mayhem and mischief of the musical worlds of Walton’s Façade and Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King. This unusual pairing will take you on a journey into the heart of twentieth-century musical innovation, whilst examining different states of human psychology and exploring what it means to be truly mad. Façade offers a bizarre, yet often-humorous outlook, in which the protagonists imaginatively proclaim their inner turmoil to the world, whilst Eight Songs for a Mad King exposes the perpetual torture of a life impeded by mental barriers

The Melos Sinfonia is an exciting, young orchestra based in London that draws its players from current students and recent graduates of the major conservatoires and universities across the United Kingdom, as well as from orchestras such as the European Union Youth Orchestra, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, Britten-Pears Orchestra and the Southbank Sinfonia.

[www.melossinfonia.co.uk](http://www.melossinfonia.co.uk/)

Façade

Music by [William Walton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Walton), Text by [Edith Sitwell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Sitwell)

Reciter 1 – [Charmian Bedford](http://melossinfonia.co.uk/charmian-bedford)

Reciter 2 – [Danny Standing](http://melossinfonia.co.uk/danny-standing)

Eight Songs for a Mad King

Music by [Peter Maxwell Davies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Maxwell_Davies), Text by [Randolph Stow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randolph_Stow) & [George III](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_III_of_the_United_Kingdom)

King – [Samuel Pantcheff](http://melossinfonia.co.uk/samuel-pantcheff)