8 songs for a mad king - Marius Holth

King Georg III had the nerve disease Porphyria. This meant that he had frequent seizures where reality’s perception was distorted.

In the contemporary opera “8 songs for a mad king” Peter Maxwell Davies depicts a mind that is breaking cracking.

That is music that takes you beyond the limits of what’s ugly and what’s nice.

Marius sings experimental opera by Peter Maxwell Davies

It was very demanding to study this role, says Marius.

– But this material is exciting, both because it challenges our usual perception of music, and because it says something about what happens to a human being when the usual relationships go away.

The audience is taken on a journey into the world of madness. between 5 octaves of screams, knots, grits, distortions and chords where the singer makes many notes at the same time.

Many of the lyrics in this fascinating piece of music are taken from King Georg III’s diary.

There are not so many who know that it was the singer and songwriter Roy Hart who developed the libretto and the extreme use of voice in these 8 songs.

His tune in the voice of 5½ octave makes this to be considered as some of the most daring a singer can embark on.

Marius has made a performance of this material together with the pianist Torhild Fimreite. Here you will hear his voice over many octaves in distorted and warped version.

The show was set up at the Oslo Opera Festival in 2008 and 2009 and was played at NRK “In the middle of the music”.

Marius sings experimental opera by Peter Maxwell Davies

It was very demanding to study this role, says Marius. – But this material is exciting, both because it challenges our usual perception of music, and because it says something about what happens to a human being when the usual relationships go away.

It was very demanding to study this role, says Marius.

– But this material is exciting, both because it challenges our usual perception of music, and because it says something about what happens to a human being when the usual relationships go away.