Feeling Blue
Here’s that rarest of things, a press release worth quoting in full:
SIMON FISHER TURNER
5th QUARTER OF THE GLOBE
THE FILM MUSIC OF DEREK JARMAN
It is not often that you can recall an artist who has acted alongside Robert Mitchum, roadied for Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, toured with Adam and the Ants and was a founder member of the seminal Matt Johnson led The The, but Simon Fisher Turner has done all of these as well as working with Derek Jarman. On tour in October, Simon Fisher Turner presents a fascinating programme of his original film music for some of Jarman�s most profiled films; Caravaggio, The Last of England and The Garden. A unique �suite� of works from his original scores, the programme will comprise of three pieces performed by the composer together with a string quartet, evocative vocalist Melanie Pappenheim and an original filmscape will be mixed live throughout the performance. In addition to this visual connection between himself and Jarman, Simon will present a short solo piece as an introduction which serves to put this project in the context of what is an extraordinary
story of film composer and pop artist.
Derek Jarman was one of our greatest filmic visionaries. Spanning painting, theatre and film, he comfortably moved between genres, seemingly shape-shifting at will. From designing ballet and theatre in the sixties for Frederick Ashton and Ken Russell, through to his own
films in super-8 and seminal features such as Sebastiane (1976), Jubilee (1978), The Last of England (1987) and Blue (1993), Jarman explored a unique and compelling vision. Spending his last years in his �garden� in Dungeness on the Kent shoreline, known locally as the �5th Quarter of the Globe,� Jarman left us with a vision that was controversial, dramatic and moving.
Simon Fisher Turner worked extensively with Jarman throughout his career, from a runner on The Tempest to sound designing and composing original music to numerous short films, as well as his feature films Caravaggio, The Last of England, The Garden, Edward II and his most passionate statement Blue � a film with no images, comprised entirely of a lucid blue screen with an elegant use of text and sound. Acclaim for his soundtracks to six of Derek Jarman�s films is only part of Simon Fisher Turner�s remarkable career. Promoted as the UK�s answer to David Cassidy in the early 70s, co-founding The The but leaving with Colin Tucker to form a duo and recording albums as Deux Filles and Jeremy�s Secret as well as recording solo albums under a variety of aliases for Creation, Mute and others. Simon has continued to work in film including an Oscar nominated score for Anna Campion�s Loaded plus Mike Hodge�s Croupier as well as collaborating with choreographer Rosemary Butcher.
National Tour - October 2003
Tues 7 October
LEEDS The Wardrobe 0113 245 5570
Weds 8 October
BATH Michael Tippett Centre 01225 463 362, www.bathspa.ac.uk
Thurs 9 October
LONDON Union Chapel 0870 1201349 www.sulphurculture.com
Fri 10 October
EXETER Phoenix 01392 667080 www.exterphoenix.org.uk
Fri 31 October
MANCHESTER RNCM 0161 907 5555 www.rncm.ac.uk
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