Thank You Mr. Joyce

This literature-inspired work marks the beginning of a collaboration between the Spanish composer Pedro Halffter and Schott Music. It was a three-month sojourn in Trieste that inspired Halffter to compose his new work, Thank You Mr. Joyce, subtitled Anamorphose for large orchestra. During Halffter’s stay in Trieste, the passionate admirer of the author James Joyce was re-reading the novel Ulysses, actually written in this city, which Joyce lovingly commemorated in his book.

Just as the conceptual world of the protagonist provides a focal point in the narrative style of Ulysses and exerts an influence on the description of external events, inner dialogue also plays a central role in Halffter’s composition. Anamorphosis describes a particular technique used in the visual arts to make an image only recognisable from a particular perspective. Halffter uses this principle in his composition, wherein the secret of the music only becomes discernible during its performance and through the altered perspective of the audience.