8 choruses

The work was composed to the poems by the Hungarian contemporary poet Dezs Tandori. It was premiered on June 1. 1984 in London, performed by BBC Singers, conducted by John Poole. The eight movements are arranged in three inner cycles. Because of thecomplex divisi situations and the double choir stting the work requires sixteen singers for each voice range; hence the number of singers required is 4 x 16 = 64.