Brides of Enderby is a setting of six texts purportedly by Burgess’s fictional poet, F.X. Enderby, the hero of the Enderby quartet of novels. Completed in 1977, the song cycle for five players – soprano, flute, oboe, cello and piano/harpischord – is a series of meditations on the complexities of love that begins with dissonance and atonality and ends with deliberate sentimentality and harmony. A complete performance of the cycle is 16 minutes in duration. Premiered in 1978 by the Laurentian Chamber Players at the Library of Congress in Washington DC, the piece has most recently been revived at the Burgess Foundation in 2011.

Click the images below for the full score and parts (opens in a new tab).

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