I have long been a mega fan of David Hoyle. When I lived in London, I regularly went to see his shows at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. He’s the canary in the mine of our times, sounding the alarm for a deeply unfair and oppressive society in white hot cabaret and performance art. I find his rage incredibly exciting and galvanising.

In 2015 the London Sinfonietta approached twelve composers, including me, to write a short piece for a special programme on the eve of the UK General Election that year. The concert was called Notes to the New Government, and we were supposed to make issues-based pieces directed at the as yet unknown incoming government.

I took this opportunity to ask David to work with me for the first time. He agreed, and we filmed around two hours of his unique brand of stream-of-consciousness rant. From that, I edited snippets of video into a 7-minute piece, Illusions. The message of the piece resonated with the audience, so two years later, in yet another general election year, the New Music Biennial and the London Sinfonietta asked us to extend and reorient the piece. Amid the unchartered post-Brexit landscape of 2017, there were also celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the legalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales — an issue dear to David and me.

We decided to highlight this in our update. We went through the same process, filmed more material, and made a 14-minute piece that is more direct, more sexual, and more aggressive than its 2015 predecessor. I hope you find the anger inspiring.

Illusions is a collaboration with the performance artist David Hoyle, for live ensemble and video projection. The first version was commissioned by the London Sinfonietta as a “Note to the new government” and performed by them two days after the British General Election in 2015, at the QEH, Southbank Centre on London, 9th May 2015. A longer version was commissioned by them for the UK New Music Biennial / Hull City of Culture, which was premiered on 2nd June 2017 by the London Sinfonietta and Richard Baker. This longer version replaced the 2015 version.

Philip Venables