The Waste Land
for four voices, jazz quintet and filmThe Waste Land is widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century. Loosely following the myths of the Holy Grail and the Fisher King, it alludes riverine to a vast range of world literature, music and popular culture, leaving modernist literature in its wake.
Directed by Adrian Dunbar, with score by Nick Roth, the original Unreal Cities staging of the poem was for four actors, film and jazz quintet. The piece was commissioned by the Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival 2015 with the permission of the T. S. Eliot Estate, becoming the only performance of the poem in its 100-year history to include musical accompaniment.
Since the world premiere in 2015, The Waste Land has received numerous critically-acclaimed international performances, including The Institute for Ecotechnics' October Gallery in London in 2019, and at The Hay Festival (UK) and the Summer Festival of the Great Library of Alexandria (Egypt) in celebration of the poem's centenary in 2022.
A new orchestral version of the work headlined the London Jazz Festival 2025 with two performances at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, accompanied by the Guildhall Session Orchestra, conducted by John Harle (The Waste Land @ LJF2025)
Voices:
Musicians:
Alex Bonney - trumpet / electronics
Nick Roth - saxophones / objects
Alexander Hawkins - piano
Tom Herbert - bass
Simon Roth - drums