Musgrave's musical language, vaguely post-Britten, eschews the angular declamation that has been so depressing a characteristic of contemporary opera. Miss Musgrave is a lively, inventive, accomplished composer, who has shown dramatic gifts not only in three earlier operas, but in a whole sequence of concert works that are mainly cast in quasi-dramatic form. All in all it was a gripping and inspiring occasion. There is a sure congruence between musical and theatrical proportions. Each episode has just enough words and just enough action to allow a full yet economical musical development.
Nothing goes on too long.
Dramatic and musical pacing, transitions, variety of tension, of texture, and of density, contrasts of expansive lyricism and quick-moving music are controlled in a masterly way. There is visionary quality in Mary . There is an almost dizzying build up of dramatic tension among the principal figures in the grasping for the Scottish crown, the story centreing on the impossible hope for peace amid a series of misjudged decisions by the queen, setting as its themes those of power and loneliness. It is rare to be able to acclaim the arrival of a major new opera in this day and age. But the music is the thing, and in a superb orchestral fabric, Miss Musgrave weaves a spell of compelling power and magical impact.