The Next Patient by Eleanor Firman
When informed that 18th-century surgery was often practised in public - even in a market place, it struck me that the mass audiences for hospital soaps rarely see actual medical procedures whilst the live studio settings for Jerry Springer et al. show that perhaps the focus for this sadism has shifted to the psychological area. For me a minimalist approach offered a useful comparison with 18th-century formal design and its function in linking disparate subjects, but also the way film/tv music - and indeed Marais, use repeated notes to convey anxiety/tension. Text could also be spoken and merge with the musical fabric in a way that a more melodic structure might not allow. In the middle section I wanted to present an ‘x-ray’ of early music harmony but impressionistically, to evoke the mystery and transcendental quality not only of the sleeping human/sedated patient, but also the vocation to heal, and to make art.

The above photograph is by Jane Wildgoose by kind permission of The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret, 9a St Thomas St, Southwark, London SE1