Tansy Davies’s works rarely fail to stimulate: her opera Between Worlds focused on the Twin Towers attack, which I described at the time as ‘a personal triumph,’ while works such as Forest and Re-greening (given at Festival Hall in 2017, Philhamonia/Salonen and the National Youth Orchestra Prom, 2015, respectively) attest to a composer attuned to Nature. She is certainly not afraid to take on chal...
This analysis of *The Passion of Mary Magdalene* reveals a work that bridges sacred tradition and contemporary reinterpretation, but it also invites scrutiny of its framing and assumptions. The strongest version of this narrative—its "steelman"—is that Davies’s composition offers a feminist reclamation of Mary Magdalene, stripping away later accretions (like the "Holy Prostitute" myth) to restore her as a witness and spiritual figure. The use of Baroque instrumentation alongside modern elements ...