Music for a Puppet Court: Puzzle Pieces for Two Chamber Orchestras After John Lloyd (XVIth Century) : Op. 11 (1972/83)

Dedicated to Peter Maxwell Davies, whose own engagement with Medieval and Tudor music was so influential to Knussen's generation, this characterful 10-minute work for antiphonically divided chamber orchestra is bookended by two elegant, jewel-like arrangements of sixteenth-century puzzle canons attributed to John Lloyd. In between, two short variation movements see Knussen exploring the same musical material in his own inimitable voice.

". . .a stunning palette of orchestral colour"

The Independent (Michael John White), 1 April 1988