Adès extracted six solo pieces for members of the Court of Naples from his and Meredith Oakes's opera The Tempest and transcribed them for four instruments. The first three pieces form a sequence in the opera:
Antonio: 'Sir, I saw him in the water/Striking bravely for the land';
Sebastian: 'Milan, your vanity, your self-promotion/Have brought us to this godforsaken shore';
The King of Naples: 'Oh Prince of Naples and Milan/What fish has made its meal on you?'.
The next two pieces are presented out of sequence:
Antonio: ‘You’ll forgive at no cost/You’ve won I’ve lost’ is the last of the court arias, from near the end of the opera;
Gonzalo: ‘Sir, be cheerful/This is remarkable/Please don’t weep/Your Majesty’ is the first, sung when they have only just come ashore.
The King of Naples: ‘The sea mocks/Our search on land/He’s lost/Whom we strain to find/Vain/He’s gone'.
The Aldeburgh theme continues; clarinettist Jack McNeill is the current director of the Chamber Music strand of Aldeburgh Young Musicians.