To bring the first act to a close, Woolfenden returns to the music of the Overture. It’s only a short reprise, bringing back the main theme, and as the scene changes to the forest glade the orchestra segues into making bird sounds. The piccolo is instructed to play ‘weird bird song’, while the oboe direction is to play ‘quasi ucello [birds] con a bit of luck’. These sorts of tongue-in-cheek directions are all over Woolfenden’s scores, showing off his characteristic wit and good humour. Woolfenden’s cue book describes the overall effect as being of the ‘Renaissance [turning] into strange bewildered frightened fragmentary bird song’.
