Irma, the eponymous heroine of my short opera, represents the ideal woman of Grenville's quest (as she does that of Toge in A Humument). Hers is The Face of Curriculum Vitae IV so often nearly, but never entirely, seen, and whose veiled evocations every lover and detective knows. She is not only sought in these fictions but here is also trailed through the shadow-world of the postcard, from which convincing candidates have emerged. She is frequently seen from the back. As all who have been lovelorn are aware, there is great potency in the 'could it be?' of this aspect, so often giving way to the 'no' of broken illusion when the followed turns to face the follower.

At the centre of a group of works with this title is a sequence of five gouaches, one of which (not illustrated here) shares its subject with No. 7 of Ein Deutsches Requiem.

Work and Texts (1992),  pp. 70-74.

No. 2, 33.5 Kb

No. 3, 30.9 Kb

No. 4, 30.8 Kb

Hors de Serie, 36.3 Kb

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