Composer Enda Bates inspired by ancient tradition

Enda Bates was inspired by Sardinian music for his new work being unveiled in Cork, writes Nicki ffrench Davis

COMPOSER Enda Bates’s new work, ‘Euphony’, will receive its premiere performance on Friday at the Cork International Choral Festival. Bates also has a work in the recent publication, Choirland, which will be presented by the National Chamber Choir on Saturday.

Bates describes ‘Euphony’ as “a very non-choral choral piece”. “It is inspired by the Sardinian cantu a tenore style,” he says. “That music is really unusual, especially in a European folk music context. It is sung in very close harmony in a very idiosyncratic style using guttural voices which produce overtones. It is a very, very rare style and I was entranced by it when I came across it three or four years ago. I have been devouring it ever since.

“When I was fishing around for ideas for the commission I was interested to explore it and take it off in my own direction. I was attracted to the cantu a tenore style for a number of reasons — its rhythmic dynamism, and the alternative tunings they use which is something I have explored in other works. There is something reminiscent of the sean-nós style of Irish singing. Of course that isn’t harmonised, but something about the lead melody line in the Sardinian style is similar.”

Interestingly, Bates points out that this very ancient style of singing is only sung by men in Sardinia today, but there is evidence to suggest that this wasn’t always the case. “By writing a new piece for mixed choir it is creating a half-imagined history in a way,” he says.

“Although the harmonies are quite tonal it was a chance to look at alternative tuning. Not using the standard tuning that choirs would be more used to, but according to the harmonic series. It’s notated as different vowel sounds which automatically bring out the harmonics.”

In the context of the commission, Bates had the advantage of having National Chamber Choir’s conductor, Paul Hillier, to consult with during the piece’s creation. “I discussed it with Paul as I was writing it and he was sure it was quite do-able. We were emailing back and forth; he’s a terribly nice guy, and so knowledgeable that it would have been foolish not to take the chance to ask him questions.”

The piece is not burdened by text. “There’s only one word in the whole piece, ‘euphony’, and the rest of it is just syllables and vowel sounds,” Bates explains. “I called it that because that’s what the cantu a tenore singing is for me. It’s very joyful, it makes me very feel happy and euphony means just that, a pleasing collection of sounds.”

‘Euphony’ will be discussed at the festival’s annual seminar on new choral music on Friday, alongside the winning work from the Seán Ó Riada Composition Competition, Solfa Carlile’s ‘Upon the Rose’. It will receive its official premiere on Friday evening at the National Chamber Choir’s gala concert in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral.

On Saturday, Bates will form part of the panel for the inaugural Composers’ Workshop. “The workshop will focus on the Ó Riada competition pieces, the winner and a couple of the shortlisted works,” he says. “The National Chamber Choir will be singing through them and talking about their practical elements and how they might work.”

An earlier work by Bates, ‘Pauper’s Lament’, is one of 15 works selected by the National Chamber Choir for an anthology of contemporary Irish choral music. The Choirland Anthology was published by the Contemporary Music Centre last year and it will be presented at a masterclass as part of the festival on Saturday.

It represents an opportunity for conductors to learn how to approach the works and for composers to see what works. The masterclass will be led by Paul Hillier, with the National Chamber Choir on hand.

“Choirland is a great idea, there are so many great contemporary composers in Ireland,” Bates says. “Something like this is very useful as it gives lots of information about how to approach the pieces. There’s maybe a little bit of fear of the unknown for choirs with contemporary music.

“There’s an impression perhaps that it’s all very difficult to do or to listen to, but that’s not the case at all. ”

*www.corkchoral.ie