Music that reads between the lines at Cork Choral Festival
WHEN We Were Children, the 7.30pm concert at St Fin Barre’s Cathedral on Friday, May 2, will be one of the highlights of the 60th Cork International Choral Festival. The concert will be performed by Chamber Choir Ireland under conductor, Paul Hillier, to mark the festival’s diamond jubilee. Several world premieres are in the concert, including Malcolm Williamson’s ‘The Musicians of Bremen’, Michael Gordon’s ‘The Bird Watcher’, and John Tavener’s ‘Song for Athene’, as well as ‘Solomon Grundy’, by Dónal MacErlaine, the winning composition from the 2014 Séan Ó Riada Competition. One of the most haunting pieces that night will be ‘Letter to Michael’, a newly commissioned piece by composer David Fennessy.
Maynooth-born Fennessy studied at Dublin College of Music and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, where he now teaches at the composition faculty. Shortlisted for the Gaudeamus Music Prize, in Amsterdam, in both 2000 and 2006, his music has been performed internationally.
Recent significant works include ‘Pass the Spoon’, a collaboration with English visual artist, David Shrigley, and ‘Haupstimme,’ a work for solo viola and ensemble. Since 2012 he has been working on a trilogy of large-scale works based on German film director Werner Herzog’s diaries, which were written during the production of the 1982 movie, .
‘Letter to Michael’, though, is different. “A few years ago, I came across an extraordinary image by a woman named Emma Hauck. It was of a page of text, written so densely in pencil that it was almost completely black and more or less illegible.” Fennessy uncovered a heart-wrenching and tragic story. In early 1909, Emma Hauck, a 30-year-old mother of two, was placed in the psychiatric hospital at the University of Heidelberg, diagnosed with schizophrenia. She seemed to improve, and was discharged a month later, only to be sent back within weeks, as her condition deteriorated.
In August of that year, with her illness deemed terminal and rehabilitation no longer an option, Emma was transferred to Wiesloch asylum and remained there until she died. She was never to see her children again.
Some time later, a heartbreaking collection of letters was discovered in the archives of the Heidelberg hospital, all written in Emma’s hand during her second stay at the clinic, in 1909, at a time when reports indicate she was talking constantly of her family. Each desperate letter is directed at her absent husband, and every page is thick with overlapping text (it was not unusual for early correspondence to be crossed, and sometimes twice crossed, to save postage, but these are exceptional, even so).
Some letters are so condensed as to be illegible; some read “Herzensschatzi komm” (“Sweetheart come”) over and over; others simply repeat the plea “komm komm komm,” (“come come come”) thousands of times.
Emma expresses her yearning to see her children, to walk in the forest, to sit in a café and enjoy good food once more.
None of the letters was ever sent.
One of the reasons Emma was in psychiatric care was because (it was said) she had come to believe that her husband’s kiss would contaminate her. One cannot help wondering if she had discovered an infidelity and that this could have prompted her lifelong incarceration? Given some of the stories in our own past history of wrongful committal to institutions, it resonates alarmingly.
“I was deeply moved by these repeated pleas,” says Fennessy, “and felt strongly that the desperate passion that can be seen on those pages could only really be expressed with voices. I imagined a dense layering of a simple line; each voice adding to the power of the plea.”
How, one wonders, can the composer bear to delve so deeply into such patent agony of mind and yearning, loneliness and panic. Does it not affect him personally, does the pain not distract from the progression of the work, do the memories not linger long after the composition is done?
No, says Fennessy. “For me, the concerns were more musical. When I’m dealing with the human voice and singing, there’s a kind of extreme emotion I require in order to think of a reason why a voice might burst into song.”
He found that emotion in the Emma Hauck letters, and what he found can be heard for the first time on May 2, in ‘Letter To Michael’. “In this piece, some of the women’s parts are reminiscent of ‘keening’, while the men are almost shouting at points.” It was that very emotional content of Emma’s letters, he says, “that provided me with a vehicle to express my own ideas musically.
“I was delighted when the opportunity arose to work again with Chamber Choir Ireland and with Paul Hillier. I think he has elevated the group into a world-class vocal ensemble and I had that in mind as I thought about how to adequately express the density and extremity of the text. The choir is utilised as 16 solo voices in this piece, which really exposes each individual voice and its unique characteristics,” he says.
Fennessy is also happy to be returning to the Cork Choral Festival. “I took part in the seminar on contemporary choral music back in 1996, as a member of the choir Cantique. Around that time, I had begun to compose my own music, and an encounter at that festival, with the Irish composer, John Buckley, started me down a rich and rewarding path, so it is a genuine delight to be back, this time as the commissioned composer,” he says.
“It cannot be over-exaggerated, just how important a role the commission and performance of new choral music plays in the festival programme,” says its director, John Fitzpatrick.
“The creation of new work is always an event and the festival actively supports the commissioning and inclusion of such works in our programme.”
The premiere of ‘Letter to Michael’ will be one of those events.
Have you seen our 2014 Festival Event Guide??? Take a look here! http://t.co/tHejtonaH8
— Cork International Choral Festival (@corkchoralfest) April 14, 2014
It’s a packed programme this year, but these you simply can’t miss.
This opening gala concert will leave you in no doubt as to why the Cork International Choral Festival is such a success. Performing Carl Orff’s highly dramatic work will be an extended Band of the First Southern Brigade, under the baton of Capt Brian Prendergast, the joint forces of the superb Tallaght Choral Society and East Cork Choral Society, and a gathering of soloists including Cara O’Sullivan, Peter Kerr, and Owen Gilhooly. Premièred in Frankfurt in 1937, Carmina Burana is one of the world’s most renowned cantatas. “You rarely get a full performance of Carmina Burana with a powerful band like this adding its strength,” says John Fitzpatrick. “It’s going to be spectacular.”
The multi-award winning ensemble Voces8 is bound to prove a festival highlight. They bring a repertoire ranging from Renaissance polyphony to unique jazz and pop.
For this 60th celebration festival, Chamber Choir Ireland, under the direction of Paul Hillier, will give what promises to be a stunning gala performance of When We Were Children in the wonderful surroundings of St Fin Barre’s Cathedral.
The programme will include a newly-commissioned piece by composer David Fennessy and the world premiere of the 2014 Seán Ó Riada Competition winning composition, Solomon Grundy by Dónal Mac Erlaine.
This late night concert with a sacred and reflective atmosphere is always a firm favourite with festival-goers and the sublime Madrigal ’75, director James Taylor, will bring their own ethereal sound to heighten the effects of the hour and the setting.
Teampall Fuaime, Triskel Christchurch, Sat May 3, 1.10pm: A piece inspired by and written especially for performance in one specific location is a rare thing indeed. But that’s exactly what you’ll get with Teampall Fuaime (Sound Temple) the world premiere at Triskel Christchurch Saturday lunchtime. Composer Ian Wilson worked with Cork Chamber Choir for several months on this piece and you can enjoy the result in a unique event during your lunch break. Tickets on the door.
World-class amateur choirs competing for the top prize in one of the highest regarded choral festivals in Europe. This year an extremely high standard is anticipated and the competition is set to be the most exciting yet. Each choir will perform a piece composed before 1750, an original work by a living composer, and a work from their native country. If you buy a ticket for the 8pm concert, you can get in to the 3pm one for free. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear all the competing choirs and make your own decision as to who will win.
Like the opening night, nobody wants to miss the Closing Gala, in which voices from all over the world come together in the name of song. The international choirs will present music representing their ethnic backgrounds, and there will also be another chance to hear the new pieces by Irish composer David Fennessy, and Dónal MacErlaine, winner of the 2014 Seán Ó Riada Composition competition. Always a great evening.
