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composers, lovely performances, New Dublin Voices and other choral singing, reviews and reports, what I'm up to

I *Was* Glad…

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Today I sang Hubert Parry’s anthem, ‘I Was Glad’, with St Ann’s choir for a service to mark the commencement of the newly-elected Irish parliament (Dáil Éireann). Parry was born in 1848, an explosive year in Europe, not least in Ireland. He died in 1918, just a few months before the first Irish parliament convened.

This paragraph, from the Wikipedia article on Parry, is a bleak reminder of the cost of freedom:

In the words of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: “During the war he watched a life’s work of progress and education being wiped away as the male population—particularly the new fertile generation of composing talent—of the Royal College dwindled.”

‘I Was Glad’ is justifiably one of Parry’s best known works, and was written for the coronation of Edward VII, revised for that of George V, and performed again at Elizabeth II’s crowning ceremony. (An upside to the abdication debacle—for Parry, at least—must have been the opportunity to hear his work performed at two coronations!). It’s a great piece and brilliantly written. Listen to the lovely word setting of the central section (“O pray for the peace of Jerusalem…”) and the wonderfully expansive climax on the word ‘plenteousness’ at the end.

(PS this isn’t us—it’s St Paul’s in London on the Queen’s golden jubilee)

Today is Ash Wednesday, so it didn’t go unnoticed among the choir that ‘I Was Glad’ is rather a joyous piece for the first day of Lent. Quick as a flash, one of our number, a Finnish girl called Tuula, said, “Well, it is past tense: ‘I Was Glad’…”.

composers, forthcoming events

Steve Reich talks about composition

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This lovely little video appeared on Twitter today. It’s by the London Sinfonietta, who are soon performing Steve Reich’s ‘Music For 18 Musicians’ with the composer.

It’s really a video programme note – Reich explains the genesis and history of the piece and describes the compositional method and instrumental choices he made. We also see the musicians rehearsing, of course.

Performing groups – and not just those with the clout or resources of the London Sinfonietta – would do well to embrace this model. Imagine travelling to a concert and watching tailor-made videos on the train that feature the players you’re about to see explaining the music you’re about to hear.

composers, what I'm up to

Pride, Prejudice, Piano, Perfect

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I found the big music shop in Sydney – Allan’s on Pitt Street. Downstairs: guitars, drums and such (I got three sets of Martin guitar strings for the price of two PLUS a very compressed t-shirt!). Upstairs is sheet music, orchestral instruments, keyboards, and…pianos.

There are pianos everywhere in Sydney – we saw one in David Jones, a big old-style department store, on our first day; there was one in the hotel where we had (amazing) High Tea on Julija’s birthday; there’s even one in the tattoo parlour we pass on our way home every day! Maybe it’s because I had to leave my lovely Nord at home and I’m just hallucinating. Allan’s is a real treat, though. I spotted the music, composed by Dario Marianelli, from Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice and asked if I could play through it. They kindly obliged (although they put me on an electric piano…I’ll hopefully work my way up to one of the grands with a bit of practice!) and I happily played through the book.

The main theme – ‘Dawn’ – is lovely, with its threes-against-twos, its chromatic urging, and its full, ruffly arpeggios, all culminating in a marvellously long, decorated trill. *sigh*

composers, New Dublin Voices and other choral singing, reviews and reports

The Mornington Singers

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I went to a concert last night by our choral neighbours, The Mornington Singers. They are conducted by the lovely Orla Flanagan and sang in the marvellous Pro-Cathedral in Dublin.

It was my first time in the cathedral (the Catholic one…not sure why it gets the positivity prefix…) and it really is quite nice indeed. Not too over-the-top in terms of gold and such, but there are two domes in the roof and a large area around the altar that lended itself perfectly to the choir’s arched formation. (Note to self: do I mean ‘arced’? Looks wrong.) The building reminded me of St Cecilia’s Hall in Edinburgh, one of the concert rooms built in Georgian times. Of course, the cathedral is bigger and more, well, ‘churchy’, but it did seem to yearn for ancient Greece or Rome in the way that the Georgian architects favoured.

The programme for the evening was titled ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ but, apart from Veljo Tormis’s ‘St John’s Day Songs’, this was less a theme and more an apt description of the evening’s experience.

The concert opened with two pieces by James MacMillan: ‘A Child’s Prayer’ and ‘The Gallant Weaver’. I wondered about opening with the first of these. It does begin with the word “welcome” but it is an intense piece and I wasn’t sure I was ready to hear it straight off. It’s a great sing for the two soprano soloists, whose intertwining lines gracefully float over the sonorous repeated chords of the choir. The middle section flickers with ornamented notes in all parts on the word “joy” and propels the music upward to the final, heart-breaking duet.

composers, links, lyrics and lines I especially admire, what I'm up to

Tonight with Craig Doyle

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On Saturday I was on Craig Doyle’s show, singing with James McMorrow. My fellow backing singers were Jill Deering and Peter Ryan and I did some tambourine, too. We sang a track from James’s album called ‘This Old Dark Machine’ and, unusually for telly, did it completely live and acoustic.

Here’s a link to the lyrics of the song, on James’s website…

It was a great thrill to be part of the show. It’s recorded on Wednesdays and we were shown to a dressing room (with a nice big box of jelly beans to munch on), and had a lovely runner guy who took our dinner order and got us whatever we wanted. We were all too nice to ask for a while, but then I ventured a request for a Diet Coke (rock’n’roll, eh?). Doubtless the guys were summoning all sorts of debauchery after I left and they got a bit more bold 😉

Here’s the clip (the song starts at 03m13s…):

Thankfully the TV people taped our bit first, as I had to rush off to play piano for my girls choir at Loreto Senior Primary in Crumlin. They were doing their Spring show and I had two choirs to play for: the 88-strong group that had taken part in the Hallelujah Chorus project (massed school choirs get together each year to do a concert with a full orchestra), and the younger ‘school choir’. The 88 did an Abba medley and the school choir did two songs I’d been working on with them this term – ‘Colors Of The Wind’ from Pocahontas by the amazing Alan Menken (look him up and marvel at his body of work) and ‘The Peanut Vendor’, a Cuban song about a dude who sells peanuts. I got there with minutes to spare before I was meant to be on…I think the poor head teacher was a little emotionally frayed by the whole experience! Of course, I breeze in with not a bother on me 🙂

Here’s the Abba medley:

And here’s ‘The Peanut Vendor’:

composers, forthcoming events, lyrics and lines I especially admire

The Marriage of Figaro

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In my first year at Edinburgh University I was involved in the student production of Mozart’s opera, ‘The Marriage of Figaro’. The cast sang in English, as I recall (the opera is originally in Italian). It contains some of the most wonderful music and, from my position in the orchestra (I played clarinet), I watched each night as the drama played out. Mozart loved the clarinet – a relatively new invention in his day – and he gives it some lovely melodies.

I knew the guy playing the continuo part, an older student called Gareth Wilson, and he would excitedly point out the sublime, exquisite harmonies with which Mozart tells Da Ponte’s story of class struggle and love. The words ‘sublime’ and ‘exquisite’, if not invented for the purpose of describing Mozart’s art, surely found their calling when he began to write his music.

Don’t take my word for it – go and see this production by Opera Theatre Company!

My other excitement about this particular staging is that my fellow Edinburgh music graduate and fellow Northerner, Emma Morwood (pictured), is playing the lead female role of Susanna. You know those people who just stand out from the crowd and draw people in with their warmth, good-nature, and sense of humour? Emma was one of those at university and she lit up the music faculty 🙂

Don’t take my word for it – go and see this production by Opera Theatre Company!

DUBLIN May 7+8, DUNDALK May 11, SLIGO May 13, GALWAY May 15, DERRY May 20, CARLOW May 22, TALLAGHT May 25, THURLES May 28, TRALEE May 30, BRAY June 2
Tickets: €18-€30. Booking fee may apply.

composers, links, lyrics and lines I especially admire, togetherness, what I'm up to

The Rainbow Connection

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A few weeks ago I did a recording for one of my fellow tenors in New Dublin Voices, jazz pianist Stephen Kenny. He has formed a duo with a Finnish singer called Milla Mamia and they needed a demo so they could advertise. I used my Zoom H4 recorder in my kitchen to make the recordings. Firstly, Milla and Stephen did the song and I took a direct stereo output from my Nord Stage piano. Then, I was able to have Milla listen back to that piano track through headphones and sing into the Zoom’s built-in stereo microphones. I then did some editing to do in Audacity, the final stage of which was adding reverb to Milla’s voice.

Check out their website: midnightbluejazz.com

One of the songs they recorded was ‘The Rainbow Connection’ by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher. This song was pipped for a Grammy in 1979, the year Kermit the Frog sang it in The Muppet Movie. It’s been covered by many people since then (check out the list on Wikipedia’s entry for the song) but I couldn’t find one I liked as much as Milla & Stephen’s. Actual tears!

Kermit is, of course, the benchmark 🙂 I love the attention to detail – the way his hand moves on the chord changes and he strums the correct pattern. Genius puppetry.

composers, what I'm up to

Suzanne McDonnell at Dundalk IT

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I accompanied Suzanne McDonnell today at her mid-term performance exam at Dundalk IT. She did really well and I was happy that we did a good set. She opened with a solo piece by Morton Feldman called ‘Only’ and then I joined her for the rest: Antonio Carlos Jobim’s ‘Chovendo na roseira’, Erykah Badu’s ‘Green Eyes’, and a bluesy original called ‘Play Me’.

The three other students who did their exams today all did great pieces. First up was Cathal Johnston, a trad. harmonica player, who did one of my favourite tunes, O’Carolan’s ‘Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór’, amongst others. Another soprano, Siobhain Murphy, did Sondheim’s ‘Green Finch and Linnet Bird’ – Johanna’s song about captivity from Sweeney Todd – and three of Britten’s ‘Cabaret Songs’ (all settings of Britten’s friend W.H. Auden): ‘Oh tell me the truth about love’, ‘Funeral Blues’, and ‘Johnny’. Finally Mark Nutley did Edward Gregson’s Tuba Concerto which I really enjoyed. A great gig!

I’ve been working on choral pieces which I’ll do a seperate blog post about. My friend Jonny Boyle let me know about an SATB carol competition being judged by Bob Chilcott and James Macmillan. Macmillan is one of my absolute favourite composers, so it would be a real thrill to have him judge something I’d written. The search is on for a Christmas/winter text…

Wind turbine at Dundalk IT - taken with Hipstamatic iPhone app
composers, what I'm up to

Two thousand and ten

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I’m excited about this year. I plan to start working on a portfolio of compositions with a view to starting a Masters in September. That will hinge on developing good work practices – finding a way to do some composition every day. I have a few pieces that I’d like to record, too, and I’d like to get those documented before the end of January.

Another important task for this month will be putting together an application to The Arts Council for a bursary to allow me to do this work. Then there’s the small matter of finding and applying for streams of funding for the Masters…

Along the way I’d also like to get my Grade Eight piano (which will involve some serious work and practice).

I’ll be blogging all the way so please check back regularly or subscribe to the RSS. Let me know if you’re doing similar things or if you have any advice. A big thing to get sorted out will be how to structure my working day at home and keep focussed. We live in a small apartment so I’m going to have to put my keyboard up each day and take it down again when Jen gets home (it kind of takes over the kitchen). We’ll see…!

Best discoveries of the past few weeks:

Morten Lauridsen. Trinity Singers performed his ‘O Magnum Mysterium’ at their Christmas concert and I had sung his setting of ‘Sure On This Shining Night’ at a choral conducting course last year. Bewitching and justifiably one of the most performed contemporary choral composers.

Eric Whitacre. I had heard some of his music and noticed a schism amongst musical people I know in relation to it. It was only the other week, though, that I bought the recording Polyphony did of his music and listened properly. Again, I was very moved by the sounds he elicits from the choir, his setting of text. His pathway into composition is very inspiring to me at this point; his blog (soaringleap) is also full of interesting insights into the life of a working composer. I hope I get to sing some of his music soon 🙂

Classical Music Master Collection. If you have an iPhone or iPod touch and you like music then get this app. What is it? It’s only “800 complete tracks (100 hours of music) by the great composers including Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Bach”!! It costs €1.59 from the iTunes app store. Seriously amazing value. There are more great apps detailed in this article from The Guardian.