‘Blinding, Burning, Lovely’
US Premiere
As part of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival in June, the Faculty Artists performed a concert of Roustom, Poulenc, Coleridge-Taylor and gave the US premiere of ‘Blinding, Burning, Lovely’ performed by Kiera Duffy, soprano; Eva Cappelletti Chao violin; Sheldon Person, viola; Jason Calloway, cello; and Kathy Kelly, piano.
‘Blinding, Burning, Lovely’ for soprano and ensemble is a setting of the poem ‘The Falling Star’ by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933). Throughout the piece, the soprano moves from a vernacular to a stylized manner of singing as the work expands and grows outwards from the first spoken word. The piece aims to create an atmospheric soundworld by the use of repeating iridescent harmonics textures underneath.
I saw a star slide down the sky,
Blinding the north as it went by,
Too burning and too quick to hold,
Too lovely to be bought or sold,
Good only to make wishes on
And then forever to be gone.
- The Falling Star by Sara Teasdale
The piece was originally written and premiered by soprano Eleanore Cockerham and musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music in 2017.
Thank you to Kiera and Sewanee for giving the US Premiere performance!
Photo: Sheldon Person
Faculty Artists of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival: Sheldon Person, Kathleen Kelly, Kiera Duffy, Eva Cappellettichao (and Jason Calloway)
‘Whirl Up, Sea—’ Premiere
The Royal Academy of Music turns 200 years old in 2022 and, as part of its bicentenary celebrations, has launched the 200 Pieces project. ‘Whirl Up, Sea—’ for solo ‘cello, was written as part of these celebratory concerts and was premiered by Theo Bently Curtin on 8th July. The piece is inspired by the poem ‘Oread’ by H.D.:
Whirl up, sea—
whirl your pointed pines,
splash your great pines
on our rocks,
hurl your green over us,
cover us with your pools of fir.
The piece will be made available, as both a recording and a score, as part of the Royal Academy of Music, London, project very soon.
Royal Academy of Music, London
‘In the Garden of a Museum’ Premiere
As part of Bath Festival Orchestra’s Lunchtime Concert Series at St Mary le Strand, London, Isaac Shieh performed a concert of works for solo natural horn and gave the world premiere of ‘In the Garden of a Museum’.
‘In the Garden of a Museum’ (2022) for solo horn takes inspiration from the poem ‘She Put on Her Lipstick in the Dark’ by the American poet, Stuart Dischell. The poem follows the poetic form of a Pantoum, which was derived from the Pantun, a Malay oral verse form consisting of a series of interwoven quatrains used to express intricate ideas and emotions. The piece follows the structure of the poem by repeating the lines of music in accordance with the represented lines of the text so that they are often recontextualised by their differing order and their relationship with neighbouring fragments due to their placement. This close connection with the text reflects the human vocal-like quality of the natural horn and the Malay origin of the poetic form used to communicate changing thoughts. The climactic passage towards the end of the piece reflects the structural placement of the title line of the poem, which occurs only once in both the poetic structure and the piece.
Grace-Evangeline Mason and Isaac Shieh
