Opera
Selection of works
Rupture Series
Collection of pieces
Choral Music
Selection of works
Instrumental Music
Selection of works
NEFANDUM
A film by Romane Ruggiero
World Premiere
January 7th at 21:30, in Kino REX Bern - Schwanengasse 9, 3011 Bern.
Also appearing at KUNST IM HOF January 10th - Biohof Schüpfenried, 3043 Uettligen
“Inspired by Anna Göldi: “the last witch”, from witch trials to modern silence, centuries of judgment, inherited fear, silence, and condemnation, still inhabit our bodies. NEFANDUM stands as a tribute to women — past and present — who refuse to disappear.”
Concept & direction : Romane Ruggiero
Cinematography : Marvin Mears
Camera assistant : Momoko Nakamura
Music : Éna Brennan
Violin, vocals & electronics : Éna Brennan
Additional vocals : Judith Lyons & Suzette Das
Audio mix : Stephen Tiernan
Recorded in Segotia, Dublin (Ireland)
Dance & Choreography : Romane Ruggiero
Voice-over : Dora Stepušin
Photography : Sébastien Bard
With the support of Stadt Bern, Kanton Bern, Kanton Glarus, Burgergemeinde Bern, Dampfzentrale Bern and Teatre Nu.
HOLD YOUR BREATH
Opera by Éna Brennan, Hugo Canoilas and David Pountney
World Premiere
Commissioned by the Bregenzer Festspiele as part of the Opernatelier,
in cooperation with Kunsthaus Bregenz.
August 15 & 17 2024 - 8:00 p.m | Werkstattbühne Bregenz, Austria
dur. approx. 70 minutes (no intermission)
sung in English with German surtitles
In a society where the individual’s life depends on the unemotional decisions of a selected few, a young woman tries to keep the memory of her grandmother alive. Suddenly, humankind faces some kind of creature and is seized and changed by its movements. Some claim to have created this mysterious octopus-like being. How is this creature related to human beings and do they have a hold on their lives?
Over several years, the composer Éna Brennan, the director and librettist Sir David Pountney and the visual artist Hugo Canoilas worked together in the Opernatelier to create a music theatre for the Werkstattbühne. Its main character right from the beginning is one of the most fascinating – and probably most intelligent – animals on this planet, an octopus. The singers’ voices and the dancers’ movements merge with the musicians whose sounds are electronically transmitted, thus creating a music theatre that engages all senses.
As a violinist and composer Éna Brennan wanders between different worlds. In 2020, she became internationally known with her short opera Rupture as part of the 20 Shots of Opera at the Irish National Opera. The visual artist Hugo Canoilas is known for transforming galleries into walkable stages. Born in Lisbon, the multimedia artist now commutes between Vienna, New York and Portugal. Sir David Pountney returns to Bregenz where he left his mark on the Bregenzer Festspiele as artistic director from 2004 to 2014 with several productions on the Seebühne.
The Official Scott Hendricks
The Red Leader | Priest | Dollmaker | Speaker Sam Furness
The Black Leader | Dollmaker Maria Hegele
The Nurse | Dollmaker Idunnu Münch
The Granddaughter | Dollmaker | Woman Shira Patchornik
Questioners Petr Nedbal | Hellen Boyko | Romane Ruggiero
Stage Direction and Libretto Sir David Pountney
Visual Artist (Stage | Costume Design) Hugo Canoilas
Musical Director Karen Ní Bhroin
Choreography Caroline Finn
Dramaturge Olaf A. Schmitt
Members of the SYMPHONIEORCHESTER VORARLBERG
About the Opera Studio
‘What does an opera of the 21st century sound like, look like and how do we experience it? The Opera Atelier is a joint project by Bregenz Festival and the Kunsthaus Bregenz that creates a space for artists and their ideas, explorations and thoughts paving the way for an opera to premiere at the Werkstattbühne. The audience is invited to follow this process over several years. Following the premiere of To the Lighthouse in 2017 and Wind in 2021, now it is time for an explorer and a returnee to set out on a new adventure: Belgian-Irish composer Éna Brennan, the Portuguese artist Hugo Canoilas and the British stage director Sir David Pountney, formerly artistic director of the Bregenz Festival.’
– Read more
Insight Events
Press
Hold Your Breath features in a ORF segment on Austrian TV showcasing the remaining operas to premiere at the 2024 Bregenz Festival.
“This was innovative musical theatre, as far removed as possible from any kind of genius or star cult, but at the same time relaxed, authentic and completely convincing.”
“The interaction of live music - eight musicians from the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra on moving podiums and five voices under the overall direction of the Irish conductor Karen Ni Bhroin - and electronic music creates a suggestive suction effect. Stylistically, Brennan’s music is located between medieval drone sounds, subtle vocal music, baroque fanfares, strong outbursts and a dark background noise. The eagerly awaited result of the opera studio is moving, ambiguous, enigmatic and was enthusiastically received by the audience.”
“At the enthusiastically applauded premiere of the “Opera in promenade” on Thursday, one could get up close and personal with the performers. “Hold Your Breath” can be described as a collage or, better, as a walk-in installation, whose musical, textual and visual elements appear to be of equal importance ... the work targets the will to perceive, which was obviously activated in the audience, and evades classification as part of the new musical theatre.”
“Members of the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra play the chamber music composition by Éna Brennan, interwoven with electronic sounds, on four movable platforms, while eight dancing and singing artists express with moving urgency their grief at the destruction of living spaces and all beings, as well as warnings about human ignorance. The visitors to the performance themselves become part of the gripping and oppressive events.”
David Pountney recites an excerpt of Hold Your Breath, broadcast on Austrian TV channel ORF as part of the 2024 Bregenz Festival Opening Press Conference.
Photography © Bregenzer Festspiele / Anja Köhler
Breathwork
commissioned by the Irish National Opera as part of their 2023/2024 Season
This intimate new opera by the multi-talented Éna Brennan (aka Dowry) — composer, arranger, violinist and graphic designer — is a statement of horror and protest in response to the destruction of our environment.
Breathwork, with a text by Olivier award-winning director David Pountney, offers a foretaste of a larger operatic collaboration that will premiere at Austria’s Bregenz Festival next year.
28-30 Sept, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 7pm, 8pm & 9pm
Running time 15-20 minutes. Six performances daily.
Sung in English.
‘Breathwork’ is a companion work to a larger composition ‘Hold Your Breath’ by Éna Brennan and David Pountney which has been commissioned by Bregenzer Festspiele. More info here.
CAST
Kelli-Ann Masterson (Soprano), Michelle O'Rourke (Mezzo-soprano) & Andrew Gavin (Tenor)
CREATIVE TEAM
Director – John McIlduff
Music Director – Karen Ní BhroinMusic
Set & Costume Design – Sabine Dargent
Lighting Design – Alan Mooney
“★★★★ – ...excellent design, superlative voices and superb music...”
“Brennan’s soundscape is tonal patchwork. Snatches of musical ideas emerge from around the studio via live voice and speakers and recorded sound effects, the score creating a desolate petrified landscape on the brink of extinction.”
“★★★½ – serene and beautiful... a delicate vision”
Listen back to RTE Arena 15th September 2023
“★★★ – Breathwork, Éna Brennan’s new work for Irish National Opera, presents a spectacular contrast between extreme intimacy of performance and the vast, global scale of its primary theme, environmental destruction.”
“Breathwork is a work of indictment and culpability and warning. Its message is not new. It’s not hopeless, but it grapples with the urgency and seriousness of the moment. At the end, the audience in the dark faces each other alone. We did this. It’s not enough for that to be known and understood. It has to be felt.”
Recording session in Windmill Lanes Recording Studios
Conductor: Karen Ní Bhroin
Tenor: Andrew Gavin
Mezzo: Michelle O’Rourke
Soprano: Kelli-Ann Masterson
Violin: Sarah Sew
Cello: Brian O’Kane
Trumpet: Eric Castillo Mora
Trombone: Ross Lyness
Ronan Fox
Rupture Series
inspired by the disruptive organic wall of sound when thunder/storms occur and how the sound versus visual delay plays with our perception of time and distance.
"the dew is falling on your head,
can you feel it
can you see me fall apart"
Rupture I
for Tonnta Vocal Ensemble
features 6 voice pairings (each pair facing one another) and a pre-recorded track of whispers/violin/chord clusters and electronics
18.03.2016 Tonnta Vocal Ensemble, RARITY, Natural History Museum, Dublin (Premiere)
Rupture II
written for mezzo-soprano and baritone
20.03.2016 Tonnta Vocal Ensemble, FUTURE COMPOSERS, The Chocolate Factory, Dublin (Premiere)
03.05.2017 Tonnta Vocal Ensemble, Kaleidoscope Night, Bello Bar, Dublin
Rupture III
written for soprano and FX
26.09.2018 Elizabeth Hilliard, For The Voice by the Irish Composers Collective, Bello Bar, Dublin (Premiere)
Rupture IV
written for violin, voice and tape
(this piece uses the score of Rupture III as a guide)
01.02.2019 Éna Brennan, Exploring Electronics by the Irish Composers Collective, Irish Georgian Society, Dublin (Premiere)
Rupture V
written for upper voices
17.10.2019 Dulciana, Dowry headline show, Pepper Canister Church, Dublin (Premiere)
Rupture (micro-opera)
written for soprano, mezzo, vibraphone and string ensemble
commissioned by Irish National Opera
17.12.2020 Online launch (Premiere)
Rupture VII
written for string quartet, vibraphone, upper voices and tape
commissioned by Sounding The Feminists and the National Concert Hall
completed in 2025, currently unperformed
The series was initially inspired by the organic wall of sound & disruptions in thunder/storms and how the sound versus visual delay plays with our perception of time and distance. This then developed into the exploration of conflict, dichotomy, rupture within the human body and mind - the voice being the primary vehicle for this rupture to take place.
Rupture I, originally commissioned by Tonnta Vocal Ensemble, was written for mixed voices and tape. It is a dialogue between three pairs of singers, unable to hear/see/understand each other despite standing face to face.
Rupture II, for soprano and baritone is a condensed variation where the two singers are unable to hear/see/understand each other despite standing face to face.
Rupture III is for solo soprano and FX where I treat the breakdown of a distant conversation with oneself - the amplified, looped and affected voice symbolising our many voices and inner thoughts.
These inner thoughts become a tape part for Rupture IV alongside the use of violin and electronics.
Rupture V is a choral work written for upper voices choir Dulciana Vocal Ensemble.
Rupture VI, a filmed micro-opera commissioned by Irish National Opera, due to be released 17th December 2020. This edition is the development of the theme into a fuller dramatic narrative for soprano and mezzo portraying a woman and her conscience, accompanied by vibraphone and string ensemble.
Rupture VII, the final in the series, is a 12min work for for strings, vibraphone, upper voices and tape. The piece was the winning entry for the Sounding the Feminists and National Concert Hall Established Composer grant.
Scores
Recordings
Laura Aurora
Choral Music
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2024
Arrangement of The Young People by Lankum for Dulciana.
24.06.2024 Sandford Parish Church, Dublin
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2024
Arrangement of Orinoco Flow by Enya for Dulciana.
24.06.2024 Sandford Parish Church, Dublin
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2023
Arrangement of Oliver James by Fleet Foxes for Dulciana and Dowry Strings.
26.06.2023 Sandford Parish Church, Dublin
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2022
Arrangement of Une Meeles by Maarja Nuut and Ruum, for Dulciana.
28.03.2022 Sandford Parish Church, Dublin
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2021
A setting of the advent text O Come O Come Emmanuel
for Dulciana Vocal Ensemble, SSAA
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2020
for Dulciana Vocal Ensemble
Arrangement based on a Luke Kelly performance of the song by Ewan McColl.
28.03.2022 Sandford Parish Church, Dublin
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2019
for Dulciana Vocal Ensemble
Setting of the poem by W.B.Yeats (1888) for upper voices SSAA
17.10.2019 Dowry headline show, Pepper Canister Show, Dublin
Poem
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core. -
2017
for Dulciana and Judith Lyons
SSAA – A work in 4 sections
26.06.2017 Dulciana, Freemasons' Hall, Dublin (Premiere)
Text by Éna Brennan
Absorb the rays and greet the sun
Stained pages ripped out one by one
Shed the damp layers, only the good deserves to stay
Time to take on the lead role of your life, your playPen posed to write a new way to behave
React to the reflection of the path you pave
Don’t be afraid to feel out of sorts
But also don’t fear letting someone into your fortRemind yourself that all seeds grow
When given the love they need and room to sow
With the quick scratch of a match fire is re-born
To burn away the decay and remove the thornOutstretched hand from an unexpected place
Cleanses that feeling of self doubt and huge weight
There are those in this wold who deal with far more strife
So I’m introducing colour back into my life -
2015
for Dulciana
Setting of Trip poem for SSAA
09.11.2015 Dulciana, Freemasons' Hall, Dublin (Premiere)
Programme Note
Trip is the first choral piece that I have written for all female voices, as well as the first setting of one of my original texts. The work revolves around observation from a third party of a romantic relationship between two people when they are together and when they part ways.
Poem by Éna Brennan
Luke fell for you as he tripped over that broken part stolen bicycle
Scratched and scrapped both in and out of the bed on a Saturday afternoon
Picking crumbs off of your form-fitting top ten playlists on shuffle for the day
Passing the time, feeling his gaze on the back of your neck, Ready to go out for brunch againBlue Peter badge pinned proudly to the lapel of your well todo man,
Why wouldn’t you try to catch him if you can.
You fell for him after he tripped over the final hurdle on that
List of things you felt you should only say yes toYour heart is always jumping out of your chest but you always end up back in his nest
All we are to each other are scars,
Reminders of those who made the world less noisy If only for an instantA part of you heart is always with them and a part of theirs is with you too.
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2014
Premiere of my choral setting of Seamus Heaney's Blackberry Picking, performed by New Dublin Voices in St Ann's Church as part of the Irish Composers' Collective Conversations II concert.
12/07/2014
Programme Note
Blackberry Picking is a setting of Seamus Heaney's poem of the same name, written in 1966. The poem treats the dissatisfaction of obtaining an object of desire. Heaney recalls the annual ritual of plucking copious amounts of berries from their home in the sun and the disintegration of their appeal as nature runs its course and they rot before they can be eaten. Heaney's vocabulary is rich with varying sounds and alliteration, and he uses strong imagery to bring the poem to life. One of the strong comparisons is that of the sticky hands of the blackberry pickers which are likened to the blood-stained hands of Charles Perrault's Bluebeard.
Poem:
Late August, given heavy rain and sun
For a full week, the blackberries would ripen.
At first, just one, a glossy purple clot
Among others, red, green, hard as a knot.
You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet
Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it
Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for
Picking. Then red ones inked up and that hunger
Sent us out with milk cans, pea tins, jam-pots
Where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots.
Round hayfields, cornfields and potato-drills
We trekked and picked until the cans were full,
Until the tinkling bottom had been covered
With green ones, and on top big dark blobs burned
Like a plate of eyes. Our hands were peppered
With thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeard's.We hoarded the fresh berries in the byre.
But when the bath was filled we found a fur,
A rat-grey fungus, glutting on our cache.
The juice was stinking too. Once off the bush
The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour.
I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair
That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot.
Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not. -
2013
for my granny
Setting of the poem by W.B.Yeats (1888)
for Chamber Choir SSAATTBB
01.03.2013 New Music Dublin Festival, Kevin Barry Room, National Concert Hall (Premiere) Recording courtesy of CMC
Soprano Éna Brennan, Sherry Hazlett
Alto Raeghyna Zutshi, Dominica Williams
Tenor Garret Farrell, Seamus Sutton
Bass Robert Blake, Eoghan DesmondAwards & recognition
C (Commended) Feis Ceoil 2013Poem
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core. -
2012
for my mother
A setting of the advent text O Come O Come Emmanuel
for Chamber Choir SSAATTBB
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2011
Setting of the opening poem of Charles Baudelaire's Petits poèmes en prose (1869) for Mixed Choir SSAATTBB and Solo Quartet
02.04.2012 Trinity Singers, Trinity College Chapel, Dublin (Premiere)
Regularly performed by Mornington Singers (venues incl. Cork Choral Festival, Cork Florilège Vocal de Tours, France, Pipeworks Festival, Dublin and St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, Galway).
Included in Under-Song, a 10-track compilation of choral music released in 2017.
Awards & recognition
VHC (Very Highly Commended) Feis Ceoil 2014Work featured on PROJECT : ENCORE™, a continually expanding database of new, post-premiere choral works endorsed by a panel of professionally renowned conductors intended for use by both composers and conductors.
Poem by Charles Baudelaire
Qui aimes-tu le mieux, homme enigmatique, dis? ton père, ta mère, ta soeur ou ton frère?
Je n'ai ni père, ni mère, ni soeur, ni frère.
Tes amis?
Vous vous servez là d'une parole dont le sens m'est resté jusqu'à ce jour inconnu.
Ta patrie?
J'ignore sous quelle latitude elle est située.
La beauté?
Je l'aimerais volontiers, déesse et immortelle.
L'or?
Je le hais comme vous haïssez Dieu.
Eh! qu'aimes-tu donc, extraordinaire étranger?
J'aime les nuages... les nuages qui passent... là-bas... là-bas... les merveilleux nuages!
Recordings
Instrumental Music
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2022
instr. vn/vc/hn/dm-mach/kbd/2synth/actor dur. 4min30sec
Commissioned by Kirkos Ensemble
30.07.2022 Unit 44 (Premiere)
In 1989 a high school senior and homecoming queen was discovered on the banks of a river outside the fictional town of Twin Peaks, Washington. So begins the weird and wonderful world concocted by David Lynch and Mark Frost which would garner a cult following to this very day. This piece is inspired by Lynch’s surreal world, and seeks to both unsettle and entertain in equal measure.
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2021
instr. violin/flute/Electronics (dur. ~3min)
Commissioned, recorded and released by Crash Ensemble
During the course of the global pandemic, I ran. When there were no concerts to go to, no rehearsals, no performances, no events, I ran. To keep myself sane, I ran.
RUNAWAY is a musical and personal response to my time during the pandemic. I turned to running as an obsession to fill the void left by our cultural standstill. I used devices to analyse my runs and record and observe my progress. This data inspired the starting point for this piece. The main tempo map is a translation of my heart rate data from a run, whereby my BPM every 50 meters equals the BPM of the piece every 3 seconds. The performers follow this tempo map using a click track. The BPM of the live performers is also integral to the piece. Each performer’s heart rate data is monitored live using pulse sensors and used as an ever changing variable to inform FX on their playing. These include delay, pitch shifting and distortion. These FX as well as an abstract score allowing for aleatoric repetition and personal interpretation result in a piece that can never be performed the same way twice.
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2017
instr. violin/percussion
May 2017 Éna Brennan & Alex Petcu, Lutheran Hall, Dublin
Alex and I performed in The Eurydice Project, a theatre production written by Joanna Crawley with music by Jane Deasy.
For this show we played some pre-theatre music that was completely improvised.
One of these went particularly well so Alex transcribed the piece and we performed it again as part of a recital in the Lutheran Hall on Adelaide Road, on Monday May 22nd.
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2016
Tape piece premiered at InSight #3 Slipdraft on Saturday 4th June 2016.
Programme Note
In the month of madness I write to you
In the month of sadness I sing to you in my sleepThe dream world is a safe place where you can either escape or choose to confront your anxieties and deep thoughts. This piece is very much written for the specific environment each audience member will find themselves in on the night; lying in the dark and gazing up at a mesmering lighting installation. It is mostly made up of processed samples of recorded improvisation using a cosmic gong, the violin and my voice.
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2015
Piece for solo pedal harp and also featuring bowed harp.
"waves repeatedly greet the shore line, but no two greetings are ever exactly the same"
Premiered by harpist Clare McCague Concert presented by @the-irish-composers-coll February 28th in Lutheran Hall 2015.
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2015
instr. flute/clarinet/cello
Short film dir. Bob Gallagher
13.11.2015 ICC Takeover, Irish Architectural Archives, Dublin (Premiere
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2015
commissioned by Co-Orch
for symphony orchesta
instr. 3[1.2/pic]3[1.2.3Eh]3[1.2.3.bcl]2/332[1.2/btbn]1/timp/str/8offstage vlns
dur. circa 13min
12.11.15 CO-ORCH concert Orchestrating Equality, The Complex, Dublin (Premiere)
Programme Note
murmur was born from an interest in abnormal rhythmic patterns which contrast with the safe and healthy association with the repetition of a constant beat, such as a heart beat. Book ended by contrasting development of a rhythmic cell of material, murmur takes syncopated phrases, abnormal relative to the engrained opening rhythmic sequence, breaks them down and builds up the texture towards a full-bodied and animated close.
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2015
instr. solo fiddle
Work inspired by elements of Irish Traditional Music, and commissioned for solo fiddle player Zoe Conway.
19.05.2015 Strung Series w/Zoe Conway hosted by the Irish Composers Collective, Teachers Club, Dublin (Premiere)
Programme Note
‘and so the branches began to dance’ was inspired by my observations of Zoe’s visceral playing in workshop back in November. This new work takes typical Irish traditional elements and tweaks them slightly. It is structured as a work in two parts forming an arch from sparse ambient harmonics to frantic punchy ornamented rhythms. The piece begins with an Air on harmonics centered around one simple melodic phrase which is transformed as the piece progresses. The texture gradually thickens and leads into the second section where the melodic phrase becomes more playful borrowing from different Irish dance rhythms. As the piece quickens Zoe’s tapping foot also becomes a part of the piece, allowing you to grip on to the abnormal downbeat pattern of 12 12 123 12 123 123 12. Borrowing from the popular key of D major in Irish traditional music, Zoe’s violin is detuned to F#-D-A-D to allow for increased resonance of the open strings in this very special venue.
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2014
instr. 2v/vla/carr. v/vla/c/db
03.02.2014 Kevin Barry room, NCH, Dublin (Premiere)
27.04.2014 CMC Salon Series, Kevin Barry room, NCH, Dublin
Violin Anita Vedres
Viola Robin Panter
Cello Kate Ellis
Double Bass Malachy RobinsonAwards & recognition
VHC (Very Highly Commended) Feis Ceoil 2014 -
2013
instr. 2violin/cello/3actors
Work based on Samuel Beckett's dramaticule of the same name, written in 1965.
The work aims to create an instrumental rhetoric, which parallels the interactions of Flo, Vi and Ru.
08.04.2013 MPhil Grad Show, Samuel Beckett Theatre, Dublin (Premiere)
Violin I Ioana Petcu-Colan (Avalon Ensemble)
Cello Gerald Peregrine (Avalon Ensemble)Actors:
Flo Siobhra Quinlan
Vi Jane Deasy
Ru Éna Brennan [also Violin II] -
2013
dur. cira 4min
19.06.2013 Kevin Barry room, NCH, Dublin (Premiere) performed by Éna Brennan
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2013
Concerto for solo Trumpet & String Orchestra instr. solo trumpet/oboe/clarinet/trumpet/trombone/violin/viola/cello [*offstage]
dur. circa 15min (full concerto currently unperformed)
I. Dawn
II. Night Time
III. Beyond07/07/2013 II. Night Time, SEE|HEAR, The Back Loft, Dublin (Premiere)
Recording by Rob Kearns
Nighttime Cadenza is a section of a larger work in progress for Solo Trumpet, String Orchestra and offstage Wind and Brass. It is taken from the second movement of the work and portrays an interpretation of the role of a cadenza within a concerto. Following the First movement played by only the Trumpet and String Orchestra, the Trumpet takes center stage playing short melodic passages that are echoed and embellished by the Oboe, Clarinet and Trombone, peering down from the balcony above. The phrases continue to length throughout the piece, resulting in the Trumpet stuck on loop like a broken record.
Players:
Trumpet - Eoghan Cooke
Oboe - Conor Cavanagh
Clarinet - Shane Kenrick
Trombone - Colin Jermyn -
2013
instr. flute/oboe/clarinet/bassoon/3perc/violinI.II./viola/cello/doublebass
dur. circa 3min (currently unperformed)
Re-scoring of the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's infamous short film The Big Shave (1967)
Original soundtrack: I Can't Get Started by Bunny Berigan -
2012
instr. symphony orchestra & choir SSAATTBB
dur. circa 20min
Ô Capitale Infâme! is a mini-symphony for orchestra and choir in five movements based on the Épilogue of Charles Baudelaire's 'Petits Poèmes en Prose'. The final poem of this collection, originally named Le Spleen de Paris, depicts Baudelaire’s love for the city of Paris through debauched description. Each of the five movements treats the subject matter of the five verses and the piece comes to a close with the choir singing the whole text.
I. Le Coeur Content Andante – Agitato – Tempo Primo
II. Patron de ma Détresse Lento – Allegretto - Andante
III. Enivré de l’Enorme Catin Giocoso – Grave
IV. Lourdes, Obscures, Enrhumée Grave
V. Épilogue Grave – Agitato – Lento – Grave18.01.2013 Performance with Trinity Orchestra and Trinity Singers at Exhibitions in Moxie Studios, Dublin (Premiere)
Recorded by Rob Kearns with visuals by LeTissier
Poem:
Le cœur content, je suis monté sur la montagne
D’où l’on peut contempler la ville en son ampleur,
Hôpital, lupanars, purgatoire, enfer, bagne,Où toute énormité fleurit comme une fleur.
Tu sais bien, ô Satan, patron de ma détresse,
Que je n’allais pas là pour répandre un vain pleur;Mais comme un vieux paillard d’une vieille maîtresse,
Je voulais m’enivrer de l’énorme catin
Dont le charme infernal me rajeunit sans cesse.Que tu dormes encor dans les draps du matin,
Lourde, obscure, enrhumée, ou que tu te pavanes
Dans les voiles du soir passementés d’or fin,Je t’aime, ô capitale infâme ! Courtisanes
Et bandits, tels souvent vous offrez des plaisirs
Que ne comprennent pas les vulgaires profanesTranslation:
My heart content, I ascend the mountain
From which one can contemplate the city in all its amplitude,
Hospital, brothel, purgatory, hell, prison,Where all enormities flourish like a flower.
You well know, oh Satan, patron of my distress,
That I did not go there to shed a vain tear;But like an old lecher with his old mistress,
I wanted to get drunk on that enormous harlot
Whose infernal charm ceaselessly rejuvenates me.But like an old lecher with his old mistress,
I wanted to get drunk on that enormous harlot
Whose infernal charm ceaselessly rejuvenates me.I love you, oh infamous capital! Courtesans,
And bandits - to such you often offer pleasures
That the vulgar herd does not understand.Players:
Violin 1 Carla White, Cillian O'Breachain, Tessa McKenna, Ksenija Zaporozceva, Eamonn Bell, Lisa Boyle, Michael McCrohan, Orla O'Rourke, James O'Doherty, Laura Morley, Laura Greene, Camille NiArgain and Nora Moroney.
Violin 2 Orla Daly, Naoise Dack, Olivia Brown, Anna Keary, Cathy O'Neill, Sophie Lee, Eve Kelly, Caroline Richards, Ciara Corrigan, Bebhinn Sheil and Mick Crosse.
Viola Michael Whelan, Caitriona Sheil, David Wilkins, Aoife Loy, Laura Dungan, Sarah Sarsfield, Eve Roseingrave, Niall Cosgrave, Conor Larney and James O'Leary.
Cello Seraphim Dempsey, Matt Rafter, Meadhbh O'Rourke, Ronan Denyer, Ella Hasset, Clare Joy and Roisin Phelan.
Double Bass Colin Mealey and Sarah Jaeger.
Harp Deirdre NicChárthaigh.
Flute Damien Thomson, Aedín Donnelly, Maeve Johnston and Dervla Ni Flionn.
Oboe Seamus Sutton and Sadhbh Abbey.
Clarinet Francesca Fitzpatrick and Alex Daudet.
Bassoon Eoin Silke.
Horn Hannah Miller and Sean Dexter.
Trumpet Patrick Goodliffe, Steven Scramuzzo and Eoghan Cooke.
Trombone Colin Jermyn.
Percussion Brian Dungan.Singers:
Soprano Siobhra Quinlan, Aisling Barrett, Roisin Whelan and Raeghnya Zutshi
Alto Dominica Williams, Kayla Flynn, Alison Morrisoe and Judith Lyons
Tenor Emmet Kiberd, Mark O'Donnell, Robbie Blake and Garret Farrell
Bass Robbie Kitt, Daniel Cummins, Robbie Kitt, Jack Hurley, Alex Ryan and Eoghan Desmond
Recordings
