Make an aria

Make an

Aria

Castell Sain Ffagan 7 Gorffennaf 2015 St Fagans Castle 7 July 2015

C Castell Sain Ffagan yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf yw’r ysbrydoliaeth ar gyfer rhaglen Make an Aria eleni. Mae’r darnau operatig gan fyfyrwyr Coleg Brenhinol Cerdd a Drama Cymru yn darlunio straeon y rhai fu’n byw, gweithio ac yn gwella yma ganrif yn ôl.

St Fagans Castle during the First World War is the inspiration for this year’s Make an Aria programme. The stories of those who lived, worked and convalesced here a hundred years ago are today brought to operatic life by students from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Fel rhan o’r broses, bu’r ysgrifenwyr a’r cyfansoddwyr yn craffu ar wrthrychau o gyfnod y Rhyfel.

Gwnaed hyn gydag aelodau o gymuned y Lluoedd Arfog a chafwyd dehongliadau newydd a pherthnasol o’r casgliadau.

As part of the process, the composers and writers viewed First World War artefacts with members of the Armed Forces community who provided new and relevant interpretations of these collections.

Crewyd Make an Aria yn 2008 gan Music Theatre Wales er mwyn rhoi profiad o ysgrifennu opera i gyfansoddwyr ac awduron ifanc. Y nod yw dangos fod opera yn fodd cyfoes o fynegiant. Mae gweithio gyda phobl ifanc ac artistiaid addawol yn rhan bwysig o hyn.

Gall un fflach o ysbrydoliaeth neu ddarganfyddiad drwy gyfranogiad ymarferol newid gyrfa artist ifanc yn llwyr.

Music Theatre Wales created Make an Aria in 2008 to give emerging composers and writers the experience of writing opera.

It is dedicated to demonstrating that opera is a truly contemporary means of expression. Working with young people and developing artists is a major part of this mission.

One moment of inspiration or discovery, made through practical participation, can change a young artist’s direction.

Castell Sain Ffagan, 1900au cynnar St Fagans Castle, early 1900s

C

Write what you know Amy Willock – Cyfansoddwr Tom Stewart – Libretydd Amy Willock – Arweinydd Emily Wenman – Soprano Andrew Martin – Ffliwt Hannah Clist – Soddgrwth Alis Huws – Telyn

Amy Willock – Composer Tom Stewart – Librettist Amy Willock – Conductor Emily Wenman – Soprano Andrew Martin – Flute Hannah Clist – Cello Alis Huws – Harp

Roeddem yn chwilfrydig pan ddeallom fod y Fonesig Paget o Gastell Sain Ffagan wedi rhoi’r gorau i ysgrifennu dyddiaduron pan fu farw ei hwˆyr. Roedd hi wedi bod yn ysgrifennu ar hyd ei hoes, ac yn sydyn, dyma hi’n stopio.

Oherwydd ei farwolaeth tybed?

Oedd ysgrifennu am y tristwch hwn yn ormod iddi?

When we were told that Lady Paget – the grandmother at St Fagans Castle – stopped writing her journals when her grandson died, we were intrigued. This was a woman who had been writing all her life, and then she suddenly stopped.

Was it because of the death? Was writing this sadness – this reality – just too much?

Yn yr aria mae hi’n wraig wedi’i thorri – yn rhoi’r gorau i ysgrifennu ac yn paratoi i ffarwelio â bywyd.

Pe bai hon yn opera gyfan, dyma fyddai’r diwedd, wrth iddi gael gwared â’i dyddiaduron wedi sylweddoli nad oedd cysur mewn ysgrifennu. Un o brif themâu’r aria yw’r syniad o rywbeth yr ydych yn ei garu yn troi’n eich erbyn.

The aria is a farewell to writing and to life. This was a broken woman, giving up her passion. If it were a complete opera, this would be the end – this would be her getting rid of these journals, realising there is no comfort in writing. The aria was born from the idea of something you love turning against you.

Y Fonesig Paget, 1908 Lady Paget, 1908

Words are smashed mirrors Scattered and fragmented Lurking in corners Forgotten Once, brick and mortar But now lost, like dandelion clocks

These pages are not my freedom They are memories Of a life no longer mine Of a family of ghosts

Words are reminders Thick as blood My voice no longer opens to that white blank page

Words are sharp and cruel They are no longer my keys, opening doors They are broken windows Exposing me To the grey-splattered world.

C

‘ When opening

a window, first raise the lower sash.

Then fill the opening with a board, when fresh air will be admitted—’

Roam These Meadows Harriet Grainger Cathy Dreyer Harriet Grainger Katrina Nimmo Kieran Neil Lewis Joseph Keenan Hannah Williams

– Cyfansoddwr – Libretydd – Arweinydd – Soprano – Clarinet – Soddgrwth – Telyn

Harriet Grainger Cathy Dreyer Harriet Grainger Katrina Nimmo Kieran Neil Lewis Joseph Keenan Hannah Williams

Let air in, a small opening for the stink of hay and the blood red sun to flow this way and breathe new life into stale old halls.

– Composer – Librettist – Conductor – Soprano – Clarinet – Cello – Harp

Un gwrthrych wnaeth ddal ein sylw yn Sain Ffagan oedd gwisg y nyrs VAD Elizabeth Radcliffe, yn enwedig ei ffedog hir, wen sydd mewn cyflwr perffaith.

We were moved by the uniform of a VAD nurse at St Fagans, Elizabeth Radcliffe, especially her long, white apron in pristine condition.

Wedi’i geni a’i magu yn Sain Ffagan, roedd Elizabeth yn nani i deulu amlwg, ond gadawodd y swydd honno i edrych ar ôl cleifion yn y Castell yn ystod y rhyfel. O’i gymharu â heddiw, roedd bywydau merched yn hynod gaeth ym 1914.

Born and bred in the village of St Fagans, Elizabeth, who had been a nanny for a prominent family, left that job to tend to the injured at the Castle during the war. By today’s standards, women’s lives were intolerably restricted in 1914.

Mae ein aria yn edrych ar y cyfleoedd oedd gan ferched am fwy o ryddid yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf, a hynny mewn cyfnod pan fu farw miliynau o ddynion, gan gynnwys tri o frodyr Elizabeth.

Our aria is set in a story which examines the opportunities presented to women for greater freedom in 1914-18, against a terrible cost – the death of millions of men, including three of Elizabeth’s brothers.

I roam these meadows like an orphaned lamb longing for the warmth of a mother’s hide.

The hawk hunts me in these fields of fear and casts his deadly shadow on my face.

Throw open your fold, let me shelter there where he can’t reach me and I’ll give freely everything I know and all that I am: good arms and hands to tend and wipe all day and night, my good heart and all the iron blood my parents made. I will find succour in the milk of rules and regulations, ease in the fleece of a white pinafore.

I can’t live here, straining on the dark, wet grass, at the mercy of a savage force.

‘ When opening

Elizabeth Radcliffe

a window, first raise the lower sash.

Then fill the opening with a board, when I must be admitted—’ Let me in, a small opening for the stink of hay and the blood red sun to follow me – I’ll breathe new life in these stale old halls.

Ysbyty’r Groes Goch Sain Ffagan, 1916-18 St Fagans Red Cross Hospital, 1916-18

Elizabeth’s Aria Martin Skews Rosey Brown Martin Skews Laura Curry Andrew Martin Kieran Neil Lewis Joseph Keenan Alice French

– Cyfansoddwr – Libretydd – Arweinydd – Soprano – Ffliwt – Clarinet – Soddgrwth – Telyn

Martin Skews Rosey Brown Martin Skews Laura Curry Andrew Martin Kieran Neil Lewis Joseph Keenan Alice French

– Composer – Librettist – Conductor – Soprano – Flute – Clarinet – Cello – Harp

Heddiw, gallwn anfon neges i ben draw’r byd mewn eiliadau, ond yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf byddai’n rhaid i deuluoedd aros am wythnosau cyn clywed gan eu hanwyliaid. Mae’r aria hon yn edrych ar yr emosiwn sydd ynghlwm ag aros – syniadau sydd, efallai, yn mynd yn fwyfwy diarth i ni’r dyddiau hyn.

We live in a time when messages can be sent across the globe in seconds. During the First World War, families waited weeks to hear from a loved one. This aria explores the emotions of waiting and anticipation – concepts that, perhaps, are becoming alien to us now.

Cawsom ein tynnu at hanes Elizabeth Radcliffe, nyrs fu’n gweithio yn Ysbyty’r Groes Goch, Sain Ffagan. Roedd ganddi bedwar brawd, a bu farw tri ohonynt yn ystod y rhyfel. A hithau’n gweithio gyda milwyr clwyfedig, roedd rhaid i Elizabeth aros yn siriol, ac mae’n siwˆr bod hynny wedi bod yn anodd iawn wrth iddi aros i glywed gan ei brodyr. Mae’r delweddau yn y testun, sy’n cyfosod heddwch yr ardd gyda diffeithwch gwaedlyd y ffosydd, yn adlewyrchu’r gwewyr meddwl hwn.

We were drawn to Elizabeth Radcliffe, a nurse who worked at the St Fagans Red Cross Hospital.

She had four brothers, all but one died during the war. Working with wounded soldiers, Elizabeth would have had to maintain a serene demeanour, yet she must have faced constant inner turmoil waiting to hear from her siblings. The images in the text, juxtaposing the peace and “birdsong” of the garden, to the “bloody” mud of the trenches, reflects this conflict.

Brodyr Elizabeth Radcliffe, Thomas a Robert, 1914–15 Elizabeth Radcliffe’s brothers, Thomas and Robert, 1914–15

C

In the garden Life unfurling from mud In slow increments.

So quiet here, Birdsong and soldiers’ resting breaths Do not reflect my fears, Do not reflect what I have heard.

The men go back there, in their dreams, Sometimes wake screaming.

But this garden Has no noise, it’s mud not bloody, Not cut in trenches for mere boys to walk through.

Nobody spoke of the wait, The space between each letter from them extending, indeterminately.

Each time The paper shakes in my hands.

Will the first line This time, read ‘We deeply regret to inform you’...?

“Nothing here is right...” ɡɡ Cyfansoddwr Lewis Furber ɡɡ Libretydd Julie Primon ɡɡ Arweinydd Lewis Furber ɡɡ Tenor Luca Hlaing James Golborn ɡɡ Offerynnau taro Kainush Robeson ɡɡ Gitâr ɡɡ Telyn Alice French

ɡɡ Composer Lewis Furber ɡɡ Librettist Julie Primon ɡɡ Conductor Lewis Furber ɡɡ Tenor Luca Hlaing James Golborn ɡɡ Percussion Kainush Robeson ɡɡ Guitar ɡɡ Harp Alice French

Cawsom ein denu at ddelweddau y milwyr clwyfedig yn cael eu trin am fân anafiadau yn yr ysbyty, yn ogystal â mwclis gleinwaith oedd yn cyferbynnu’n llwyr â phrofiadau erchyll y milwyr.

We were drawn to the figures of the wounded soldiers nursing light injuries at the hospital, and a beadwork necklace that was so completely at odds with the fighting those soldiers witnessed.

Mae ein aria yn canolbwyntio ar un o’r milwyr hyn, ond yn hytrach na phortreadu Sain Ffagan fel seibiant braf o’r rhyfel, mae ein milwr ar ddisberod, yn dyheu am gael mynd yn ôl i faes y gad. Roeddem yn ei weld fel creadur unig – dyn oedd yn teimlo’n gartrefol mewn rhyfel. Mae’r aria yn digwydd yn fuan wedi iddo gyrraedd Sain Ffagan, ac yntau’n dal i gael trafferth dygymod ac yn hel atgofion am ei amser yn y ffosydd.

Our aria focuses on one of those soldiers, but instead of portraying St Fagans as a welcome respite from war, our soldier finds himself adrift, longing to return to the battlefield.

We settled on a character of a misfit – a man who found a sense of purpose in war. The aria takes place shortly after his arrival at St Fagans, when he is still struggling to adjust and reminiscing about his time on the front.

C Nothing here is right; the gentle smile of the nurse, the brilliant light spilling over the Italian garden.

Soldiers making necklaces out of beadsit is not right, it is not life.

Life is the stink of sweat when too many men are piled up in the same trench gripping rifles, their fingers stiff with fear.

Life is the deafening roar of mortar hurled at your enemies, the staccato of shooting guns the breathless quiet that never lasts In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust and yet my heart is rattling in my chest; death is hidden behind every trench corner, and in truth I do not trust anyone but myself. let me never be put to confusion eyes and ears intent on the priest Into thy hands I commend my spirit not today, not today don’t let me die today Every single man is thinking this to himself The one who lives will be the one who thinks the loudest.

C

Stitched Red Spheres Ray Leung Duncan Stockwell Ray Leung Thomas Perkins Andrew Martin James Golborn Hannah Clist Alis Huws

– Cyfansoddwr – Libretydd – Arweinydd – Tenor – Ffliwt – Offerynnau taro – Soddgrwth – Telyn

Ray Leung Duncan Stockwell Ray Leung Thomas Perkins Andrew Martin James Golborn Hannah Clist Alis Huws

– Composer – Librettist – Conductor – Tenor – Flute – Percussion – Cello – Harp

Roeddem am i’r geiriau fod yn rhai cywrain a chymhleth, er mwyn arddangos y tensiwn dan yr wyneb gyda symudiadau onglog. Canolbwyntiwyd ar y byd breuddwydiol er mwyn gwneud y mwyaf o gryfderau cyfansoddi Ray, a defnyddiodd Duncan dechnegau ysgrifennu rhydd er mwyn creu synnwyr o fygythiad ac anniddigrwydd seicolegol.

We decided early on that we were going to use an approach which juxtaposed an intricate lyrical approach, exposing the deep undercurrent of tension through angular gestures. The dreamscape setting was centered upon to make the most of Ray’s compositional strengths. Duncan used freewriting techniques to evoke a sense of foreboding and psychological unease.

Mae’r aria yn cynnwys rhai cyfeiriadau at fywyd y milwr cyn y rhyfel, sy’n ychwanegu at arwyddocâd y golygfeydd arswydus y cyfeirir atynt. Bwriad y cyferbyniad hwn yw gwthio natur y freuddwyd i sylw’r gynulleidfa. Er mwyn gwneud hyn, mae’r cyfeiliant yn gynnil, sensitif a thameidiog, ac yn torri ar yr awyrgylch gyda chordiau hir a synau siarp a soniarus.

The aria hints to the soldier’s former domestic life, adding dramatic weight to the barbaric scenes referenced. This contrast is intended to push the nature of the feverish dream to the forefront of the audience’s attention. To imply this relationship, the accompaniment draws a subtle, sensitive and fragmented texture, interrupting the atmosphere with sustaining chords and sharp sonority.

Milwyr yng Ngardd Eidalaidd Castell Sain Ffagan, 1917–18 Soldiers in the Italian Garden of St Fagans Castle, 1917–18

Shell bursts like the parlour door I knew their cries from the cattle I’d cut with my father’s knives, Here he comes, quaking steps, German steps, German bullets ‘Endless’ mother, where is she now?

Harvest corn? Grenades of yellow, buttered for the table Punched down to the kitchen slabs, Mother in a crater, huddled in a pool of rain Just a sorry pile of skin and fear, sweat and sick He would rip us apart but we are doing that for him I could see him pale and I knew that rifle stench A glisten of red, a stitched sphere in the earth Meat in khaki and leather but they’re boys I will be hit, I will be hit, I want to plough again He was there, shouting inside me all the while

She’s here now, Her fingers, soft grass, curl in mine Keats, is that Keats?

Petal-warm and soft with summer All I hear is her, she is the land, she is the birds Lungfuls of her laughter, Starch and apron whites, she doesn’t know where I’ve seen.

Cefnogir gan Gynllun Cyfamod Cymunedol y Lluoedd Arfog.

Mae Music Theatre Wales yn gleient refeniw i Gyngor Celfyddydau Cymru ac yn derbyn cyllid teithio gan Arts Council England.

Cefnogir y Rhaglen Bartneriaeth rhwng MTW a CBCDC gan Sefydliad Paul Hamlyn.

Arweinir Make an Aria gan Michael McCarthy a Michael Rafferty – Cyd-Gyfarwyddwyr, Music Theatre Wales.

Gyda diolch i: Uwchgapten Steve Eversfield RAMC Capten Ian Moore MBE Steve Liversage BEM Capten Huw Williams Mr & Mrs A. J. Reid John Hardy (CBCDC) Angela Livingstone (CBCDC) Nate Gibson (Cynllunydd set a gwisgoedd)

Supported by the Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant Scheme.

Music Theatre Wales is a revenue client of The Arts Council of Wales and receives touring funding from Arts Council England.

The Partnership Programme between MTW and RWCMD is supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Make an Aria is led by Michael McCarthy and Michael Rafferty – Joint Artistic Directors, Music Theatre Wales.

With thanks to: Major Steve Eversfield RAMC Captain Ian Moore MBE Steve Liversage BEM Captain Huw Williams Mr & Mrs A. J. Reid John Hardy (RWCMD) Angela Livingstone (RWCMD) Nate Gibson (Set & costume designer)