Sonnets for the Cradle

GALWAY EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL May 9-12, 2013

Sonnets for the Cradle Laoise O’Brien (recorders, director) Lorna Donlon, artwork Siobhán Armstrong, early Irish harp Brendan Long, baritone Sarah Groser, viols Eamonn Sweeney, baroque guitar Francesco Turrisi, percussion Bob Kelly, narrator

Friday, May 10, 2013 8:00 pm An Taibhdhearc

Galway Early Music would like to thank its sponsors and friends, without whose support the Festival would not happen.

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WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO The Rector & Vestry of St Nicholas Collegiate Church, with heartfelt thanks to Catherine Moore-Temple The director and staff of the Galway City Museum, with special thanks to Brendan Mc Gowan Galway Early Music

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See our general Festival Promo on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fveRZSI1pi8 or scan this QR code:

Programme One Charming Night from The Fairy Queen (1692) Henry Purcell (1659-1695) Kume, Kum geselle min/Saltarello

Adam de la Halle (c.1240-1287) / Anon. 14th C

Als ick u vinde

Hubert Waelrant (c.1517-1595)

I will give my love an apple

Traditional English

Sí Bheag Sí Mhor

Turlough Carolan (1670 – 1738)

King of the Fairies

Traditional Irish

Drømde mig en drøm i nat

Anon. C.1300

Three Blinde Mice from Deuteromelia (1609)

Thomas Ravenscroft (1582/92- 1635)

There was an old woman tossed up in a basket/ Lillibullero

Traditional Irish

Over the Hills and Far Away

Traditional English

In May, when nightingales sing clear

Colin Muset (fl c. 1200-1250)

Woodycock

Anon. published 1651

Heer Halewijn

Traditional Dutch

Is Eagla liom an bás (c.1570-1650)

Ruaidhrí Dall Ó Catháin

Seebouni ya nas

Traditional Arabic

Dia do bheatha ‘Naí anocht /Ó’Casaide

Aodh MacAingil (1571-1626)

All good fairy tales have meaning on many levels; only the child can know which meanings are of significance to him at the moment Bethelhelm

Laoise O’Brien and Lorna Donlon first collaborated on a project ‘How Happy for the Little Birds’ which was launched at the 2011 Kilkenny Arts Festival. Both Lorna’s exhibition and the live performance of Laoise’s CD programme attracted large audiences and the collaboration was considered by many to be one of the highlights of that year’s festival. They decided to work together on another project and thanks to funding from the Arts Council of Ireland Music Recording scheme they embarked on the adventure that is ‘Sonnets for the Cradle’.

The project was the basis of a feature which was broadcast on RTE Lyric FM on Christmas Eve, 2012.

Sonnets for the Cradle is the alternative title of Mother Goose’s Melody published in England by John Newbery in c.1765. This tiny book could fit comfortably in the hands of a small child and contained many of the rhymes still popular today.

The classic fairy tales come to us from the collections of Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) and the Brothers Grimm; Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (17861859). Many of the stories these gentlemen collected had been handed down through the generations in different languages and cultures. Some of the more popular stories appeared in the publications of Giambattista Basile (c. 1575-1632) and Charles Perrault (1628-1703).

The Music: One Charming Night from The Fairy Queen (1692)

Henry Purcell (1659-1695) Our story begins as all good stories should with Once Upon a Time, or in this instance One Charming Night from Henry Purcell’s Opera The Fairy Queen. Purcell’s Opera is based on Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night Dream and the aria is sung by the allegorical character Secrecy.

One charming Night Gives more delight, Than a hundred lucky Days.

Night and I improve the taste, Make the pleasure longer last, A thousand, thousand several ways. (Act II) Kume, Kum geselle min/Saltarello

Adam de la Halle (c.1240-1287) / Anon. 14th C.

In 1284 some unknown event caused the disappearance of 130 children from the town of Hamelin in Germany. Theories as to what happened include death by the plague, the arrival of a sinister character who was responsible for somehow harming the children, or their departure on the children’s crusade. Another theory was that the children got caught up in an episode of dancing mania, a phenomenon widely reported throughout Europe at the time. It is this idea which captured my imagination as I imagined a piper leading the children off in

an increasingly merry dance. To represent the Piper we will play Kume, kum, geselle min by Adam de la Halle (c. 1240-1287) and the saltarello which follows is an example of a dance form popular in the middle ages. It is said that people danced the saltarello to ward off the plague and on occasion danced themselves into a frenzy that could result in death.

Als ick u vinde

Hubert Waelrant (c.1517-1595)

Spinning and spinning wheels appear in many stories and perhaps the best known is Sleeping Beauty. Giambattista Basile’s version of the story is called Sole, Luna, e Talia (Sun, Moon and Talia). Talia is the beautiful girl who falls into a deep sleep when she touches a distaff and spindle. Whilst asleep a handsome prince stumbles upon her and when Talia wakes up after her long sleep she is pleasantly surprised to find she has given birth to twins named Sun and Moon. Als ick u vinde is a song by the Flemish composer Hubert Waelrant (c. 1517-1595) published in the 1580s. The song includes the text: When I find you with your spindle and distaff, with your lovely hands and red cheeks, I find myself captured by you.

The light of your star shines out so far that moon and sun pale beside it: have mercy on me, do not forsake me, so that I can touch your heart.

I will give my love an apple

Traditional English

Mary I of England had a brief, and seemingly loveless, marriage to Philip II of Spain (15271598). Prior to his marriage to Mary in 1558, Philip is reputed to have had a love affair with the Countess Margaret von Waldeck (1533-1554). Margaret is a contender for the real-life character on which the Snow White story is based. Margaret lived in Bad Wildungen in Germany with her ‘evil’ stepmother. The ‘dwarfs’ were the local children who were sent to work in the copper mines owned by Margaret’s family. She died at the age of 21 by suspected poisoning, allegedly by the Spanish authorities who wanted to prevent a political embarrassment. The apple motif in the Snow White story comes from the case of a man who gave poisoned apples to the children he suspected of stealing apples from his orchard. I chose the traditional English song I will give my love an apple to represent the love affair between Margaret and Philip, and also to represent the poisoned apple offered to Snow White.

I will give my love an apple without e'er a core I will give my love a house without e'er a door, I will give my love a palace wherein she may be, And she may unlock it without any key.

My head is the apple without e'er a core, My mind is the house without e'er a door.

My heart is the palace wherein she may be And she may unlock it without any key.

Sí Bheag Sí Mhor

Turlough Carolan (1670 – 1738)

Turlough Carolan is the best known of the 18th century Irish harper composers. Sí bheag Sí Mhór (‘Little Fairy Hill, Big Fairy Hill’) is reputed to be the first tune he composed, around the year 1690, the time of the Williamite and Jacobite Wars in Ireland.

King of the Fairies (Stanford-Petrie MS no 1281)

Traditional Irish

During the turbulent years of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Irish people looked to ancient times, to stories of na Fianna, the Tuatha Dé Danann, and the mythical land of Tír na nÓg. Fairies and magic play a large part in Irish folklore and the harp appears in many tales and legends. “One tale attached to the tune has it that The King of the Fairies is a summoning tune, and if played three times in a row during a festivity the King must appear.

Once summoned, however, the King assesses the situation, and if the gathering is to his liking he may join in; if however, he does not find it to his liking he may cause great mischief ”.*Fiddler's Companion, Andrew Kuntz Drømde mig en drøm i nat

Anon. C.1300

Scandinavian folklore is full of stories about trolls which have inspired writers, artists and composers over many centuries. These mythical, fearsome creatures appears in stories from the legends of Beowulf to the Three Billy Goats Gruff. To represent trolls we have taken a fragment from the oldest known secular Nordic song Drømde mig en drøm i nat and suggested the presence of trolls. Preserved in the Codex Runicus (c.1300) Drømde mig en drøm i nat is in old Danish: I dreamed a dream late last night of silk and the velvet fine Three Blinde Mice from Deuteromelia (1609)

Thomas Ravenscroft (1582/92- 1635) Thomas Ravenscroft (1582/92- 1635) published this melody in Deuteromelia (1609) with the text: Three Blinde Mice,Three Blinde Mice, Dame Iulian, Dame Iulian, the Miller and his merry olde Wife, she scrapte her tripe licke thou the knife The rhyme we know today possibly refers to Mary I (r. 1553-1558), though this is often disputed. She was known as the ‘Farmer’s wife’ (a reference to the large estates she owned) and the three mice are the three ‘Protestant martyrs’ she had executed in 1555.

There was an old woman tossed up in a basket/ Lillibullero

Traditional

Lillibullero is a satirical song which pokes fun at the Irish during the period of the Battle of the Boyne. The melody was used for several nursery rhymes including There was an old woman tossed up in a basket, which is the only nursery rhyme in Mother Goose’s Melody with musical notation. It was also used as the melody to Rockabye baby. There is a theory that the baby in this rhyme is supposed to be the son of James II (r1685-1688). The birth of his son prompted rumours that the child was not the King’s, but rather it was an imposter switched at birth in order to provide him with a catholic male heir.

Over the Hills and Far Away

Traditional English

In the eighteenth century the nursery rhyme Tom,Tom the Piper’s son was sung to two melodies; both of which can be heard in our performance.

Over the Hills and Far Away which dates from the beginning of the 18th century is a recruiting song and refers to Queen Anne who succeeded William and Mary and reigned from 1702-1707. The final verse of the song references Marlborough and Galway, two men who had affairs in Irish history. John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, (1650-1722) travelled to Ireland in 1690, where shortly after the Battle of the Boyne, he laid siege to Cork and Kinsale. Galway was the French Huguenot Henri de Massue (1648-1720) who distinguished himself at the Battle of Aughrim in 1692 after which was awarded land and the title of Galway. He was, for a time, Commander in Chief of Ireland and was subsequently appointed Lord Justice of Ireland. He established the town of Portarlington where a number of Huguenot families settled.

Hark now the drums beat up again For all true soldier gentlemen So let us list and march I say And go over the hills and far away Chorus: Over the hills, and o'er the main To Flanders, Portugal and Spain Queen Anne commands and we'll obey And go over the hills and far away There's twenty shillings on the drum For him that with us freely comes 'Tis volunteers shall win the day Over the hills and far away Prentice Tom may well refuse To wipe his angry master's shoes For now he's free to run and play Over the hills and far away No more from sound of drum retreat When Marlborough and Galway beat The French and Spaniards every day Over the hills and far away Woodycock and In May, when nightingales sing clear come from the album ‘How Happy for the Little Birds’ but fit nicely into our woodland setting. The images in this section are from Lorna’s birds collection.

Heer Halewijn

Traditional Dutch

This Dutch song is linked to the Bluebeard story published by Charles Perrault in 1697 and is perhaps the darkest story in the programme. There are several variants of the Heer Halewijn story but the basis is that Heer Halewijn was an evil man, possibly a fairy lord, who attracted young girls into the woods with his magical song. Once ensnared, Heer Halewijn murdered the young girls. One day a princess was drawn to the forest and

Halewijn was so struck by her beauty that he allowed her to choose her method of execution. The cunning princess tricked Heer Halewijn and beheaded him instead. In our arrangement of the traditional melody the princess innocently steps into the forest to encounter the sinister Halewijn.

Is Eagla liom an bás

Port & Jig

Ruaidhrí Dall Ó Catháin (c.1570-1650)

When the princess realises her fate she implores her captor with the beautifully haunting Is Eagla liom an bás (I fear death) by Ruaidhrí Dall Ó Catháin from the 19th Century Scottish Maclean-Calephane manuscript. Ruaidhrí Dall Ó Catháin was an Irish harper who spent much of his life in Scotland.

Seebouni ya nas

Traditional Arabic

Seebouni ya nas continues the theme of the beautiful girl facing impending death at the hands of her captor and represents the story of Scheherazade. The frame story of 1001 Nights is that of Scheherazade who, faced with her imminent death at the hands of her new husband, contrives to tell him a story which so enthrals him that at the end of each night makes him wait until the next night for the next instalment. This continues for 1001 nights until eventually he is cured of his hatred for women and falls in love with Scheherazade.

Seebouni ya nas is a traditional Arabic song belonging to the muwashah repertoire.

Dia do bheatha ‘Naí anocht

Aodh MacAingil (1571-1626) /Ó’Casaide

The final song is a very beautiful Irish lullaby Dia do bheatha ‘Naí anocht- Welcome infant child tonight.

Aodh Mac Cathmhaoil l (1571-1626) nicknamed Aodh ‘Mac Aingil’ (Hugh of the Angels) wrote this poem at the beginning of the 17th century, it was set to an air from the Petrie Collection by Seán Ó Casaide.

Dia do bheatha ‘Naí anocht, Do ghabh i d’ Dhiagacht daonnacht, Dár saoradh, a Chnú chroí, A bhrú mhaoth-ghlan Maighdine.

Welcome infant child tonight, Born in godly humanity, Saving us, beloved of my heart, In your pure compassionate bosom.

Bob Kelly: Narrator Laoise O’Brien: Recorders and Director (www.laoiseobrien.com) Siobhán Armstrong: Early Irish harp (www.siobhanarmstrong.com) Sarah Groser: Bass viol, violone and vielle Brendan Long: Baritone Eamon Sweeney: Baroque guitar (www.eamonsweeney.net) Francesco Turrisi: Percussion and lute (www.francescoturrisi.com) Art work: Lorna Donlon (www.sonnetsforthecradle.com) Sound engineer: Ben Rawlins at The Jericho Mile Lighting designer: Peter Canning (www.highreslighting.com) Concept and Production by Laoise O’Brien 2013 www.sonnetsforthecradle.com

Performers Bob Kelly is a graduate of the Ecole Internationale de Jacques Lecoq in Paris. His most recent work includes playing James Vane in The Picture of Dorian Grey at the Abbey Theatre, Sean Heuston in Abu Media’s Seactair na Anathnid, Macbeth at The Mill, and a national tour of Edna O’ Brien’s The Country Girls with Red Kettle, directed by Mikel Murfi. Other recent work includes The King of The Great Clock Tower with the Royal Ballet School, London (2011); Fulgurances at the Louvre Museum (2010); At Swim Two Birds, The Poor Mouth and Rhinoceros with Blue Raincoat Theatre Company (2011, 2010). While training in France he garnered critical acclaim in the French media for his portrayal of “Lansko” in L’Ecrivain Public with Plateforme Theatre.

Recently Bob was been nominated for an Irish Times Theatre Award – Best Supporting Actor – for his role in The Poor Mouth. Bob speaks several languages and has performed lead roles onstage in French and Italian.

In film, Bob recently played Barney Cannon in Tile Film’s Breithe agus Bás, and Andy in Phil Sheerin’s WWII short Withdrawal. In 2008 he played the lead role in Without Words by Brian Deane which won the Spike Lee/Babelgum Online Film Festival. He also recently appeared in The History Channel’s America : The Story of US, which has become the highest rated special in the network’s history.

Lorna Donlon is a textile artist living and working in Kilkenny. For many years Lorna designed and made tufted rugs and carpets, working with architects on site specific projects such as for the altar carpet for St. Aidan’s Cathedral in Enniscorthy, and on collaborative projects such as the translation of paintings by Gwen O 'Dowd and Tony O'Malley for The Ice Bar in The Four Seasons Hotel, and also selling to the domestic market.

The design process for these rugs and carpets involved using and combining different patterned papers. In recent years her work has taken a different direction, with more of an emphasis on developing this paper collage technique to create individual images and pieces. Lorna’s main interest is in tapestry weaving, and she is working on designs for a series of large tapestries which she plans to weave herself over the course of the next ten years. Pattern in nature and poetry are the strongest influences in her work currently, and she is interested in creating large scale impressions of everyday elements in nature.

Laoise O'Brien studied recorder at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam having completed an undergraduate degree on concert flute at the College of Music in Dublin. She also holds a Masters degree in Performance and Musicology from NUI Maynooth.

Laoise enjoys both solo and ensemble playing and performs repertoire from the 12th to the 18th centuries. She has performed and recorded with all the major early music groups in Ireland including the Irish Baroque Orchestra, Camerata Kilkenny, and the Irish Consort and appears regularly in concert series and festivals throughout the country. She has also performed with international ensembles such as the Royal Wind Music, Amsterdam. 'Sonnets for the Cradle' is Laoise’s second album and was funded by the Arts Council of Ireland through the Music Network recording scheme. Laoise lectures at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama where she teaches students from the age of seven up to post-graduate level. In addition, she is in regular demand as an examiner, adjudicator & tutor.

Siobhan Armstrong thinks she’s very fortunate to perform and record 17th century opera and chamber music with some of Europe's most prestigious historical musicians, and also to play with some of Ireland’s best traditional musicians. She performs on a large collection of copies of single and multi-row harps from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the baroque era and is really happiest accompanying vocal music: from plainchant to polyphony to sean-nós song to early opera. Siobhán also directs The Historical Harp Society of Ireland. Siobhán was a professional choral singer, played modern harps and read Music at Trinity College, Dublin in the 1980s, before moving to Germany. She returned to Ireland, in 1998, via Australia and London, and now lives in Kilkenny. She loves teaching, and cooks whenever she has a free moment!

Sarah Groser studied both baroque cello and viol at Manchester University with Charles Medlam, then went on to Rotterdam’s Conservatorium to study Baroque Cello with Jap ter Linden, and later studied viol with Jordi Savall as an external student at Basel. Since her studies Sarah has concentrated on the viol and more recently also the violone. She was a member of the Rose Consort of viols for 15 years, Sonnerie for 3 years and has worked with many other ensembles including Fretwork, Charivari Agreable, London Baroque and Dowland Consort. In 2001 Sarah moved from England to West Cork with her daughter Gracie. Since then she has performed in Ireland with Camerata Kilkenny, the Orchestra of St Cecilia, Madrigal 75, the Irish Baroque Orchestra and as a duo with Sarah Cunningham.

Brendan Long graduated from the Waterford Institute of Technology Music Department in 2009, majoring in trombone performance. He currently works as a trombone player with the Band of the 1st Southern Brigade based in Collins Barracks, Cork. As a singer, Brendan has performed with various ensembles around the country including Ad Hoc Chorale, the male voice quartet Concordia and the Irish Youth Choir which recently toured the programme ‘Soundworlds’ under the direction of Greg Beardsell. Since moving to Cork last year, Brendan has been singing with the VociNuove Chamber Choir who recently performed their ‘Pitches Be Crazy’ program to a capacity audience at the Curtis Auditorium in the Cork School of Music.

Francesco Turrisi has been described as a “musical alchemist” and a “musical polyglot” by the press. He studied jazz piano and early music at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where he obtained a Bachelor and a Master’s degree. With celebrated ensemble l’Arpeggiata he has performed at major early music festivals in Europe and around the world and has recorded for Virgin, Naive and Alpha. Francesco is also the leader and founder of many successful Irish and International groups that push the boundaries of contemporary jazz, world music and early music, such as Sarabanda, T.R.E., Gato Azul and Zahr. He has released three albums, Si dolce e’ il Tormento, Fotografia and Songs of Experience all highly praised by the press. He is also the founder of Tarab of whose first CD the Irish Times commented “Not perhaps since Andy Irvine’s celebrated East Wind in 1992 has there been such a convincing reorientation of the Irish tradition.

Eamon Sweeney began his musical studies on the violin, picked up a guitar while in his teens and subsequently studied classical guitar at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama. While there he was exposed to the Baroque guitar, igniting his fascination with the instrument and inspiring his doctoral research into the guitar’s role as a continuo instrument in the court of Louis XIV, an unexplored area of French Baroque music. Eamon is a member of the Early Music duo, Tonos, with soprano, Róisín O’Grady (www.tonos.ie). He teaches and performs extensively in a variety of genres and styles, including giving broadcasts, lectures and seminars in Ireland and abroad. He is also committed to the provision of Community Music, Early Years Music, and Music in Healthcare Settings. Eamon gratefully acknowledges the support of The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, The Arts Council and Music Network through the Music Capital Scheme 2011 and Artist’s Bursary 2012.

Additional Musicians on ‘One Charming Night’: Bridget Knowles (mezzo soprano), Kamala Bain (recorder), Malachy Robinson (double bass), Malcolm Proud (harpsichord) With thanks to the Arts Council of Ireland, Music Network, DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, Galway Early Music, RTE Lyric FM, High Res Lighting.

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