FÁILTE
W e a r e d e l i g h t e d t o l a u n c h y o u r 1 2 t h a n n u a l C h a m b e r M u s i c
o n V a l e n t i a F e s t i v a l . G o i n g f r o m s t r e n g t h t o s t r e n g t h , w e
h a v e c u r a t e d a r i c h a n d d i v e r s e p r o g r a m m e o f c o n c e r t s ,
m u s i c w o r k s h o p s , i m m e r s i v e e x p e r i e n c e s , a n d p a r t i c i p a t o r y
e v e n t s t h a t c e l e b r a t e m u s i c f r o m a l l o v e r t h e w o r l d . T h e r e ’ s
s o m e t h i n g f o r e v e r y o n e , a n d w e c a n ’ t w a i t t o w e l c o m e y o u
t o t h e i s l a n d .
W i t h g u e s t a r t i s t s f r o m t h e U S A , T a i w a n , t h e U K , a n d I r e l a n d , t h i s y e a r ’ s f e s t i v a l
f e a t u r e s e i g h t c o n c e r t s o v e r f o u r d a y s , p l u s t h e m u c h - l o v e d ‘ M u s i c a l M a p ’ o n t h e
a f t e r n o o n o f S a t u r d a y , 1 6 t h A u g u s t .
O u r o p e n i n g c o n c e r t o n T h u r s d a y , 1 4 t h A u g u s t , i s s p e c i a l l y c u r a t e d a r o u n d ‘ T h e K e r r y
P o l k a a n d M o r e ’ , c o m b i n i n g s t r i n g q u a r t e t s f r o m B o h e m i a a n d S c a n d i n a v i a w i t h s e t s
b y a c c l a i m e d I r i s h m u s i c i a n s J a c k T a l t y ( c o n c e r t i n a ) a n d U l t a n O ’ B r i e n ( f i d d l e ) T h e
S t r i n g E x t r a v a g a n z a F i n a l e o n S u n d a y , 1 7 t h A u g u s t , w i l l b e a j o y f u l c e l e b r a t i o n o f
V i v a l d i c o n c e r t i a n d o t h e r m u s i c a l g e m s W e ’ r e a l s o t h r i l l e d t o f e a t u r e K e r r y n a t i v e s
G a v a n R i n g ( t e n o r ) a n d C o r m a c H e n r y ( f l u t e ) , w h o j o i n u s t h i s y e a r . W i t h a f o c u s o n
m u s i c f r o m A s i a , w e w e l c o m e C h i a - Y i n H u n g o n t h e p i p a a n d g u q i n
C o r e t o t h e p r o g r a m m e a r e m a s t e r p i e c e s o f t h e c h a m b e r r e p e r t o i r e , i n c l u d i n g a
B r a h m s S t r i n g Q u i n t e t , M e n d e l s s o h n P i a n o T r i o , M o z a r t F l u t e Q u a r t e t , a n d m u c h
m o r e O u r a t m o s p h e r i c l a t e - n i g h t c o n c e r t s i n c l u d e ‘ S i l k a n d S t r i n g s ’ o n A u g u s t 1 4 t h
a n d t h e m e d i t a t i v e w o r k s o f P h i l i p G l a s s a n d A r v o P ä r t o n A u g u s t 1 6 . W e a r e h o n o u r e d t o w e l c o m e t h e f o l l o w i n g a r t i s t s : D a r r a g h M o r g a n ( v i o l i n ) , C h a r l e s S p r u i l l ( v i o l i n ) , J a n e A t k i n s ( v i o l a ) , A n d r e e a B a n c i u ( v i o l a ) , P e t e r A d a m s ( c e l l o ) , A d r i a n M a n t u ( c e l l o ) , G a v a n R i n g ( t e n o r ) , C o r m a c H e n r y ( f l u t e ) , C h i a - Y i n H u n g ( p i p a / g u q i n ) , J a c k
T a l t y ( c o n c e r t i n a ) , a n d U l t a n O ’ B r i e n ( f i d d l e ) . t h
T h i s y e a r ’ s f e a t u r e d I r i s h c o m p o s e r i s S i o b h á n C l e a r y , a n d a s a l w a y s , w e p r o u d l y s u p p o r t Y o u n g A r t i s t s a n d e n c o u r a g e c o m m u n i t y e n g a g e m e n t t h r o u g h o u r f e s t i v a l p r o g r a m m e . A l l o f t h i s t a k e s p l a c e a c r o s s a v a r i e t y o f u n i q u e v e n u e s o n b e a u t i f u l
V a l e n t i a I s l a n d . W e l o o k f o r w a r d t o w e l c o m i n g y o u t h i s A u g u s t f o r o u r 1 2 t h F e s t i v a l .
A s e v e r a h u g e t h a n k y o u t o o u r s u p p o r t e r s , v e n u e s , v o l u n t e e r s a n d a u d i e n c e i n m a k i n g t h i s F e s t i v a l e x i s t i n s u c h a m a g i c a l p l a c e .
M a r y D u l l e a A r t i s t i c D i r e c t o r
FOLK EFFECTS
Saturday, 16 AUGUST 2025 | 7.30pm at Church of Immaculate Conception, Knightstown with Gavan
Ring tenor Darragh Morgan violin Chase Spruillviolin Jane Atkins viola Andreea Banciu viola Peter Adams cello
EVENT PROGRAMME
Arnold Bax: My eyes for beauty pine; O Mistress mine for tenor with string quartet
Siobhan Cleary: Carrowkeel for string quartet
Siobhán Cleary: Suantrai for piano
George Frideric Handel: ‘Where e’er you walk’ from Semele, HWV 58
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: ‘Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön’ from The Magic Flute
Ludwig van Beethoven: ‘Gott! Welch’ Dunkel hier!’ from Fidelio, Act II Scene 1
INTERVAL
Johannes Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111 ‘Prater Quintet’
PROGRAMME NOTES
Arnold Bax: Myeyesforbeautypineand OMistress
minefor tenor with string quartet
Bax had a sensitive and searching soul and drew inspiration from a wide range of sources. He proved highly receptive to the soft, melancholy moods of the Irish Literary Revival and found in Yeats a powerful muse, from which he derived a lifetime of inspiration. He developed an infatuation with Ireland and began travelling extensively here. His encounter with the poetry of Yeats and the landscapes of Ireland resulted in many new works, both musical and literary. In fact, he is buried in St. Finbarr’s Cemetery in Cork, having died there unexpectedly whilst visiting.
We feature the music of E. J. Moeran annually at Chamber Music on Valentia as he lived in Kenmare for many years and is buried there as well as having spent a couple of years on Valentia. Not only that, but it is also wonderful and underperformed music. This year, to explore this period further we are pleased to programme some music by Arnold Bax for the first time. Bax and Moeran were very good friends.
These two short songs were catalogued in 1921 as arrangements of songs originally set for voice and piano a few years prior.
My eyes for beauty pine,
My soul for Goddes grace : No other care nor hope is mine, To heaven I turn my face. One splendour thence is shed From all the stars above : 'Tis named when God's name is said, 'Tis Love, 'tis heavenly Love.
And every gentle heart, That burns with true desire, Is lit from eyes that mirror part Of that celestial fire.
Robert Seymour Bridges (18441930)
O mistress mine, where are you roaming? O stay and hear, your true love's coming That can sing both high and low.
[Trip] no [further], pretty sweeting; [Journeys] end in lovers' meeting, Ev'ry wise man's son doth know.
What is love? 'Tis not hereafter;
Present mirth hath present laughter; What's to come is still unsure:
[In] delay there lies no plenty; Then [come kiss] me, sweet and twenty; Youth's a stuff will not endure.
William Shakespeare (15641616), no title, appears in Twelfth Night: or, What You Will, Act II, Scene 3
Siobhan Cleary: Carrowkeel for string quartet
Known locally as ‘the Pinnacles’, the Carrowkeel cairns are 15 miles south of Sligo on ridges in the Bricklieve Mountains. Fourteen cairns are found in the Carrowkeel complex and on the northern slope of the eastern ridge is a cluster of ‘hut circles’ known as the Doonaveeragh Neolithic village. The Carrowkeel complex, believed to have been constructed between 3000 and 2000 BC, remained in use until 1500 BC. The cairns, built of limestone with interior chambers roofed with large limestone slabs, range in size from 25 to 100 feet in diameter. The site was used in Christian times as a burial place for unbaptised children. One of the cairns, was demonstrated by researcher Martin Byrne, to have a 'light-box' which is similar in design to the light-box at Newgrange and was constructed so as to allow the light of both the sun and moon to penetrate the inner chamber. (The sun for a month on either side of the summer solstice, and the light of the full moon on either side of the winter solstice). It is a tranquil spiritual place where I have often contemplated the people who lived there so long ago and their advanced knowledge of astronomy and physics.
Ó Composer’s note
Siobhán Cleary: Suantrai for piano
Composed in 2003, Cleary’s short piano piece Suantraí is a ‘brokenhearted lullaby’. Though short in duration it extends from bare delicacy to a centre of great intensity.
George Frideric Handel: ‘Where e’er you walk’ from Semele , HWV 58 Act II
Handel's last Italian opera, Deidamia, was performed in 1741. After this time, he concentrated on oratorios and musical dramas with English texts. Many of these, including Semele, were premiered at the Covent Garden Theatre, beginning with Alexander's Feast in 1736 and finishing with The Triumph of Time and Truth in 1757. As a result, in the early 1740s, oratorios at the Covent Garden Theatre were Handel's chief activity. While most of these works had sacred or religious texts, two stand out for being secular: Hercules and Semele. ‘Where e'er you walk’ is a famous aria from George Frideric Handel's opera, Semele. It is a beautiful, lyrical piece where Jupiter, disguised as Athamas, promises Semele a paradise wherever she goes. The lyrics describe how nature flourishes in her presence, with cool breezes, shady trees, and blooming flowers following her every step.
Where'er you walk
Cool gales shall fan the glade
Trees where you sit shall crowd into a shade
Trees where you sit shall crowd into a shade
Where'er you tread the blushing flowers shall rise and all things flourish and all things flourish
Where'er you turn your eyes
Where'er you walk
Cool gales shall fan the glade Trees where you sit shall crowd into a shade
Trees where you sit shall crowd into a shade.
William Congreve (1670
- 1729)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: ‘Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön’ from TheMagicFlute
‘Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön’ ("This image is enchantingly lovely") is an aria from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 1791 opera The Magic Flute. The aria takes place in Act I Scene 1 of the opera. Prince Tamino has just been presented by the Three Ladies with an image of the princess Pamina and falls instantly in love with her.
Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön, wie noch kein Auge je gesehn!
Ich fühl' es, wie dies Götterbild, mein Herz mit neuer Regung füllt.
Dies Etwas kann ich zwar nicht nennen, doch fühl' ich's hier wie Feuer brennen, soll die Empfindung Liebe sein? Ja, ja, die Liebe ist's allein.
O wenn ich sie nur finden könnte,
O wenn sie doch schon vor mir stände, ich würde, würde, warm und rein! Was würde ich?
Ich würde sie voll Entzücken an diesen heißen Busen drücken, und ewig wäre sie dann mein.
This image is enchantingly lovely,
Like no eye has ever beheld! I feel it as this divine picture, Fills my heart with new emotion.
I cannot name my feeling, Though I feel it burn like fire within me, Could this feeling be love? Yes! Yes! It is love alone.
Oh, if only I could find her, Oh, if only she were already standing in front of me, I'd become, become, warm and pure. What would I do?
Upon this heart, Full of rapture, I would press her to this glowing bosom, And then she would be mine forever!
Ludwig van Beethoven: ‘Gott! Welch’ Dunkel hier!’ from Fidelio , Act II Scene 1
Even if for nothing else, Fidelio would command our attention by virtue of being Beethoven’s only complete opera. Beyond this, though, its unusual structure, glorious score, and life-affirming aura make it a unique theatrical experience. The story belongs to the tradition of “rescue operas” that were in vogue around the time of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, and the characters are straightforward portraits of good and evil. Leonore, whose husband Florestan has been taken as a political prisoner, disguises herself as a man named Fidelio and finds work at the prison where she believes Florestan is being held. She ultimately saves him from execution, and the work ends with a rousing celebration of liberty and marital love.
In this aria, Florestan is alone in his cell, deep inside the dungeons. He sings first of his trust in God, and then has a vision of his wife Leonore coming to save him (Gott! Welch Dunkel hier! "God! What darkness here" and In des Lebens Frühlingstagen "In the spring days of life").
Gott! Welch Dunkel hier! O grauenvolle Stille!
Öd' ist es um mich her. Nichts lebet ausser mir.
O schwere Prüfung!Doch gerecht ist Gottes Wille! Ich murre nicht! Das Mass der Leiden steht bei dir.
In des Lebens Frühlingstagen
Ist das Glück von mir geflohn! Wahrheit wagt ich kühn zu sagen, Und die Ketten sind mein Lohn. Willig duld' ich alle Schmerzen,
Ende schmählich meine Bahn; Süsser Trost in meinem Herzen: Meine Pflicht hab' ich getan! Und spür' ich nicht linde, sanft säuselnde Luft?
Und ist nicht mein Grab mir erhellet?
Ich seh', wie ein Engel im rosigen Duft
Sich tröstend zur Seite mir stellet, Ein Engel, Leonoren, der Gattin, so gleich, Der führt mich zur Freiheit ins himmlische Reich.
God! what darkness this! What terrifying silence!
I'm living in a desert. Death only reigns down here. How hard my trials!But just is the Lord's pleasure! I don't complain! What I've to suffer, You decree.
In the spring days of my life Happiness deserted me! Truth I dared to utter boldly And the chains are my reward.
Willingly I bear my tortures,
End in ignomy my life; To my heart this is sweet solace:
My duty I have always done! And do I not feel soft whispering air? What brightness shines into my grave?
I see how an angel fragrant like a rose
Comforting stands by my side, An angel, Leonora, my wife so alike
To lead met to freedom, to the kingdom of God.
Johannes Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111 ‘Prater Quintet’
1. Allegro non troppo
2. Adagio
3. Un poco allegretto
4. Vivace, ma non troppo presto
Vienna’s Prater was, in the nineteenth century, a four-mile-long wooded park dotted with cafés and beer gardens and restaurants. Brahms, like Beethoven and Schubert before him, relaxed there and listened to music from the little orchestras and the gypsy bands. Brahms’ apartment was within ten paces of the Prater, where he over the years became a well-known figure. Max Kalbeck, who was a member of Brahms’ inner circle from 1880, and later his first biographer, exclaimed on first hearing the opening of this magisterial quintet: ‘Brahms in the Prater!’ Brahms replied: ‘You’ve got it,’ and added with a roguish grin: ‘And all the pretty girls there!’ It is likely that Brahms was pulling his leg, but the idea is a good one.
The opus number is significant for it is the same number as Beethoven’s final piano sonata. Brahms had spent most of his life fighting Beethoven’s giant shadow; now suddenly he was tired, and Opus 111 seemed a significant milestone. The proposal for a quintet came from Joachim, who requested a companion for Op.88, though it was premiered by the Rosé Quartet, who were also to premiere quartets by Schönberg, Pfitzner, Reger and Weigl. As soon as Joachim saw the opening bars, he told Brahms it would take three cellists in one to make the line heard above the thunderous accompaniment. Joachim was right, of course, and Brahms sketched a less massive alternative, but in the end, he let the opening stand and bequeathed discomfort to cellists forever.
Brahms strolling in the Prater would appear to call for music every bit as grandiose as Mussorgsky’s description of himself at Hartman’s memorial exhibition nearly twenty years earlier; both composers were aware of their significance. The opening of the quintet is truly superb as the cello melody strides out beneath the symphonic grandeur of the tremolo in the upper strings. Unlike the first quintet, there is no transition theme before the lyrical and waltz-like second subject is reached. However, the tremolandi from the first subject begin to invade before the end of the exposition, which is repeated as usual. The start of the development is mesmerising, as pianissimo whisperings – derived from the movement’s opening tremolo – are mingled with wisps of the second subject. The remainder of this section makes much of the full-blooded opening, and the recapitulation is reached without a break in the tension. The coda looks seriously at the possibility of a gentle conclusion, but in the end, Brahms cannot resist a final flourish.
The dark beauty of the adagio is a complete contrast, dominated as it is by the husky voice of the viola sighing over a hushed and ambiguous harmonic background, with plaintive pizzicatos to maintain momentum. Brahms is surely echoing the exotic gypsy bands that haunted the Prater with their night music for violin, cimbalom and bass. The central outburst is heralded by a mysterious sequence that almost fades into silence before the passionate climax. This culminates in a cadenza for the first viola, unknowingly anticipating a similar moment in the clarinet quintet.
The third movement is equally restrained, as though Brahms is creating an introspective counterweight for the extrovert outer movements. It is a reflective dance in G minor led by the first violin, leading into a graceful G major dance for the trio. The overwhelming impression of the finale is the dizzy abandon of the coda, but the build-up is achieved with Brahms’ usual subtlety. The first subject contrasts a scampering semiquaver idea with a more boisterous foot-stamping dance. These make way for a brief second subject of violin solo against a shimmering background with offbeat pizzicatos. The development and most of the recapitulation is driven by the energetic semiquavers as the working out becomes more brilliant. The reappearance of the second subject allows the momentum briefly to slacken before the hectic coda takes over.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Full biographies are available on our website. You can scan this QR code on your phone or tablet to take you straight there:
SUPPORT US
Chamber Music on Valentia is most grateful to our Friends and Supporters who, through their contributions, help us to continue and develop our work in this Festival.
We would like to invite additional friends to help support the festival this year as we return to an in-person experience on Valentia Island.
Supporting Chamber Music on Valentia will develop an association with an already far-reaching annual event with real creative potential in this special region and on this special island. It builds on the history and pride of place that continues to attract world-class innovations and the people who make them happen. By joining us as a sponsor you will not only be able to avail of the benefits offered but will be joining our team, helping to continue the growth of this exciting and culturally unique Festival.
Our sponsorship packages are listed on our website at www.chambermusiconvalentia.com and we would be delighted to add your name to the list of one our offerings.
Please get in touch with our Festival Team if you would like to discuss any aspect of the above, by emailing info@chambermusiconvalentia.com.
JOIN US AT OUR UPCOMING EVENTS
SATURDAY, 16 AUGUST 2025
Late Night: Pärt and Glass Concert 9.30pm | Church of the Immaculate Conception
SUNDAY, 17 AUGUST 2025
When Mozart met the Pipa
String Extravaganza Finale
1.00pm | Church of St. Dorarca and St. Teresa, Chapeltown
7.30pm | Church of the Immaculate Conception
To find out more about our 2025 events, please visit www.chambermusiconvalentia.com/your-2025-festival/ or call +353 (83) 096 5977
SAVE THE DATE
We also look forward to welcoming you to our 2026 festival, so why not pop the date in your diary now? Join us Thursday 13th to Sunday 16th August 2026
GO RAIBH MAITH AGAT
W e a r e g r a t e f u l t o a l l o f o u r F r i e n d s a n d S u p p o r t e r s f o r t h e i r c o m m i t m e n t a n d
c o n t r i b u t i o n s W e a c k n o w l e d g e t h e a s s i s t a n c e o f A r t s C o u n c i l I r e l a n d / A n
C h o m h a i r l e E a l a í o n , R T É S u p p o r t i n g t h e A r t s , K e r r y C o u n t y C o u n c i l /
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