Galway Early Music 2013 Programme

May 9-12, 2013

WORD

PLAY

Which came fir, Words or Music?

Info & Booking: www.galwayearlymusic.com Tickets also in An Taibhdhearc and at door

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

SUPPORTED

BY

MEDIA SPONSORS

GOLD PATRONS Kimberly LoPrete

Adare Guesthouse

SILVER PATRONS Delo Collier Michael & Claire Cuddy Tom Grealy Riana & Pat O’Dwyer

Seán & Lois Tobin St Anthony’s & Claddagh Credit Union Ann McDonagh

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

#gwy_earlymusic

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

Which came fir?

Words or Music?

WORD

With a chicken-andegg sort of theme, this year’s festival looks at the relationship between words and music in areas as diverse as recitative, sacred choral music, poetic performance, theatre, & storytelling.

PLAY From 17th-century Roman music to the performance of Early Irish poetry and a playful look at the dark side of fairytales, join us for a rich tapestry of medieval, renaissance and baroque vocal and instrumental music.

CONCERTS

Songs for the Soul St. Nicholas Schola Cantorum Reading Male Voice Choir

Thursday, May 9, 8:00 pm St Nicholas Collegiate Church

Galway Early Music is proud to begin this year’s festival with the St Nicholas Schola Cantorum and their guest choir The Reading Male Voice Choir to help raise funds for the Schola Cantorum.

In 1557 a choir school was established by the Corporation and The Collegiate Church of St Nicholas. The Warden was instructed to train four choir boys as choristers and provide board for them: “that foure boies for the augmentacion of Godes Devine Service shalbe assistinge and helpinge to singe dayly at the quere ….the vicars and Colladge allwayes gyvinge the said childrin meat and drinke contynuallye”.

Due to political and historical upheavals, this choir school lapsed. In 2012, under the direction of Mark Duley, St Nicholas Church established a new Schola Cantorum, consisting of up to 14 young choral scholars.

The READING MALE VOICE CHOIR is a premier concert male voice choir in Berkshire, England with a unique and varied repertoire based on arrangements by musical director, Gwyn Arch.

GWYN ARCH founded the Reading Male Voice Choir in 1971. He was Director of Music at Bulmershe College of Higher Education until his retirement in 1985. A Composition Fellow of Trinity College, London, and a Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music, he was awarded the MBE for services to music in Berkshire in the 2006 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

CONCERTS

Lost Innocence

Pastoral Music & Poetry through the Ages

Adrian Mantu (baroque cello) John Feeley (guitar)

Friday, May 10, 1:00 pm Druid Lane Theatre Who has not dreamt at least once of escaping the stress of modern life by seeking refuge in the tranquillity of the countryside, or in the solitude of the wilderness?

The more urbanised, complex and self-aware a society becomes, the more it seems to look for its ‘lost innocence’: a dream-time of purity, simplicity, and harmony with the forces of nature. No symbol of such a mythical Golden Age has been employed by poets and musicians more often than the pastoral world: ever since Greek and Roman Antiquity, shepherds have been portrayed as the guardians of poetic sensibility, sincere emotions, uncorrupted life. This theme repeatedly influenced intellectuals and artists of the French and Italian Renaissance, reached its highest point of formal perfection in Baroque France, and in many ways it still speaks to us today as it did many centuries ago.

Music includes pieces by Marais, Bach and Vivaldi. The music will be interleaved with poetry and prose praising the pastoral ideal.

Adrian Mantu was born in Bucharest and is a post-graduate of the University of Music in Bucharest. His studies continued at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Royal Academy of Music in London, Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sophia in Madrid and European Academy of Music in Aix-en-Provence. In 2003, after an international audition, Adrian and his colleagues from ConTempo became Galway’s first Ensemble-in-Residence and remain at the heart of the residency today. Adrian has recently become interested in performing baroque music. He is now the proud owner of a baroque cello with which he is discovering historical performance techniques.

Described by the Washington Post as 'Ireland's leading classical guitarist' and

by Michael Dervan in the Irish Times as 'a trailblazer...when it comes to the guitar and guitar-playing in Ireland', John Feeley studied at Trinity College, Dublin, Queens College of the City University, New York, and The National University of Ireland, Maynooth, where he graduated with a PhD in music.

He currently holds the post of Senior Lecturer at the Conservatory of Music, Dublin Institute of Technology. In addition to his solo and chamber music concerts, Feeley has performed widely with orchestra and recently has teamed up with Adrian Mantu for a number of performances.

CON CERTS

Sonnets

for the Cradle

Laoise O’Brien (director & recorders), Lorna Donlon (art), Brendan Long (baritone), Siobhán Armstrong (harps), Sarah Groser (bass viol), Eamon Sweeney (5-course guitar), Francesco Turrisi (percussion), Bob Kelly (actor), Ben Rawlins (sound), Peter Canning (lights)

Friday, May 10, 8:00 pm An Taibhdhearc Inspired by the fairy tales collected by the Grimm brothers, Hans Christian Anderson, Giambattista Basile and Charles Perrault, this concert takes a look at the dark side of fairy tales. We are used to the modern re-tellings where everyone lives happily ever after – but in the original stories, things weren’t so rosy!

Often the themes of abandonment, loss, neglect and impossible challenges are answered by cleverness, humour and hope. But not always - Little Red Riding Hood is gobbled by the wolf (to warn young women to beware of all types of wolves!).

This multi-media concert illustrates these grim(m) fairy tales with a surprising variety of music, from ageless nursery rhymes and anonymous Nordic, Arabic and Irish tunes to compositions by Adam de la Halle, John Dowland, François Couperin, and Purcell, not forgetting baroque ballads and dances.

A magical journey through the history and symbolism of centuries-old tales using music, art and craft.

Laoise O'Brien has a growing reputation as a virtuosic performer and imaginative concert programmer. She studied recorder at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam having completed an undergraduate degree on modern 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 with all the major early music groups in Ireland and with international ensembles. She appears regularly in concert series and festivals throughout Ireland and Europe.

Lorna Donlon is a textile artist living and working in Kilkenny. Her main interest is in tapestry weaving. In recent years Lorna has worked collaboratively with musician Laoise O 'Brien. For her, the process of responding visually to music, and texts is one which is constantly interesting and surprising, and makes the business of making a piece of work a constant voyage of discovery!

CONCERTS

Eloquent & Elevated Atalante:

Nadine Balbeisi (soprano),Theodora Baka (mezzo-soprano), Siobhán Armstrong (arpa doppia), Jörg Jacobi (harpsichord), Erin Headley (director, viola da gamba, lirone) Resurgam: Mark Duley, director

Saturday, May 11, 8 pm St Nicholas Collegiate Church Music elevated and transformed the eloquent verse of 17thcentury Roman poets into sensual and ecstatic narratives of repentance, martyrdom, extreme grief and eroticism. This excess of emotion and expression in all the arts came to be known as ‘Baroque’, and it was Rome and the counterReformation where the style was first awakened.

Erin Headley and her awardwinning ensemble Atalante, whose members come from Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Greece and Great Britain, join Ireland’s premier professional choir Resurgam, directed by Mark Duley, in this outstanding concert. The inspiration for Atalante is the lirone, that ethereal-sounding multi-string bowed instrument said to ‘transport the soul and elevate the spirit’. Its true realm was the lament, a genre embracing the whole spectrum of human emotions, in the dramatic narratives of classical and Christian heroines such as Mary Magdalene, St Catherine, Helen of Troy and Artemisia. Atalante’s luxurious continuo band of triple harp, chitarrone, harpsichord and lirone lend an otherworldly ambiance to this extraordinary vocal repertoire of 17thcentury Rome, including music not heard for over 300 years.

Atalante is named in honour of Leonardo da Vinci’s friend and pupil Atalante Migliorotti, inventor of the lirone. That magic and ethereal bowed instrument has been Erin Headley's domain for the past 30 years, through an astonishing number of performances and recordings that have been acclaimed worldwide Resurgam makes a unique and distinctive contribution to Ireland’s musical life, and is widely acknowledged to be one of the country’s most accomplished vocal ensembles. The choir is particularly known for its presentation of the great sacred repertoire of the renaissance and baroque periods.

This concert is part of the EU Presidency Cultural Programme

DAY BY DAY From May 9 and throughout the Festival Anytime

Smartphone Musical Tour of Medieval Galway Throughout the City Centre Instruction sheets in City Museum. Guides for getting started in museum on Saturday.

May 10 - 17

Sonnets for the Cradle Art Exhibition An Taibhdhearc

Thursday, May 9 4:00 pm

A Bronze-Age Musician Ancient Music Ireland Moore Institute, NUI, Galway

6:30 pm

Official Opening of the Festival by James Harrold, Galway City Arts Officer Sheridan’s Wine Bar, Church Lane

8:00 pm

Songs for the Soul St Nicholas Schola Cantorum & Reading MaleVoice Choir

St Nicholas Collegiate Church €10 / €5

Friday, May 10 1:00 pm

Lost Innocence Pastoral Music & Poetry Through the Ages

Adrian Mantu / John Feeley Druid Lane Theatre €15 / €12 conc / €5 youth 6:00 pm

Official Opening of the Art Exhibition: Sonnets for the Cradle An Taibhdhearc, Middle St

8:00 pm

Sonnets for the Cradle Laoise O’Brien, Director / Lorna Donlon, Artist

€18 / €15 / €5 (under 16 yrs) An Taibhdhearc, Middle St

TICKET BOOKING Online: www.galwayearlymusic.com From 15 April: An Taibhdhearc, Middle St At door of concerts FESTIVAL TICKET: €55 / €45 concession (includes all concerts. Bus to Aughnanure not included)

PROGRAMME Saturday, May 11 11:00 am

A Medieval Magician Nemo The Ruby Room, Kings Head Pub Free Admission

1:30 - 4:00

MUSIC & MAGIC

IN THE

MUSEUM

Galway City Museum, Spanish Arch 1:30-2:30 3:00-4:00

Renaissance Music and Dance

1:30 - 4:00 Close Magic with Nemo le Magician (with breaks) 1:30, 2:30, 3:30

Smartphone Musical Tour of Medieval Galway Guides to get you started!

4:30 pm

Walking Tour of Medieval Galway William Henry Starting at The City Museum

8:00 pm

Eloquent & Elevated Atalante & Resurgam St Nicholas Collegiate Church €18 / €15 / €5

Sunday, May 12 4:00 pm

A Medieval Magician

Aughnanure Castle, Oughterard (Admission to Castle will be charged)

5:00 pm & 7:00 pm

4:00 pm & 5:00 pm

Guth Binn & Téada Óir Ann & Charlie Heymann, Simon O’Dwyer Aughnanure Castle, Oughterard Includes refreshments, tour of castle. €15 / €12 / €5 Bus for concert in Aughnanure Castle

Leaving from the Cathedral car park Booking at www.galwayearlymusic.com or 087 930 5506. €5

Have a meal at

The Bridge Mills, Bridge St Festival Hospitality Sponsor

CONCERTS Guth Binn 7 Téada Óir Ann & Charlie Heymann Simon O’Dwyer

Sunday, May 12, 5:00 pm & 7:00 pm Aughnanure Castle Early poetry was often performed to the accompaniment of lyre or harp, and this was nowhere more true than in Ireland, where the high status poet and harper worked together to create a performance for their patron and his followers. Manuscripts have preserved a rich storehouse of the texts of these bardic poems, but we have no musical notation for the music that accompanied them, nor any idea how that accompaniment related to the words.

This concert presents possibilities for the performance of early Irish & Scottish poetry with their unique harp, and compares this to traditions from Wales and Europe. It features gold-stringed Early Irish harps, horse-hair Welsh harp, lyres and early Irish horns.

A fitting concert for Aughnanure Castle!

Ann Heymann is one of the pioneers of the historical study of the Gaelic harp, which was the high-art instrument of the Gaelic areas of Scotland and Ireland from at least the 10th to the 17th c. With her multi-instrumentalist husband Charlie Heymann, Ann has worked on the techniques and performance practices, repertoire, construction, strings and string materials of this harp. She and Charlie have recently completed a Moore Institute fellowship at NUI, Galway researching the historical performance of Gaelic harp and poetry in the Early and Middle Irish periods.

Bus to Aughnanure Leaving the Cathedral car park at 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm Book at www.galwayearlymusic.com or 091-930 5506

FREE EVENTS A Bronze-Age Musician Ancient Music Ireland Simon & Maria O’Dwyer

Thursday, May 9, 4:00 pm Moore Institute, NUI, Galway Ancient Music Ireland is delighted to present the FIRST EVER public viewing of an interpretation of a Late Bronze Age hoard from West Clare. The original bronze items including parts of a horn, chain, sword, axes, rings and disc pin were recovered from a bog at Boolybrien, Co. Clare in 1930.

We will include our interpretation of the items as parts of an outfit worn by a musician in the Bronze Age. The presentation will discuss the links between spoken and musical performance and occasion through the examination of the decorative aspects of the hoard. This event will also include detailed images of the items; practical demonstration using accurate reproductions and tunes composed for and played on Bronze Age horns.

Simon O’Dwyer and Maria Cullen O’Dwyer are Ancient Music Ireland. Their work is the culmination of twenty-five years reproducing and musically exploring Irish instruments from prehistory. The instruments range from late Bronze Age horns to the great Celtic trumpets of the middle Iron Age and wood wind instruments from early Christianity. As no written or oral music survives from these times we can never be sure what was played by the musicians or the circumstances in which instruments were used. Their work has however indicated strong possibilities as to the reasons why horns and trumpets were designed and how they may have been played. It is remarkable that a bronze horn cast 3,000 years ago retains its integrity as a professional instrument and continues to function as a means to evoke the human emotions which are the essence of the universal timeless language that is music.

FREE EVENTS FAMILY EVENT

A Medieval Magician Saturday, May 11, 11:00 am - Kings Head Pub Sunday, May 12, 4:00 pm - Aughnanure Castle

Nemo le Magician welcomes the spectators into his magic workshop. As his apprentices are away, he invites the audience to help him out. He then tells them his own story, a story with a bit of darkness, a bit of humour, and a lot of magic! A show for all the family.

Nemo brings the audience into his medieval world through storytelling and magic illusions that combine to tell a thrilling tale of mystery, wonder and suspense. Live music makes the show a truly unique experience.

Close Magic with Nemo Nemo will be at the Galway City Museum on Saturday, May 11 between 1:30 and 4 pm (with breaks) doing the tricks that a wandering musician might have done at a country fair. You can get close to the magic and seeing is believing!

FREE EVENTS Sonnets for the Cradle Exhibition May 10- 17, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm An Taibhdhearc Rehearsal Room Tapestry artist Lorna Donlon’s beautifully crafted collages and imaginative items highlight the hidden messages in the fairytales and nursery rhymes of Sonnets for the Cradle, the collaboration between musician Laoise O’Brien & Lorna Donlon. Inspired by the folktales collected by the Brothers Grimm, Giambattista Basile and Charles Perrault, this project looks at the dark side of fairytales. Whimsy, humour, courage and grief are the universal themes of these tales, expressed so beautifully in this exhibition.

Dancing Words Saturday May 11, 1:30 and 3:00 pm Galway City Museum Musicians were not always around when the dancing started. In our dance workshops this year, Lise Carrel will teach a song to dance to, and the dance that goes with it!

Jacopo Bisagni will be on hand with his bagpipes, as well, to give our voices a rest. We have to limit the number participating this year, but there’s plenty more to see while you’re waiting to join in!

FREE EVENTS Smartphone Musical Tour of Medieval Galway Saturday May 11, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 pm Galway City Museum Bring your fully charged smartphone and your good earphones to the Museum and let our friendly IT guides get you started on this unique walking tour of Galway.

Captain Moreno, a Spanish sailor who has just arrived in his favourite city, takes you, his shipmate, to see his favourite places in Galway. As you visit the sites, you hear the music that you might have heard 400 years ago.

The Smartphone Musical Tour of Medieval Galway is always available. You can do the tour whenever you want!

When words fail Medieval Combat Irish School of Historical Combat Saturday May 11, 1:30 - 4:00 pm Galway City Museum Mark Duggan will exhibit medieval armour and weapons and, weather permitting, give demonstrations of medieval swordplay with members of the Irish School of Historical Combat.

Hand-to-hand combat was the way to decide an argument where words failed. In spite of modern sensitivities, it remains an area of fascination!

Irish Historical Martial Arts Tuesdays, 8-10 (over 18s only) Leisureland, Salthill Contact Adam at 089 458 5291

Historical Harp Society of Ireland Promoting Ireland's forgotten national instrument

EARLY IRISH HARP Tuition • Rental Harps • Summer School On-line Shop • Members’ Library

www.irishharp.org

Venue Map

1. Druid Lane Theatre 2. An Taibhdhearc 3. St Nicholas Collegiate Church 4. Kings Head Pub

5. Moore Institute, NUI, Galway 6. Galway City Museum 7. Cathedral Car Park

Aughnanure Castle: If you are driving, head towards Oughterard on the N59. The right turn down to the castle is well signposted. There is a parking lot near the castle.

Bus to Aughnanure: Leaves from the Cathedral car park at 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm promptly!

足

A

Shor t history

Galway Early Music was founded when a group of Galway musicians travelled to Lismore, Co Waterford, for the Lismore Early Music Festival.

It was there that the idea was born: why not bring this rich and sometimes exotic music to the medieval city of Galway - what better venue? The first festival was in 1996 and this is our 18th.

Through the years the Festival has been proud to present such exciting ensembles and performers as Jordi Savall, Andrew Lawrence-King and The Harp Consort, Red Priest, Ensemble Unicorn, The Irish Baroque Orchestra, Resurgam, Ensemble eX and many, many more. The Festival is known for its lively programming and its attention to the place of Irish music and musicians in the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque European music scene.

Galway Early Music is run by a voluntary committee.

More Information www.galwayearlymusic.com tel. +353-(0)87-930 5506 e-mail: info@galwayearlymusic.com

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