This year marks the centenary of Irish composer Charles Villiers Stanford, known for setting an array of diverse texts to music. The West Cork Chamber Music Festival in Bantry recently showcased his work, which included setting Edward Lear’s limericks and Charles L Graves’ Ode to Discord into music. Stanford used these texts to highlight what he considered as the over-indulgences of composers pursuing new directions in music.
In a unique display, composers Charles Ives, Leoš Janáček, and Darius Milhaud were noted to have explored unconventional texts such as newspaper articles and farm catalogue excerpts.
Deirdre McKay recently set the precedent at the festival with a new project co-commissioned by the Boyne Music Festival and the West Cork Chamber Music Festival called the “Magdalene Songs”. This work has set the first names found on the tombstones of over seventy women imprisoned in the Magdalene Laundries into music.
The performance is intended to draw attention to the inhumanities perpetuated by the Catholic Church in Ireland, with only the repeated phrase ‘Requiescat in Pace’ breaking the litany of names. Rhona Clarke and Deirdre Gribbin also contributed to this stirring musical event, by incorporating annotated testimonies of women who managed to survive their unbearable situations.
A particularly powerful song by Gribbin used Jessica Traynor’s ‘An Education in Silence’, utilising simple yet impactful means to convey deep-seated rage. This series of musical reproductions was brought to life by Australian mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean and pianist Deirdre Brenner in the late-night concert held in Bantry’s St Brendan’s Church. Their performances, amplified by an ambiance set by rows of candles, brought a deepened sense of chiaroscuro significance to the event.
The following morning, the identical location was the theatre for a more traditional exploration of feminine hardships. Partnered by Camerata Oresund and guided by violinist Peter Spissky, soprano Anna Devin embodied the ordeals of three female characters from Handel’s operas: Alcina, Rodelinda, and Cleopatra (the latter being a character in Giulio Cesare). Each character was vividly portrayed, through experiences of loss, deceit, suffering, courage, intensity, and solace; Devin’s voice was radiant and her musical aesthetics flawless, particularly in the intricate decorations of Handelian style.
On Wednesday, the Irish debut of a multi-partner festival co-commission by British-Lebanese composer Bushra El-Turk took place. Her often brutal and microtonal composition “Three Tributes” honours “Levantine female singers of the Nahhda period”, defined by El-Turk as “a cultural resurgence in the Arabic-speaking world, from mid-19th to the early 20th century”. The piece commences with the Dudok Quartet members humming akin to distressed bees, before transitioning to a resemblant effect using their instruments. The musicians proficiently captured the distinct cultural essence of the music, with the subtle addition of a recorded singer’s voice adding to the intrigue.
The festival also saw the co-commission (together with Cork County Council) of Sam Perkin’s “Childhood Awe”, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Cork County Harpsichord. The rarely-seen duo of an archlute (played by Dohyo Sol) and a harpsichord (played by Marcus Molin) – both plucked instruments often used in Baroque continuo – created an enchanting soundscape filled with high-pitched, transcendent tones.
Notably, the most standout performances of the final days were none other than the Piano Quartets, Op. 25 and Op. 26, by Brahms, exceptionally interpreted by Boris Giltburg, a pianist hailing from Moscow now living in Israel. He had the assistance from Veronika Jarůšková (violin), Šimon Truszka (viola), and Peter Jarůšek (cello) from the Pavel Haas Quartet. The Op. 25, known for its remarkable and heated Hungarian conclusion, and other pieces were expertly delivered, exuding the profound richness and heartfelt sentiment so tightly embedded in these works. The Trio also gave an outstanding rendition of Ravel’s rather indulgent Piano Trio in A minor.
Meanwhile, the festival’s tribute marking Stanford’s centenary, which presented his Fantasy No 2 for clarinet and string quartet, Clarinet Sonata and Intermezzo for clarinet and piano (performed by Matthew Hunt with the Signum Quartet and Alasdair Beatson), was less impressive. Seen as a shortcoming not of the musicians but rather a flaw of the composition.
Notwithstanding, the highlight for Stanford’s tribute was the brazenly muscular Piano Trio, composed by his student Rebecca Clarke during his lifetime, showcased exuberantly by the Paddington Trio. Stanford’s teaching was strict but never stifled the exploration of composition styles that contrasted his own style, which attests to his genuine class.