for Bb clarinet and stereo fixed media
duration ca 6'
(fixed media available here; a version for flute and stereo fixed media also exists)
Cantaireacht (2014) is essentially a short prayer. The music here has been inspired by 13th-century music of the ars antiqua style and sean-nós singing from traditional Irish music. To me, this piece could continue indefinitely, much like experience of listening to Pérotin’s Viderunt Omnes (on which the tape part of this piece is based). However, this work is very short in comparison, a brief incantation that resonates much longer than the duration of the piece itself. Merely six minutes in length, it contains the sentiment of my ‘prayer’ presented in a still opening, a zealous and more energetic middle section, followed by a return to quiet prayerfulness at the end, all the while making considerable demands on the clarinettist, particularly in breathing and phrasing. This piece was written for Carol McGonnell, commissioned by Moving on Music and premièred at the Night Music festival at the MAC Theatre Belfast on 5th March 2014 in conjunction with Moving on Music and Belfast Music Society.
Past performances:
17.05.2019 — Joanna Nicolson (cl.), Arbuthnott Museum, Peterhead, Scotland, UK
24.01.2019 — Joanna Nicolson (cl.), Aberdeen Gallery & Mueseums, Aberdeen, UK
20.05.2015 — Lynda Norris (cl.), Gleeson Theatre, DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, Dublin, Ireland
05.03.2013 — Carol McGonnell (cl.), The Factory, Metropolitan Arts Centre, Belfast, N. Ireland
Cantaireacht features on the Contemporary Music Centre's CD new music::new Ireland 3, available for free from their website.
