BLEMF24 | ZOE VANDERMEER "BARDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES"

BLEMF24 | ZOE VANDERMEER "BARDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES"

Bloomington Early Music Festival 2024
Early Music in Exile | May 19-25, 2024 | http://www.blemf.org

Visit http://www.sopranoandharp.com/ to learn more about Zoe.

For program notes, please visit http://www.bloomingtonearlymusic.com/...

Pre-concert discussion with Zoe and early music specialist and multi-instrumentalist C. Keith Collins:    • BLEMF24 | Pre-concert discussion ZOE ...  

A beautiful if troubling illustration of the debilitating effects of religious and political persecution, Bards of the British Isles presents music of the late 16th century to the late 18th century from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. The music, for harp and soprano voice, was composed by harpers and about harpers, as well as other individuals who suffered under the tyranny of Queen Elizabeth I and Edward I. During Elizabeth I’s ongoing religious persecution of the Catholic church in Wales, many Welsh Pencerddau (head bards) were acting as covert emissaries of Recusants in the Welsh nobility, helping to spread news about secret Catholic masses and pilgrimages. And in an attempt to control Ireland, the Virgin Queen issued a proclamation to “hang harpers, wherever found, and destroy their instruments.” Between 1650 and 1660, Oliver Cromwell ordered the destruction of harps and also organs throughout Ireland in an effort to prevent a surge of nationalism—in Dublin alone, 500 harps were seized and burned. Harpers were reduced to becoming itinerant musicians, begging for a living wherever they could. The music these harpers composed and sang provides a powerful view of the many challenges they faced—from avoiding death by hanging to simply putting food on the table, and from maintaining artistic integrity to efforts to keep the legacy of the Bard alive.
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Queen Mary’s Dumpe, Anon., William Ballet's Lute Book, 1591
Queen Mary’s Lamentation, by Tommaso Giordani (1735-1806)
Lament of Mary Queen of Scots, by Robert Burns (1759-1796)
O Dominus Deus, Speravi a Te is by Dr. Henry Harington (1727-1816)

A Morning in Scotland, Improvisation, by Zoe Vandermeer

The Maid of Selma, by James Oswald (1710-1769)
Horo Ma Chaidil Morag Bheag, Hebridean lullaby, 18th c.
Caismeachd Mhic Iain’ic Sheumais, by Murchadh Clarsair, 16th c.
Mort Raghnaill’ic Domhnuil Hearraich, Anon., Hebridean, c.early 17th c.

Feaghan Geleash, from the Ancient Music of Ireland Vol. III, (1840), by Edward Bunting (1773-1843)
Scott’s Lamentation, composed 1599, from Bunting’s Ancient Music of Ireland Vol. III, (1840)
Carolan’s Welcome, by O’Carolan (1670-1738)
Carolan’s Concerto, by O’Carolan
Carolan’s Farewell, by O’Carolan
The Lamentation of Owen O’Neil, by O’Carolan

A Tribute to the Irish Bards, Improvisation, by Zoe Vandermeer

The Dying Bard to His Harp, arr. By Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
The Inspired Bard, by Edward Jones (1752-1824)

Ode to the Bards of the British Isles, Improvisation, by Zoe Vandermeer

Lascia ch’io pianga, from Rinaldo HWV7, by Handel
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Zoe Vandermeer is a coloratura soprano, Welsh triple harpist and composer. Harp performances include the Connecticut Early Music Festival, Rio International Harp Festival Brasil, American Harp Society, HarpCon2003 Bloomington, and Gotham Early Music Scene. She has performed her original, one-woman baroque pastiche opera at Spain’s International Festival de Deia, Glasgow Early Music Festival, Nairn Theatre Scotland, and NY International Theatre Fringe Festival. She sang in Carnegie Hall as First Place Winner of the B. Alexander International Vocal Competition, won Second Place in the 2023 London Classical Competition, and received the Silver Medal 2022 Global Music Awards. Her award-winning CD, Angel’s Wine, the Songs of John Dowland released in 2002, and her new baroque soprano & harp album is forthcoming from Centaur Records.
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BLEMF 2024: Early Music in Exile explores music of communities and individuals forced from their homeland as a consequence of war, political oppression, or religious expulsion; those living in religious and ethnic diaspora; and those surviving the paradox of exile “in place” under tyranny, incarceration, and forced conversion. Their stories—vividly brought to life through glorious music that displays resistance, defines identity, communicates faith and conviction, and conveys fear, loss, hope, and joy—have deep resonance today.

Early Music in Exile celebrates the courage, hope, and resilience of those experiencing exile. It is our way to connect all of us—either through the distant past of our ancestors or in the present as we welcome new neighbors—who find the solace and joy of home in the music we make.