Скачать или смотреть Postcard from Ireland's Ancient East

Postcard from Ireland's Ancient East

Finghin Collins, piano

The Marriage of William Marshal and Isabel de Clare (Nesting Doll) from The Ros Tapestry Suite

The 2021 Dublin International Chamber Music Festival opens with a flourish with a rich crop of home-grown composers and performers posting musical postcards. First from the mailbox is a postcard from pianist, Finghin Collins, who delivers a performance of Sam Perkin’s musical response to the vibrant Ros Tapestry of Ireland’s Ancient East. The Tapestry itself, is an impressive fifteen-panel embroidery work, lovingly stitched by a team of volunteers, traces the history of the Norman invasion of Ireland. Entitled The Marriage of William Marshal and Isabel de Clare (Nesting Doll) Perkin’s musical response is one of 15 solo piano pieces commissioned by the New Ross Piano Festival of which Finghin is co-founder and artistic director.

PROGRAMME NOTE
Sam Perkin has kindly supplied the following note on his response to the 8th section of the Ros Tapestry, which he has subtitled Nesting Doll and which he has dedicated to Finghin Collins: -

“After a long time with this particular tapestry one starts to notice the deeper themes hidden within. These themes go far past what is first noticed to a crystal clear realization. A puzzle unlocked.

For me, the most striking aspect of the tapestry is the manner in which it perfectly conveys the themes of lineage, ancestry, expectation, time and change. The Russian Matryoshka Doll, descendant of the Japanese Fukurama Doll, kept appearing in my mind whenever I looked at the tapestry. Nesting Doll is the English term currently in use. This seemingly simple toy contains a secret that is present in the tapestry and in the piece both structurally and thematically, and indeed philosophically. Upon opening a Nesting Doll, one unearths the deep truth hidden within”. SP

Composer-in-residence with the Crash Ensemble, Cork-born Sam Perkin is a graduate of CIT School of Music and the Lyon Conservatoire. He has fulfilled many commissions from groups at home and abroad including the Crash Ensemble, Irish Chamber Orchestra, RTÉ, New Ross Piano Festival, West Wicklow Festival and West Cork Chamber Music Festival. His work has also been widely performed overseas with his Twitter for flute choir, audience, smartphones and video commissioned by the La Côte Flûte Festival in Switzerland.

The Ros Tapestry is a fifteen-panel artwork telling the story of the coming of the Normans to Ireland in the 12th century and the foundation of the port and town of New Ross at the beginning of the next century. The Suite, commissioned in 2014 by the New Ross Piano Festival from fifteen Irish composers, shows each one’s response to a given panel.

© Pat O’Kelly 2021

Presented in association with the Office of Public Works
Supported by Culture Ireland