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World Premiere of David Fennessy's The Ground by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Jan. 01, 2019

World Premiere of David Fennessy's <em>The Ground</em> by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, led by Thomas Dausgaard, perform the world premiere of David Fennessy's The Ground on January 12 at City Halls in Glasgow. David Fennessy notes:

"I began work on The Ground in the spring/summer of 2017, around the time when we were expecting the arrival of our second daughter. During a visit to the antenatal clinic I heard her heartbeats for the first time - incredibly fast and almost violent in their energy. Those heartbeats with all their potential as yet unleashed, drive the first half of this piece.

The voice that you can hear at the start and end is that of Robert Urquhart Brown (1906-1972), a renowned piper and piobaireachd player as well as an exponent of canntaireachd singing, the oral tradition of teaching the Ceol Mór (Big Music), as it is known. The recording was made towards the end of his days, and it is imbued with a rich sense of retrospective satisfaction at a life well lived.

The music of The Ground is esssentially a mensural canon; the same tune at different speeds heard across a plethora of different voices."


Also of note: David Fennessy's Hashima Refrain for choir (part of a tryptych of works for Chamber Choir Ireland and Paul Hillier) was premiered in November 2018 in Kilkenny by the Chamber Choir Ireland, led by Paul Hillier, alongside Letter to Michael (2014) and Ne Reminiscaris (2017). 


Listen to David Fennessy's Ne Reminiscaris here:


(Ne Reminiscaris/David Fennessy/Chamber Choir Ireland/Paul Hillier) 


For more information about David Fennessy, visit universaledition.com.

David Fennessy
The Ground (2018)
for orchestra
3.3.3.3-4.3.3.1-timp-3perc, soundtrack, str(12.12.10.8.6)
16' 

Hashima Refrain (2018)
for choir a cappella

Ne Reminiscaris (2017)
for mixed 16-part choir a cappella
9'

Letter to Michael (2014)
for choir (16 voices) a cappella
7'

 

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