Helen Charlston: Battle Cry World Premiere (Owain Park): City Music Foundation Commission at Barts Great Hall, London on Tuesday 7th September 2021

Please note: This concert is in the past and has already taken place.

Helen Charlston: Battle Cry World Premiere (Owain Park)

City Music Foundation Commission

Add to my Calendar 07-09-2021 19:00 07-09-2021 21:00 36 Helen Charlston: Battle Cry World Premiere (Owain Park) Helen Charlston will perform the world premiere of new song cycle ‘Battle Cry’ by Owain Park commissioned by CMF for mezzo and theorbo. There will be a pre-performance talk from Jeremy Summerly, and Owain's new work is paired with a programme of early music from Purcell and Strozzi. Battle Cry: she speaks This programme re-balances an obsession with female abandonment and lament in the 17th century. The stories of women such as Dido and Ariadne have been told and re-told throughout history, as Greek myths and ancient tales dealt with the reality of war and high mortality rates on the women seen to be ‘left behind’ by male adventure and success. We consider this trope through the hands of women and men writing music in 17th century, exploring whether this abandonment and lament always does in fact have the air of helplessness that might be assumed. Battle Cry (Owain Park CMF commission, 2020) considers this stance in the 21st century, giving so-called ‘abandoned women’ a platform for their own voice. What would they say today? It also illuminates the voice and theorbo as a modern-day musical pairing, a less-explored idiom in contemporary chamber music than one would expect. Join with us as we breathe a new life into this instrumental combination and let the battle cry of women throughout the centuries resound. Barts Great Hall, London DD/MM/YYYY

Details

Barts Great Hall
St Bartholomew's Hospital
West Smithfield
City of London
London
EC1A 7BE
England

Tuesday 7th September 2021
7:00 PM

Programme

Henry Purcell – Evening Hymn, Z.193
Claudio Monteverdi – Lamento d'Arianna, SV 22
Barbara Strozzi – La Travagliata
Owain Park – Battle Cry
Henry Purcell – Dido and Aeneas: Dido's Lament
John Eccles – Restless in Thought
Barbara Strozzi – L'Eraclito Amoroso
Henry Purcell – Bonduca, Z.574: 'O, lead me to some peaceful gloom'

Performers

Helen Charlston – mezzo-soprano
Toby Carr – theorbo

City Music Foundation

Programme Note

Helen Charlston will perform the world premiere of new song cycle ‘Battle Cry’ by Owain Park commissioned by CMF for mezzo and theorbo. There will be a pre-performance talk from Jeremy Summerly, and Owain's new work is paired with a programme of early music from Purcell and Strozzi.

Battle Cry: she speaks

This programme re-balances an obsession with female abandonment and lament in the 17th century. The stories of women such as Dido and Ariadne have been told and re-told throughout history, as Greek myths and ancient tales dealt with the reality of war and high mortality rates on the women seen to be ‘left behind’ by male adventure and success. We consider this trope through the hands of women and men writing music in 17th century, exploring whether this abandonment and lament always does in fact have the air of helplessness that might be assumed.

Battle Cry (Owain Park CMF commission, 2020) considers this stance in the 21st century, giving so-called ‘abandoned women’ a platform for their own voice. What would they say today? It also illuminates the voice and theorbo as a modern-day musical pairing, a less-explored idiom in contemporary chamber music than one would expect. Join with us as we breathe a new life into this instrumental combination and let the battle cry of women throughout the centuries resound.

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