by Rose Rushe
Photo: Keith Wiseman
THE Bill Whelan Gala concert with RTE National Symphony Orchestra and Sir James Galway will celebrate Limerick City of Culture 2014 at the concert hall on Saturday June 21.
With a new work, ‘Linen and Lace’ commissioned of Whelan by RTE lyric fm, the programme is enriched by other works by this Limerick man. This is the platform for the Riverdance Symphonic Suite, Inishlacken and An Chistin from the Connemara Suite.
Soloists on board include violinists Catherine Leonard and Zoe Conway, with dancer Colin Dunne performing.
Given that it is a score years since Bill Whelan had the opportunity to premier with RTE NSO, he is delighted to have written a new but resonant work specifically for flautist Sir James.
He says: “When Sir James Galway and I first spoke of working together towards the birth of a new flute concerto, we wanted to link our two native cities.
“Belfast and Limerick are renowned respectively for their linen and lace and it was a beautiful image in ‘An Unborn Child’ by the Belfast poet Derek Mahon which lubricated my imagination”.
The child, awaiting its birth, muses on the mysteries relayed “through the dark network” of its mother’s body as she sews in expectation of the infant arrival.
“I pictured her fingering the filigree of Limerick lace and grasping the supple strength of Belfast linen. Somehow this image, and the anticipatory life of the womb, became the affirmative force which inspired this piece”.
In conversation with Limerick Post, Whelan has referenced Limerick’s urban horses as an influence, the two cities’ industrial and craft life and with respect to Belfast’s history, the Cave Hill promontory over it.
Performance in the University Concert Hall, Limerick will be broadcast live on RTÉ lyric fm and webcast. Gala at National Concert Hall on June 20, 8pm concerts.
