THIS Thursday, the Irish Chamber Orchestra (ICO) and Chamber Choir Ireland (CCI) will collaborate in a spectacular celebration of music and song under the baton of Cormac McCarthy.
To coincide with Seachtain na Gaeilge, this diverse programme features Amra Choluim Chille, a world premiere by composer Eoghan Desmond.
Desmond, drawing on his vast experience as a choral singer and bass-baritone, has created a new Irish language cantata for choir, strings, harp, and percussion called Amra Choluim Chille, which features the well-known tune Columba throughout the piece, adding influences inspired by sean-nós singing.
St. Hildegard Von Bingen was a composer, and poet whose songs, writings, remarkable life, and visions have been rediscovered in this century. Her music stretched the boundaries of the chant of the time. O virtus sapientiae sung by CCI is a beautiful hymn to the Holy Wisdom and Trinity.
Arvo Pärt’s music shimmers with emotion. Silouan’s Song performed by ICO blooms in a passive wave of strings that depends on silence as well as sonority reflecting Pärt’s devotion to his faith. The mesmerising and hauntingly beautiful Fratres shimmers with emotion and is a shining example of Pärt’s Tintinnabuli style.
Sibelius’s wonderful Rakastava paints an earthy and erotic picture of young love.
Don’t miss Irish Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Choir Ireland for this feast of colourful works this Thursday March 16 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick at 7.30pm. www.irishchamberorchestra.com
