Musici Ireland Play Bates in Wexford

I was pleasantly surprised to find a Wexford church packed to the rafters today for an afternoon concert of contemporary music. New music events  in venues more accustomed to the familiar can be prone to be be preceded by a sense of mild trepidation but in St Iberius Church in the South East coastal town, the mood was all buzzy anticipation for the celebration of  the work of a single  composer. Given that the composer in the limelight was  Liam Bates, locally based  and the musicians performing were some of the best professional players in the country it shouldn't have been a  surprise really. This combined  with a sustained multifaceted pr effort seems to have paid off in maximum  bums on seats for unfamiliar work,  I was in the audience for the performance by the Wexford Sinfonia of Bates symphonic homage to the heroes of the Helena Blake last year,  when Wexford folk filled the County Council HQ to salute the local heroes, living and dead. A report and a link to my Irish Examiner review   here 

Today's event featured a  salon ensemble augmented with a choir, solo voice and flugel horn.  There was a satisfying range of contrasts in timbre and style in the selection of work presented over an hour and half. Opening with the hyperactive rhythms of  funk/disco inspired, Vivo. the mood was calmed by a plaintive  Elegy featured Shaun Hooke on the all too rarely heard flugelhorn. Hooke, principal trumpet of RTE CO  also featured in the premier of a jazz influenced Urban Monday. The  minimalist style of Abundance created  a  contemplative  mood with sustained slow moving lines on viola accompanied by Piano and accordion.  Premiered in 2014 in a version for symphony orchestra,  the Heroes of the Helen Blake was presented in a three movement version for chamber ensemble. Although lacking the high emotion and sweep of the original. the piece gained greater clarity in the interplay between solo violin and ensemble  with the sea shanties woven into the score easier to discern.  A solo voice, Cillian Byrne of group, Basciville replaced the male voice choir in the  song of the lifeboat men

Cillian Byrne 

A different mood and timbre and mood opened the second half procedings with a lyrical piece for solo cello and piano played. There was light hearted whimsy and a Latin influence  in a suite of variations based on a theme from film score , Out of the Blue which featured some lovely lines for viola and duets between viola and violin.

Finally , the Valda Chamber Choir joined the ensemble for a serene Agnus Dei and canticles inspired by Bates' sojourn in Togo reminiscent of the syle of Welsh composer, Karl Jenkins.

They say a prophet is never recognized in his own land. One couldn't say that of this Wexford composer  on this jubilant  gala occasion. To conclude , I repeat a comment from my last report on this man's work  'By any standards, this is exciting and well crafted symphonic writing, teeming with ideas that deserves further airing on a national platform'.  




Vivo
Elegy featuring Shaun Hooke on Flugelhorn
A Beautiful Heart
Heroes of the Helen Blake  Chamber version 3 movements Mia Cooper vln and. Cillian Byrne
Dancing with Gioconda  Cello and Pno  Wm Butt Orla McDonagh
Out of the Blue Suite 
A Pure Heart 
Agnus Dei    featuring ensemble with Valda Choir
Canticles 



Liam Bates and Shaun Hooke

Symphonic Paean to Wexford Lifeboat Heroes

My review of this concert appears in The Irish Examiner on Wednesday 25th February. A fuller account of the evening is presented here.

Wexford Sinfonia: Heroes of the Helen Blake  
composed and conducted by Liam Bates 

On brave white horses that rise and charge,
Aloft the heaving breast of the way-ward deep,
T'ward weary ships and solemn hearts:
Make fast my bond, make fast my pledge to keep.....

Beat  hard the waves that drape my sense.
God's light, my compass ever be.
                                          Liam Bates

1 The Hymn and the Sea Shanty
2 Strength and Grace
3 Courage and Peril
4 Vale of Tears
5 To Bring Them Home 

It was a compelling  evening, brimming with emotion  as Wexford Sinfonia  premiered a new composition by Liam Bates to a capacity house at County Hall.  Among the elements,  there was the sombre sense of time and place. The event marked the centenary of the sinking of Norwegian vessel, The Mexico off the Wexford coast and the loss of nine lives among the local lifeboat crew who went to aid the stricken vessel. As a prelude we heard  author, Eoin Colfer reading from his late father's account of the epic tragedy.

The work for large  symphony orchestra in five movements was full of colour and drama written in a rich, post Romantic,  film score style.  The parallels with Vaughan Williams are apparent in the use of sea shanties throughout the movements.  The chorale like hymn tune, Hail Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star features as the  main theme of the first movement and is echoed in later movements. The second movement is calmer opening with the clear textures of a solo clarinet line  set against scurrying string motifs and  delicate harp accompaniment. The most distinctive aspect of the orchestration was the unusual battery of percussion instruments assembled that create the dark menacing mood of  the third movement. In addition to the standard kit of assorted drums and tubular bells, we heard the clang of a  ships  propeller, old metal plates and a ship's bell rang out several times through the work.  Bass drum rolls and a poignant horn solo evoke the 'Vale of Tears' in the 4th movement.  There were resonances with Scandinavian composers in the low growling bass lines set against high tremolo strings.  In the final movement.  a male voice choir rose to sing a simple unison setting of the composer's own poem on  the theme before violins took over with a lyrical passage before the sound dissipated with an eerie single high tremolo note on upper strings.
By any standards, this is exciting and well crafted symphonic writing, teeming with ideas that deserves further airing on a national platform. Though  strong enough to stand on its' own merit, it would make great material for projected animation  project.

The players of the Wexford Sinfonia were fully up to the demands of the collage like score. There was much to enjoy also in their account of the opening pair of Grieg's  Peer Gynt Suites echoing the Norwegian theme . Brass and wind fared better in the acoustic of the T shaped space. All the solo lines could be clearly heard but the the full string sections lacked the strength of volume you might expect from the ample numbers

At the close, audience rose to their feet in sustained and heartfelt applause and  took some time to disperse as players and listeners mingled to savour the event. Bearers of inherited medals for bravery issued by the King of Norway and uniquely by the GAA  proudly  posed for photos with composer, Liam Bates.

It was appropriate that we stepped into wind and rain as we left the building, a reminder of the elements faced by those people in every coastal town who bravely  go to the aid of those in distress at sea. This was a fitting paean of praise to them.

Here's some voices from the event. Click in 'Read More' for more voices and Venue Notes

listen to ‘Composer Liam Bates on 'Heroes Of the Helen Blake' ’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Leader of  Wexford Sinfonia, Teresa Doyle ’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Wexford Sinfonia Percussionist’ on Audioboo


Venue Notes: I had some trouble finding the venue, a brand new glass and concrete rectangular structure  which is quite a distance out of town. (Whatever was the local council thinking?) With a long corridor like foyer space, there was inevitably  poor visibility for most of the 500 hundred or so attendees.  Wexford town seemed very quiet as I drove through on Saturday night. I gather the magnificent Opera House built at enormous public expense was dark that evening One would have thought that  the venue might have been made available at marginal cost for such an occasion.

Photo via Wexford Sinfonia Facebook page

Examiner article by Jo Kerrigan here