The National Concert Hall's new concert series From Antiquity to Modernity takes audiences on a journey from the icons of classical music to their modern counterparts.
Curated by US-born, Dublin-based clarinettist Berginald Rash, the series takes a playful and joyous approach – juxtaposing the old and the new, the canonical and well-known to and recently reappraised and celebrated.
Berginald Rash introduces From Antiquity to Modernity below.
From Antiquity to Modernity was conceived out of a desire to demonstrate the profound impact historically and canonically recognised western art music can have when in contact and in conversation with our modern sensibilities and sociocultural understanding - when we centre great art from the past and present within a 21st century context.
This means that we're no longer treating classical music and specifically classical chamber music as a monolithic museum of the past but, as a living, breathing, evolving organism that responds to the zeitgeist of the day by posing questions, making critique, interrogating established and assumed norms and doing thoughtful self-reflection in a desire to connect organically and authentically with people and build community through great music making.
This series features a robust constellation of composers and their dynamic works ranging from American composers, Libby Larsen and her work Black Bird; Red Hills that intersemiotically translates the visual works of Georgia O'Keefe; George Walker and his gripping and gritty violin sonata; Jennifer Higdon’s woodwind quintet Autumn Music - a companion piece to Samuel Barber's Summer Music; Quinn Mason's fiery trio for clarinet, violin and piano Two Fleeting Dreams; riveting and powerful string quartets by Nigerian composer Godwin Sadoh, Haitian composer Rudy Perrault; and Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz; all nestled comfortably and seductively amongst more canonic works like Maurice Ravel’s Piano Trio in A Minor; Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat trio; Schumann's Fantasiestücke, Op. 73; Faure's Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15; and Taffanel's Quintet for Winds in G minor; as well as works by unduly forgotten composers whose music is making a resurgence such as Florence Price's Five Folksongs in Counterpoint for string quartet; Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Clarinet Quintet in F-sharp minor, Op. 10; William Grant Still’s woodwind quintet Miniatures; and Amy Beach's Pastorale among others.
It also features the world premiere of Irish composer David Coonan's song cycle Sonetos del amor oscuro or Sonnets of Dark Love, a companion piece to Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du Temps (Quartet for the End of Time) and based on the sonnets of the same name by Spanish poet Federico García Lorca that treat the subject of clandestine homosexual love during Francisco Franco's rise to power in 1930’s Spain. Commissioned with the support of the Arts Council of Ireland and featured on the last concert of the series, Dark Love, this song cycle is one of the major highlights. Written for countertenor, tenor, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano it will feature the amazing voice of international countertenor and member of male vocal ensemble Chanticleer, Cortez Mitchell; powerhouse tenor and ‘exceptionally gifted artist’ (BBC) Sandeep Guarrapadi, Sphinx 2024 Concerto Competition winner and ClassicFM Rising Star 2024 violinist Nathan Amaral; the insightful, musically provocative pianist and repetiteur Annalisa Monticelli; and the deeply moving and sensitive playing of cellist, Davide Forti.
Audiences can expect thought-provoking and sublimely shaped musical lines from antiquity to modernity from some of the world's leading national and international artists that represent all of the virtues of modern day performance including violinists Ronald Long, Laure Chan, Tania Passendji and Steven Crichlow; violist Lucy Nolan; cellists Peggy Nolan and Bill Butt; pianist HyeSoo Kang, Billy O'Brien and Cahal Masterson; flutist Daniel Shao; oboist Lorraine Hart; bassoonist Sinéad Frost; hornist Hannah Miller; and me, clarinettist Berginald Rash.
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As an added bonus, this series features the work of Ireland-based collaborative visual artist, fine artist, and photographer, Ishmael Claxton whose work has been described as using ‘a pastiche of different artistic styles such as, Italian futurism, surrealism and Afro-Futurist imagery to make his work an outlet for political expression, often touching on themes of race, gender and class’ - bringing an immersive interdisciplinary conduit for total consumption and appreciation of the music.
From Antiquity to Modernity takes place in the National Concert Hall on Sunday May 5th, 19th and 26th at 3pm and Sunday June 16th at 3pm and 6pm. See nch.ie for more details and tickets.
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