West Cork Music: Camerata Øresund Present New Work by Sam Perkin
St Brendan's Church
Photo: Hugi Gudmundsson
CAMERATA ØRESUND | The Copenhagen-based ensemble, Camerata Øresund, is a vibrant group of passionate baroque musicians. Founded in 2010 by artistic director and violinist, Peter Spissky, the group’s members are drawn from the Øresund region of southern Sweden and eastern Denmark – areas linked by the famous Øresund bridge. Here they are invited to the West Cork Chamber Music Festival 2024 in a concert featuring a new work by Sam Perkin for Harpsichord and Archlute.
About the work:
The delicately resonant world of the work conveys the humbling feeling of finding the long-forgotten music box of childhood. Dedicated warmly to the memory of George Dunne, my first music teacher, an authentic elder with an unbroken inner-child.
"On the dunes, leading from childhood's hold.
Stretched out, resting from where we parted ways.
Onwards, towards the world of the adults.
Ever buried to be unearthed, placed in its wonder of what is.
Who is this sheer-bright awe of childhood that rests within?"
A Modern Perspective on Historic Finger-Pedalling:
In the work, we revisit historic harpsichord finger-pedalling notation from a contemporary perspective. This notation, found in the scores of Louis Couperin for example, indicates note duration through ties. What I like about this type of notation is that each visible note in the score is played just once. Given the nature of the musical material and the extent to which this type of notation is used in the work, it is viewed from a contemporary perspective in a way that both respects tradition and also one that probes deeper into this wonderful type of historic music notation which merits further exploration. In addition, the Lower Manual is set to the special Lute Sound for the entire work, creating an irresistible textural blend of three different sounds which interact/resonate with each other: 1) Regular Harpsichord Sound, 2) Harpsichord with Lute Setting, and 3) The Archlute.
A Classical Perspective on Finger-Picking:
In the 14-String Archlute part, we explore a contemporary finger-picking style of playing from country music, though from a more classical perspective.The hammer-ons and pull-offs, often used in guitar or banjo playing, give an earthy feel to the music.The blending of these two sound worlds, classical and country, together with the two harpsichord sounds leads us to the discovery of some pretty unique textures and a fresh sound world all its own.
Programme
Vivaldi Concerto for four violins D major Op. 3 No. 7 RV 549
Vivaldi Concerto for two violins G minor Op. 3 No. 2 RV 578
Sam Perkin - 'Childhood's Awe' (2024)
For Archlute and Harpsichord (World Première)
Dohyo Sol (Archlute) Marcus Mohlin (Harpsichord)
Vivaldi Concerto for two violins D minor Op. 3 No. 11 RV 565
Vivaldi Concerto for four violins F major Op. 3 No. 7 RV 567
Vivaldi Concerto for strings in G minor RV 157
Tickets
Tickets €22/16/10, available from West Cork Music.