Frank Corcoran

The Poet sneaks back
Through his own portal . – No self.
No thing. No language.

Immense sliding light
Beamed down on Ungaretti
On his ruined self

Don´t skin my onion
All my healthy ruined selves
I am my portal

Cover their faces
On fasting Patrick´s Mountain
No one needs old gods…

Yes, a May Haiku prior to lift off for the Cork International Choral Festival where we´ll sing for our supper and enjoy whackfo´Killy, a beaker full of that warm Atlantic south, a draught of dark liquid, no bad thing, really. “In The Deep Heart´s Core” for Solo Harp, a recent piece by doughty Frank C. will be premiered in September, it now transpires, that tremendous low F Sharp string sounding as a kind of pedal-tone.
No mean lack of energy, an orchestral energy quasi, like the mighty 4 movements emerging for the( newest ) Cello Concerto. Whisht! ( Admit nothing ! )

Across the Tiber, on the other side Umbran hills are different; also their farm-houses, fields, valleys, dogs or sheep or wine. They had more of St. Francis ( though he tripped and daunced along our Lazian lanes, too ). Do Umbran buzzards pursue our songbirds re-crossing the river which is the border? They do. May isn´t far behind, though the mountains this week let down more millions of litres of water to swell olives and grapes and corn. Are we dependent on the light ? These clouds? We are.

They lug the Saint´s pain

Back through his green Umbria

Soon he´ll be No Thing

Praise to the viper

The music of all that is

The hiss of silence

Solas
Tá an oiread sin grá
á dhoirteadh anois ag an spéir
pé uair dá seasaim i ngort

bíonn orm an solas a fháscadh
nuair a shroisim
an baile
Naomh Froinsias d’Assisi

Apparently Germans go all ” Ah!” and “Oh!” and ooze / enthuse when they hear you´re in the land where the lemons ripen… ditto the oranges. Apparently it all goes back to the young Goethe who knew his onions , ripe fruits and all. Then there´s the envy factor which never sleeps apparently. Apparently that´s it; where there´s lizards there´s the snake in the grass. Apparently, if you win a composer´s prize at all, you´re in for it. Unholy haikus and all your works ( and pomps ) and kindly Spring sun.
So keep it dark about the Cello Concerto, would you mind?

The 2012 SEAN O RIADA COMPOSERS´ PRIZE of the Cork International Choral Festivalw was won by

Frank Corcoran . Frank Corcoran´s ” TWO UNHOLY HAIKUS ” will receive its world-premiere by the

National Chamber Choir of Ireland , Conductor Paul Hillier, at their Festival Choral Concert In St. Finbarre´s

Cathedral, Cork, on

May 4. at 7.30 p.m.

This exciting new choral score will be the theme of the Festival Composers´ Analysis Seminar at Cork

School

Of Music on May 5. at 10.30 a.m. The composer will attend.

Programme

The Spring – Tarik O’Regan (1978 – )

The Deer’s Cry – Arvo Pärt (1935 – )

Five Irish Songs – Nicholas Maw (1935 – 2009)

Two Unholy Haikus- Frank Corcoran (1944 – ) (World Premiere) (Winner of the Seán Ó Riada Composition Competition)

Pauper’s Lament / A Stealing Sadness – Enda Bates (1979 – )

Long Time – Gerald Barry (1952 – ) World Premiere – Commissioned Work

chOirland – David Fennessy (1976 – )

NATIONAL CHAMBER CHOIR OF IRELAND

Artistic Director: Paul Hillier

The National Chamber Choir of Ireland is the country’s flagship choral ensemble. Under the internationally celebrated and multi award winning choral conductor Paul Hillier as Artistic Director, the choir is known for its unique approach to programming and has gained a reputation for the high artistic quality of its performances. The National Chamber Choir remains a thriving force in a very active choral scene both at home and abroad.

In addition to collaborating with numerous international guest conductors, the choir provides opportunities for and fosters the talents of young Irish conductors, and continues to support emerging talent on the conducting scene.

Since its inception, the National Chamber Choir has made a significant contribution to the development of contemporary Irish choral music through its commitment to commissioning new work. The choir’s repertoire spans from early to contemporary music, regularly commissioning pioneering vocal work by composers such as Gerald Barry, Andrew Hamilton, Siobhán Cleary, Kevin Volans and Tarik O’Regan.

The National Chamber Choir of Ireland has a strong commitment to touring in Ireland and continues to develop its touring network in order to present high quality choral concerts to audiences all around the country. Internationally, the choir has toured extensively in Europe, Asia and South America and recently undertook its first US tour with the assistance of Culture Ireland as part of Imagine Ireland, a year of Irish Arts in America 2011.

Recent appearances include performances at the White House on St Patrick’s Day 2011, and CD releases in 2011 include One Day Fine on the Lyric FM label and Acallam na Senórach on the Harmonia Mundi label.

The National Chamber Choir continues to foster relationships with other distinguished Irish performing ensembles such as the Crash Ensemble, the Irish Baroque Orchestra and the Irish Chamber Orchestra. The ensemble enjoys a unique relationship with Cork International Choral Festival with which it collaborates on an annual basis as Choir in Residence.Principal funding for the National Chamber Choir comes from the Arts Council / an Chomhairle Ealaíon and major in-kind support from Dublin City University, where the ensemble has been Choir in Residence since 1996.

www.nationalchamberchoir.com

Paul Hillier

Artistic Director and Principal Conductor

Mendacity , it appears queerly, and mendicity are frequent bed-fellows for some composers. Fly South, young swallow! – Kunst and commerce, beware of the ware-house, oh schlepper of tones and sounding structures. ” An art-work has no price” is all very fine as a theory, as far as the swallow flies. How and why then compromise, bend, bend over and genuflect is connected to the composer´s breakfast, you may murmer. Murmer on. Thus a radical act, revolutionary perhaps, the lonely decision to compose an art-work? ( Heroic? More often than not, yes ? ) courage ? – Well, it could be, this often pure unearthliness; a bit like the swallow´s flight South. Call it stupidity. Call it ecstasy ?

The sun, he climb high over Bergedorf in late March. Yes, the very same sun, shines on the good and the bad , the depressed and the boring, the ecstatic and the static.
We seem to be of more cheer. More soma and psyche bonding and getting elated and sunny and high. Cello Concerto on the high run.

N.D.R. Kultur ” Prisma Musik ” broadcasts:

14.4. 2012. Frank Corcoran´s radiophonic analysis of Mozart´s CLARINET QUINTET .

5. 5 . 2012. ditto MAHLER´S 4. SYMPHONY

also: Frank Corcoran ” 9 ASPECTS OF AN IRISH POEM” for Solo Violin and Large Choir ( NDR
Radio Choir / Philip Ahmann ) .