He is not late at all. The crumbs shall fall. And the biteens and morsels to enable mighty work continue. Patience . Pazienza. This site needs up-dates. It will. The Works. The Pomps. The Thoughts Behind The Green Door. The Seven Veils. The Seven Sorrows. The Joys. The Glorious Power.
MAY BLUSTERS HOT COLD HERE
The cats have banished the snakes, it seems. I am certain. Less lizards above near the main house, as the hot sun is cooled by the tramontana from the Cold Mountain. Handling ten instruments now, wind quintet and string quintet, great colouristic fun. Density also an issue, thick or thin strands of music, pull a line out of shape or elongate a section in the middle. The end, my end, will have each of the five wind soloing over a massed string chord. Colour, yes. But we´re back to the interval as building brick, minor second and ( not undangerous ) minor third. That´s all.
THE SERPENT SLEEPETH , VIPER OHO !
” I ”
“Am” , yes, in Arcadian ” Paradise” . This
May night-smells an´awl. Owl ould sonata, my mellow melodia,
my calabroni could …. ( – with my snakes still at their siesta , I do suppose it´s too cool-fresh for any forked tongue; yet my misplaced and unfortunately ungloved weeding right hand tomorrow morning could ivery instantly prove how stupid I was with this ) , my wild insects and birds ands boars and lizards and symphonic night-sounds and right sounds and fight – mate – duel- imbibe – grovel-swallow-vomit-enthuse WHY EVER ?
TAKE IT REAL SLOW , THIS MAY MOON
This May valley , my plain plain, warms up. How separate the dancing work from its poor dancer / its composer ? From its success(es)? – Ballyhoo versus “perfection” of my nocturnal strivings / shrivings ? Take with this dauncer , for once, this my deep breath now, once, for ever, with me: I am beginning my next composition: ” Variations On FRANCIS CORCORAN “.
For winding wind plus strings.
Cherry-Blossom Time Has Come Around Again
Dear Frank Corcoran,
We will broadcast Quasi una Fuga on monday the 25th of April at 23:00 hours.
kind regards. We will repeat it on May 5th 18:00 hours and on May 15th.
again at 23:00 hours.
Dutch Radio CONCERTZENDER
ON THE EVE OF THE APRIL MORROW
What then is truth ? In musical form, the shaped shape ?
The crafted micro-details and / or the Big Wow-Thing ? ( eg.
Lutoslawsky´s in 1968 not yet fully completed Second Symphony , the a little later exquisitely sculpted Preparation / Full Slam dramatic plan ? )
WHAT IS TRUTH THEN ?
The first of two concerts of new Irish music for violin and piano brought the leading duo in the field, Darragh Morgan and Mary Dullea, to King’s Place for a selection of works from the more experimental and modernist fringes.
Apart from Gerald Barry’s 1998 the works were mostly short, and they made a varying impression. Frank Corcoran again convinced me that he is a composer who deserves to be better known in this country. Something about his brambly music reminds me of Maderna – not so much in its style, but in its absolute assurance in teasing lyrical forms from its knotty exterior. Quasi una preludio was precisely poised and, even with the introduction of a sean-nós melody at the end, never watered down its acid bite.
Read more here.
Posted in Concerts, Reviews
Tagged Darragh Morgan, Frank Corcoran, Gerald Barry, Mary Dullea, Musical Pointers
New Irish music at King’s Place
Posted on 7 October 2009 by Tim Rutherford-Johnson|
DUBLIN THROWS SWELL PARTY TO MARK CITY OF LITERATURE STATUS
No corresponding paeans for eg. the ” City Of Music” idea, for Irish
composed music, for Irish contemporary composers, for artists in the sounding gardens of the Lord writing this and composed that and explored symphonic discourses and sung constructions and motivic sonatas and motivated string quintets or eight bar melodies, light as the Irish air we breathe and fly in, over, through . No City of Music , or even Musics. Funny, that. Behind the cant we can´t. Understand an Irish cumadóir at the cutting edge of sculpting sound and shaping time eternal and dying. No. We can´t understand an Irish composercomposing. ( Poets and would-be writers, pestering prosy pensters don´t, they can´t ). Why is that ? Why is that funny ? City of Lit, sound today what paeans ? Celebrate?
TRANSATLANTIC ECSTASY
Frank Corcoran´s new ” SONGS OF TERROR AND LOVE” for Bass and “Pierrot Ensemble” was part of Culture Ireland´s
“Imagining Ireland” 2011 Mega-Show on March 14 in New York, Manhattan. Max Lifchitz conducted the North South Consonance Ensemble splendidly. David Salsbery Fry was a highly musical, dramatic, plastic soloist in my
Jacopone Da Todi texts – Umbran and English ( by Frank Corcoran ). At Christ and St. Stephen´s Church in 69th. Street West this world-premiere unwound like a great “sonorous column” , as the Italians poetically put it. Cello, viola and violin, piano, flutes and clarinets surrounded , supported, gave their musical commentary to the singer´s mini-drama of jacopone locked against ” O Papa Bonifazio!” Strong stuff, high art.
Next day the Gregg Smith Singers did a Composer´s Reading / Recording of my new choral score, ” EIGHT HAIKUS BY FRANK CORCORAN” , washing and fluting and whispering and chording the lines of my magical syllables and consonants. eg. in ( I like this one especially ! ) my
Haiku Nr. 4:
” Deep purple twilight / / In the bay lie three islands / /
Asleep like children. ”
Cori spezzati, velvety chording, well, the sung synaesthesia was a new New York special, spanning the choral distance, Borrisokane takes notes, between Gabrieli and Ligeti. And The Word was made Choir.
AND THERE IS MORE
WHO´S WHO IN IRELAND ( 2006 ) : ” Frank Corcoran”
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF IRELAND ( 2003 ). ( Ed. Brian lalor. Yale University Press ) : ” Frank Corcoran “