- Judith Weir
Distance and Enchantment (1989)
- Chester Music Ltd (World)
- pf/vn.va.vc
- 12 min
- 23rd June 2024, Britten Studio, Snape Maltings, Suffolk, United Kingdom
Programme Note
Folklore is full of stories about people who suddenly disappear from home, never to return. Distance and Enchantment is a musical essay about this strikingly common occurrence. It takes the form of two meditations on traditional songs, which are played together without a break, amounting to a single movement of eleven minutes duration.
The first song, The Dark-Eyed Gypsy, from Northern Ireland, tells of a woman who, of her own volition, leaves her comfortable home to roam the unknown world with a band of gypsies; and the second, A ghaoil.lig dhachaigh gu m'mathair mi from South Uist, Scotland, tells of a girl who wanders a little too far from home on a dark night and is stolen away by the fairies.
© Judith Weir
The first song, The Dark-Eyed Gypsy, from Northern Ireland, tells of a woman who, of her own volition, leaves her comfortable home to roam the unknown world with a band of gypsies; and the second, A ghaoil.lig dhachaigh gu m'mathair mi from South Uist, Scotland, tells of a girl who wanders a little too far from home on a dark night and is stolen away by the fairies.
© Judith Weir
Media
Distance and Enchantment
Scores
Score Sample