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- Cheryl Frances-Hoad
The Whole Earth Dances (2016)
- Cadenza Music (World)
Commissioned by The Schubert Ensemble with funds gratefully received from The Schubert Ensemble Trust, Spitalfields Festival New Music Commission Fund and The Steel Charitable Trust and was premiered at Spitalfields Music Festival on Monday 13th June 2016.
- pf/vn.va.vc.db
- 10 min
- 5th August 2025, Kirche St. Georg Ernen, Ernen, Switzerland
Programme Note
Commissioned by The Schubert Ensemble with funds gratefully received from The Schubert Ensemble Trust, Spitalfields Festival New Music Commission Fund and The Steel Charitable Trust. Premiered by The Schubert Ensemble at Queen Mary University London during the Spitalfields Music Festival on Monday 13th June 2016.
I am lucky to have a wonderful park just ten minutes walk from my house: I can leave home and be back within the hour having walked around a lake and under what I imagine to be vaulted roofs made only from trees. I like to walk the same path every time I go, paying attention to the many changes that can occur suddenly (such as the weather) and gradually (such as the changing colour of the leaves). Today, when much of the Earth is being polluted, fracked and deforested, it seems particularly important to really notice and respect the land, to feel a connection to it.
Two poems, entitled Thistles and Ferns (both from Wodwo) by Ted Hughes also inspired my work, and added a resonance to the thistles and ferns that I see nearly every time I walk. The Whole Earth Dances is a single, slow movement divided into five continuous parts: thistles, ferns, thistles, ferns, thistles. Hughesʼs description of the former (ʻEvery one a revengeful burst of resurrectionʼ) and the latter (ʻHere is the fernʼs frond, unfurling a gestureʼ) influence all the musical material in the work, and I have tried to imbue the piece with the sense of timelessness that I feel when walking with his poems (with their allusions to Vikings and ʻwarriors returningʼ) in my head.
The Whole Earth Dances is dedicated to the memory of my friend Becs Andrews, a fiercely talented Stage designer and Visual artist who passed away at the beginning of the year.
© Cheryl Frances-Hoad, 2016
I am lucky to have a wonderful park just ten minutes walk from my house: I can leave home and be back within the hour having walked around a lake and under what I imagine to be vaulted roofs made only from trees. I like to walk the same path every time I go, paying attention to the many changes that can occur suddenly (such as the weather) and gradually (such as the changing colour of the leaves). Today, when much of the Earth is being polluted, fracked and deforested, it seems particularly important to really notice and respect the land, to feel a connection to it.
Two poems, entitled Thistles and Ferns (both from Wodwo) by Ted Hughes also inspired my work, and added a resonance to the thistles and ferns that I see nearly every time I walk. The Whole Earth Dances is a single, slow movement divided into five continuous parts: thistles, ferns, thistles, ferns, thistles. Hughesʼs description of the former (ʻEvery one a revengeful burst of resurrectionʼ) and the latter (ʻHere is the fernʼs frond, unfurling a gestureʼ) influence all the musical material in the work, and I have tried to imbue the piece with the sense of timelessness that I feel when walking with his poems (with their allusions to Vikings and ʻwarriors returningʼ) in my head.
The Whole Earth Dances is dedicated to the memory of my friend Becs Andrews, a fiercely talented Stage designer and Visual artist who passed away at the beginning of the year.
© Cheryl Frances-Hoad, 2016
Reviews
“The Whole Earth Dances is a work that begins abrasively but gradually acquires a sense of vision through the intricate interweaving of lyrical lines and a steady infusion of super-enriched, Messiaen-like harmony. It achieves a radiant close."
"Dramatic gestures and the power of the unison are vital components here initially before a sense of nostalgia, pining and loneliness sets in. Frances-Hoad often sets up expectations only to gleefully confound them."
Discography
The Whole Earth Dances
- LabelChamps Hill Records
- Catalogue NumberCHRCD152
- SoloistThe Schubert Ensemble / Rozenn Le Trionnaire, clarinet / Francesca Barritt, violin / Sholto Kynoch, piano / David Cohen, cello / Daniel Grimwood, piano / Rebecca Gilliver, cello / Sophia Rahman, piano / Yshani Perinpanayagam, piano / Christopher Jones, violin / Kay Stephen, viola / Anna Menzies, cello / Fenella Humphreys, violin / Sholto Kynoch, piano / Sara Minelli, flute / Gildas Quartet
- Released18th September 2020