Falling in the Fire

Last updated

Falling in the Fire is a cello concerto by the British composer Charlotte Bray. The work was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for The Proms. Its world premiere was performed by the cellist Guy Johnston and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo at the Royal Albert Hall on 14 August 2016. The piece was inspired by the destruction of the ancient city of Palmyra by ISIL in August 2015. Falling in the Fire is composed in a single movement and has a duration of approximately 21 minutes. [1] [2]

Contents

Composition

Background

Bray began composition on the concerto in August 2015, as she first read the news about the destruction of the Temple of Bel and the Temple of Baalshamin in the ancient city of Palmyra. Bray decided to conceive the work as an abstract reflection on the conflict of the Syrian civil war and the war on ISIL. In a pre-premiere interview with the magazine i , Bray recalled, "I started researching into this ancient city and everything to do with it. And I felt compelled to do something about the world we live in now." [3]

While researching for the piece, she learned of the photojournalist Tim Hetherington, who was killed in 2011 while covering the Libyan Civil War. Before his death, Hetherington noted his irrational compulsion to return to conflict zones, preferring to report the atrocities of war from the front rather than remain in the idle safety of home. Bray used this duality as the basis for the musical conflict in the concerto, occasionally even simulating the sounds of the battlefield in the orchestra. [1]

Instrumentation

The work is scored for a solo cello and a large orchestra consisting of three flutes, three oboes, three clarinets, three bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, three percussionists, harp, and strings. [1]

Reception

The piece was praised by Martin Kettle of The Guardian , who wrote, "The concerto confronts two important, linked questions with which many creative artists have wrestled: how can a composer respond to the great public issues of the day – in this case the war in Syria – and how can any such response avoid being judged on moral as much as on musical grounds? Bray's concerto sensibly embodies these questions rather than answering them." [4] Steph Power of The Independent similarly observed, "Propelled by outrage at the atrocities visited upon Syria by Isis, Bray has responded with music that is defiantly exquisite as well as stark, for example, with the high-ringing tinnitus that follows a bomb explosion. Surging with energy, her colouristic writing was acutely felt by both the orchestra and brilliant soloist Guy Johnston." [5]

Barry Millington of the London Evening Standard remarked, "Passages of repetitive jagged material, perhaps alluding to the firing of arms, alternate with poignant interludes that suggest altered states of consciousness." He nevertheless added, "The cello soloist (Guy Johnston) meditates on the situation, but is not always clearly audible. One senses that the original commission of a cello concerto proved incompatible with the conception as it took shape. The work has some original, inspired touches, but it's a brave composer that attempts a piece of such attenuated introspection in a big space like the Albert Hall." [6]

Related Research Articles

The BBC Symphony Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The BBC SO is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmyra (modern)</span> City in central Syria

Palmyra is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate. It is located in an oasis in the middle of the Syrian Desert 215 kilometres (134 mi) northeast of Damascus and 180 kilometres southwest of the Euphrates River. The ruins of ancient Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are situated about 500 metres southwest of the modern city centre. Relatively isolated, the nearest localities include Arak to the east, Al-Sukhnah further to the northeast, Tiyas to the west and al-Qaryatayn to the southwest.

Sakari Markus Oramo, is a Finnish conductor. He is chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Guy Johnston is a British cellist and the winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year award in 2000. He has subsequently enjoyed a successful international career as a soloist and chamber musician and currently serves as an associate professor of Cello at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Holt</span> English composer

Simon Holt is an English composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple of Bel</span> Ruins of an ancient temple in Palmyra, Syria

The Temple of Bel, sometimes also referred to as the "Temple of Baal", was an ancient temple located in Palmyra, Syria. The temple, consecrated to the Mesopotamian god Bel, worshipped at Palmyra in triad with the lunar god Aglibol and the sun god Yarhibol, formed the center of religious life in Palmyra and was dedicated in AD 32. The temple would have been closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire in a campaign against the temples of the East made by Maternus Cynegius, Praetorian Prefect of Oriens, between 25 May 385 to 19 March 388. Its ruins were considered among the best preserved at Palmyra, until they were further destroyed by the Islamic State in August 2015. The arched main entrance into the temple is still intact, as well as its exterior walls and fortified gate.

Huw Thomas Watkins is a British composer and pianist. Born in South Wales, he studied piano and composition at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, where he received piano lessons from Peter Lawson. He then went on to read music at King's College, Cambridge, where he studied composition with Robin Holloway and Alexander Goehr, and completed an MMus in composition at the Royal College of Music, where he studied with Julian Anderson. Huw Watkins was awarded the Constant and Kit Lambert Junior Fellowship at the Royal College of Music, where he used to teach composition. He is currently Honorary Research Fellow at the Royal College of Music.

Charlotte Bray is a British composer. She was championed by the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, London Sinfonietta and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, BBC Symphony Orchestra. Her music has been performed by many notable conductors such as: Sir Mark Elder, Oliver Knussen, Daniel Harding, and Jac van Steen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Theatre at Palmyra</span> 2nd-century Roman theatre in Syria

The Roman Theatre at Palmyra is a Roman theatre in ancient Palmyra in the Syrian Desert. The unfinished theatre dates back to the second-century CE Severan period. The theatre's remains have since been restored. It was occupied by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in May 2015 and recaptured by the government forces in March 2016 with the support of Russian airstrikes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Destruction of cultural heritage by the Islamic State</span> Destruction in the Middle East

Deliberate destruction and theft of cultural heritage have been conducted by the Islamic State (IS) since 2014 in Iraq, Syria, and to a lesser extent in Libya. The destruction targets various places of worship under IS control and ancient historical artifacts. In Iraq, between the fall of Mosul in June 2014 and February 2015, IS plundered and destroyed at least 28 historical religious buildings. Valuable items from some buildings were looted in order to smuggle and sell them to foreigners to finance the running of the Islamic State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmyra offensive (May 2015)</span> 2015 military operation of the Syrian Civil War

The Palmyra offensive of May 2015 was a military operation launched during the Syrian Civil War by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on May 13–26, 2015, in an attempt to capture the government-held Tadmur District of the Homs Governorate, including the administrative centre of Tadmur, known in English as Palmyra. The ruins and ancient monuments of Palmyra, which lie on the south-western fringe of the modern city, have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980. The ruins were part of a desert oasis that was one of the most significant cultural centers of the ancient world, linking the civilizations of Persia, India, China with the Roman Empire through trade. The offensive was one of the largest offensives launched by ISIL, the largest one conducted by ISIL in Syria since the 2014 Eastern Syria offensive, with the result of the offensive increasing ISIL's control of Syria to at least 50%.

The Palmyra offensive of July–August 2015 was a military operation launched during the Syrian Civil War by the Syrian Arab Army in July 2015, in an attempt to recapture the ISIL-held city of Tadmur, known in English as Palmyra.

The Battle of al-Qaryatayn (2015) was a military operation launched by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to capture the town of al-Qaryatayn, in August 2015, during the Syrian Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple of Baalshamin</span> Ancient temple in Palmyra, Syria

The Temple of Baalshamin was an ancient temple in the city of Palmyra, Syria, dedicated to the Canaanite sky deity Baalshamin. The temple's earliest phase dates to the late 2nd century BC; its altar was built in 115 AD, and the temple was substantially rebuilt in 131 AD. The temple would have been closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire in a campaign against the temples of the East made by Maternus Cynegius, Praetorian Prefect of Oriens, between 25 May 385 to 19 March 388. With the spreading of Christianity in the region in the 5th century AD, the temple was converted to a church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmyra offensive (March 2016)</span> Military operation started by the Syrian Arab Army

The Palmyra offensive was a military operation of the Syrian Arab Army, supported by Russian airstrikes, to recapture from the Islamic State the city of Tadmur, which was strategically important for both forces due to its position in central Syria. The city was fully recaptured on 27 March.

The Concerto for Cello and Orchestra is a cello concerto by the Polish composer Witold Lutosławski. The work was commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society with support from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. It received its world premiere at the Royal Festival Hall on October 14, 1970 by the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Edward Downes.

Outscape is a cello concerto written by the French composer Pascal Dusapin for the cellist Alisa Weilerstein in 2014–2015. It was premièred by Weilerstein and the co-commissioning Chicago Symphony Orchestra under conductor Cristian Măcelaru on May 26, 2016. Following its creation, Weilerstein gave the first European performances of the work with the Stuttgart and Paris Opera Orchestras in 2016 as well as the UK première at the Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on July 19, 2017.

#NEWPALMYRA is an effort to reconstruct the ancient city of Palmyra as an immersive virtual environment, based on archaeological and other clues. The project was started from photos Bassel Khartabil had been taking of Palmyra since 2005. He began building models of the ancient city, with support from Al Aous Publishers. In 2012, Khartabil was arrested, and the original project and open source files were lost. Barry Threw took over as director of the project, renamed #NEWPALMYRA, and a community of developers, modelers, and archaeologists began collaborating to model, restore, and later recreate from scratch those historical structures captured on film and camera.

Begin Afresh is an orchestral composition written in 2022 by the British composer Judith Weir. The work was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and was given its premiere by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo as part of the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 24 August 2023. The piece is dedicated to the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bray, Charlotte (2015). Falling in the Fire: Program Note. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ Cooper, Elinor (26 July 2016). "Six of the best… Proms premieres you don't want to miss". BBC Music Magazine . Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Pritchard, Claudia (11 August 2016). "How Isis' destruction of the ancient site of Palmyra inspired a new concerto". i . Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Kettle, Martin (15 August 2016). "BBCSO/Oramo review – Bray's restless writing is centrepiece of a varied Prom". The Guardian . Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  5. ↑ Power, Steph (16 August 2016). "Prom 39: Johnston/BBCSO/Oramo; Prom 40: Hadelich/Isserlis/Britten Sinfonia/Adès, Royal Albert Hall, review". The Independent . Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  6. ↑ Millington, Barry (15 August 2016). "Proms 2016, BBCSO / Oramo, review: Poignant moments in an evening lacking momentum". London Evening Standard . Retrieved 19 August 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.