Táisc
is Tuairisc (Account and Death notice)
New
composition based on the doomed Franklin expedition in search
of the North West Passage.
Words: Lorcán Mac Mathúna,
Music: Simon O' Connor.
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Tásc
is Tuairisc (Death Notice and Account)
Tásc is Tuairisc is a new piece of music
which is in development for the Boradh Buan festival (October
12-24 2009), which takes place annually in Ballymun as part of
the Axis theatre’s programme of events. The piece was commissioned
by Boradh Buan for a debut performance during the festival on
Saturday October 17 in the Axis theatre.
The project
is an original concept of Lorcán Mac Mathúna
and comprises the work of two composers, Simon O Connor, and Lorcán
Mac Mathúna (the author).
"The genesis
for this project was inspired by my attendance of a premier recital
of
Simon O Connor’s composition for piano
last spring which he called Winteriser. It is a minimalist piece
for piano comprised of a slow progression of open ended cords.
The piano is played with undampened strings so that each note is
sustained for a long period after it is played. As the cords progress
they interact with the fading notes and resonate to create a tense
funereal atmosphere."
"Listening
to the piece being played it struck me that it had the potential
to act as a backdrop to a multitude of different vocal
styles. I approached Simon afterwards with the suggestion that
we work together to put words to the music. It seemed particularly
suited to a chant and to lament style singing, with its dark, atmospheric,
intonations. Our vision was to use the piano piece, which creates
a sense of atmospheric expectancy, as a substrate on which to frame
a number of plain chant melodies and laments."
The narrative
of the newly composed text would be inspired by the doomed 19th
century polar expedition of Sir John Franklin.
It is a perfect backdrop, and mood setter, for the narrative
of the Franklin expedition, a voyage in which 129 men were lost
to
the ice of King William Island, and which it was rumoured ended
in cannibalism.
Why Franklin
 Tásc is Tuairisc was the title of a documentary series presented by
Dermot Somers which retraced the ill fated Franklin expedition and its fallout.
Somers is an author and an experienced outdoors man with a vivid appreciation
of the epic and a gift for Irish language presentation. 
It was shortly
after Winteriser’s January recital that I
saw Somers documentary and it struck me as the perfect narrative,
with it’s inevitable doom and sense of waiting amidst the
frozen empty spaces of the artic, for the tense, icy, and apprehensions
atmospheric music of Winteriser.
One particular remark of Somers caught my imagination. This expedition
set out in 1845 and was frozen into the ice of King William Island
for three years. They estimate that by 1848 the entire expedition
had starved to death and that the last members had resorted to
the final measure to survive, cannibalism.
The expedition
came at what was considered the height of the British Empire.
England had conquered the seas
and had territories all
over the globe, a fact they liked to boast about with the oft-quoted
saw “The sun never sets on the British empire.” They
considered their empire to be the most advanced and most civilised
culture the world had ever seen. A British citizen was a privileged
and a better human being than anyone who had lived then or before.
In fact the
Franklin expedition had a large measure of conceit in its conception,
planning, and direction. The undisputed
military
masters of the world, civilised Britain would conquer nature itself.
This was the driving reasoning behind most 19th century explorations
and Franklin’s mission to “conquer” the north
west passage was no different. They would bring civilisation and
order to the wilderness (for instance, they went fully supplied
with the produce of England’s industries and would not contemplate
working with their surrounds to supplement their needs. They would
advance into the wilderness cocooned in a bubble of civilisation.
It was this inflexibility of mind that was their greatest downfall)
and claim the conquering of the wilderness as an achievement for
civilisation.
The great irony
of the expedition, as Somers remarked, was that in Britain’s great gesture of it’s
dominance of the world and nature itself it could not save its
citizens
from starvation
at the edges of its empire. At the same time it did nothing to
save a million and a half Irish from starvation at the very heart
of its empire. At the hour of its greatest pomp the British Empire
proved itself a failure.
Why in Irish
Somers’ introduction of Franklin’s doom to me was
inspirational and provided immediate connections to the music
of Winteriser. But it was not just the fact that Somers’ is
a presenter with a gift for insightful eloquence that convinced
me that Irish is the correct medium for this project. There
has always been a very strong tradition of Laments and elegies
in
Irish singing and the Irish language is particularly suited
to this form of song.
The
Irish language, with its guttural soft sounds and vowel
emphasis is particularly
suited to poignancy and atmosphere.
Consider examples
such as Caoineadh na dTrí Mhuire which expresses sorrow
at a simple but bereft and beautiful level, and the exquisitely
dark elegy, Tuireamh Mhic Finín Dhuibh, which excels in
its use of assonance and contrast in narrow and broad sounds within
individual lines. This is just a small sample from a huge body
of elegiac work in the Irish language.
Connection
with Schubert’s original piece
Intrinsic to the unfolding narrative of Tásc is Tuairisc
is the psychological journey of the 129 members of the Franklin
expedition. How did they deal psychologically
with their predicament? What effect did the immensity of the challenges of the
environment they found themselves stranded in have on their minds. In an environment
which exists on the very edge of survival how did the collective and individual
mental state develop?
There can be
little doubt, and testimony of many explorers confirms this,
that the world closed in on these men mentally. That depression
and a sense of doom descended on the group both individually
and collectively.
To put this
in comparison with Schubert. Shubert was in a desperately low
mental state when he wrote his Die Winterreise, and it
reflects that in tone. Simon O Connor’s piece also contains
a sense of waiting and the unknown. Depending on your state of
mind this can be either beautiful and liberating or crushing.
Similarly an isolated individual in the expanse of an ice locked
artic landscape could see his surrounds as either a magnificent
natural beauty or a terrible and brutal prison.
Lyrics and music
Reading Ultima Thule, Jean Malaurie’s book on the explorers
and natives of the artic, the relationship between man and
this harsh environment leaves
a fascinating impression. The native view of the artic is rooted in a shamanistic
comprehension of the universe and their place in it. Stone Age hunters, their
struggle to survive was almost like a barter with nature. Nature: arbitrated
by countless spirits of the dead; the elements; each and every animate being
and inanimate object; gives and takes, and when it gives it must be appeased by
the Inuit who has prospered from its generosity. This was how the Inuit rationalised
their relationship with nature and although
they tried to maintain some control
over this relationship with a complex system of taboos, they accepted that
they could only survive by working with their unpredictable
environment.
The
explorers viewed the world they found themselves in very
differently. They
saw
it as savage and utterly inhospitable. They had no respect
either for the environment in which they were immersed or the Inuit’s
view of their world. In their imperialist, expeditionary mindset,
they could not countenance living off their environment as the
Inuit did. They represented the ultimate in human development and
they would actually bring an oasis of this civilised world with
them into the wilderness. Military discipline and ceremony, fully
equipped and provisioned with every conceivable want, were the
standard organisational  model of 19th century exploration. In this
way, when their umbilical cord to civilisation became separated
after they were trapped indefinitely in the artic ice, their sense
of loss was profound. They must have felt betrayed by their technology
and defeated by the environment. Betrayed by their ordered civilised
world, they in turn would betray the most entrenched scruple of
civilisation when starvation finally drove them to eat human flesh.
In a very real
sense, unlike the Inuit, they saw the environment as their enemy
and
this is the key to the psychological state of
the expeditionary crew. This colossal sense of loss and inevitable
disaster is the building theme in the music of Tásc is Tuairisc.
The apprehensive sounding piano piece is added to with vocal chants
and melodies that bring this descriptive piece in stages from the
point of uncertainty at the stage of departure into unknown terrain,
through the travails of the journey and the impressions of the
artic, right through to the point of defeat when death and hunger
take the ultimate toll.
Challenging and contemporary themes
The events on King William Island resounded around the Victorian world where
the suggestion that a Royal expedition, led by reputable officers of the
royal navy, could have ended in cannibalism caused a sensation. The chief
reaction was denial and outrage followed by a sustained campaign, involving
the media and high profile personalities, to clear the expedition of any “wrongdoing.” After
all it could not be countenanced that the empire’s finest and most
noble could betray the principles of the civilised world so completely.
Even today the matter has not resolved to a consensus. The debate
continues along more or less the same arguments as it did one hundred
and fifty years ago. The arguments still issue that the societal
sensibilities and morals of Victorian Britain, held by the expeditionary
force, could not have permitted such base actions as were rumoured
to have occurred on King William Island. As such this musical narrative
still has its roots in contemporary debate.
Why
Borradh Buan and Ballymun
The face of the Irish speaking community in Ireland has
changed considerably over the last forty years. On the one had
the Gaeltacht, what you might call the virgin territory of the
Irish language, has receded considerably and if this were the only
hope of Irish it would have to be considered an endangered language
on a trajectory to extinction.
On the other hand the evolution of the Gaelscoil system in Irelands
urban areas has provided a new environment for Irish to grow. What this means for Irish as a spoken language has still to be assessed
as the Urban Irish movement is still an evolving phenomenon which
has yet to find its identity and direction. However it is developing
and its requirements are developing in sophistication.
Ballymun and its surrounding area has a developing Irish community.
The present strength of this can be traced, in part, back to the
foundation of Scoil an tSeachtar Laoch which was founded in 1973.
Presently there is also Gaelscoil Bhaille Munna(1994) and Scoil
Mobhi(1972) situated nearby in Glasnevin.
The effect
of these school systems on the community has an interesting evolution
which develops the appetite for Irish content with each
generation that passes through. Broadly speaking the first generation
to pass through the primary level of all-Irish education do so
because their parents see it as an important identity factor. Many
of these parents would not have been Irish speakers but felt that
it was important that their children had this element of their
heritage. These are the “cúpa focal” people
so to speak.
Later, these pupils of the Gaelscoil, who may only rarely use
their Irish after they leave their primary education and maybe
never after they leave secondary education, enrol their own children
in the Gaelscoil. In general these people have greater requirements
from their engagement with the language and take it a step further.
After over
thirty five years and possibly three generations in some families
passing
through the system the Irish speaking community
has had a chance to grow and develop identity and requirements
that go far beyond a “cúpla focail” badge of
identity.
Urban Irish speaking community are now confident enough to look
for utilities for the language which are beyond basic. The fact
that the Axis theatre in Ballymun have a twelve day festival of
Irish language arts and activities speaks for this thirst for high
level content in Irish. There is a need in the urban Irish speaking
community for Intellectual content. Artistic content. Content which
requires a high level of articulation and gives a platform for
that in the Irish language.
Borradh Buan (a Lasting Growth)
The Axis theatre’s commitment to Irish language theatre and
arts in Ballymun resulted in the initiation of Borradh Buan in
2004. As well as serving Axis’ aims of providing a platform
for high quality Irish language arts, Boradh Buan contributes to
fulfil others of Axis’ goals as part of the Ballymun regeneration
project.
The Irish language has a role to play in connecting Ballymun to
the wider Dublin community and diminishing barriers and negative
impressions of Ballymun.
Because of
the community aspect of Irish speakers and the spread of that
community geographically
and socially, Irish cuts through
social barriers and allows Gaelgóirí from all backgrounds
to come together with a common purpose and context. Bringing people
from other areas to Ballymun is important to Axis’ regeneration
goals as it creates exchange and gives Ballymun a chance to contribute
to Dublin’s wider society. The overall effect of initiatives
like this is to reduce Ballymun’s sense of isolation and
give the wider public the chance to form positive experiences and
impressions.
In its short
history Borradh Buan has staged ambitious and meaningful productions.
Drama of a high professional standard are a given
in the program. Local participation with schools and community
events are included in the program, and it has a history of producing
new and innovative contemporary engagements with Irish such as
Hip-Nós; a collaboration between sean-nós singer,
Gearóidín Breathnach, and local hip hop artist.
The performance
As well as the musicians and composers the project calls on the
expertise of Dermot Somers, author, document maker, and mountaineer,
who made the original documentary of the Franklin expedition for
the television production company, Crossing the Line . Dermot’s
work on the documentary Tásc is Tuairisc will be utilised
in the promotion of the performance.
The performance
will have a visual element of a slideshow which will be projected
to a screen behind the performing artists. The
slideshow will contain pictures and images of the
Artic and the Franklin expedition which will correlate to the
unfolding performance.
The piece will be recorded live during its inaugural festival
performance.
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