Donnacha Dennehy : The Weathering (2004)
for soprano, electric violin, recorder (with electronics), percussion with film and stage installation
Film by Mark Linnane, AKI, and Colm Tobin

Donnacha Dennehy has gained a particular reputation since his 'Junk Box Fraud' in 1997 for writing pieces combining acoustic ensembles and electronic media. With his new work 'The Weathering' (2004) for ELECTRA, Dennehy approaches the process from not only an aural but also a visual/theatrical standpoint. Each musician performs on a different level, phsyically, in the space. The piece has a driving rhythm, and combines the forces of electric violin with Distortion Modeler, recorder and electronics, a soaring soprano (literally placed above the ensemble), and a battery of percussion (on the ground level) including multiple bass drums and vibraphone. The piece is a setting of an Irish medieval poem about the onset of winter - with its shrinking days and growing nights. The notion of death lurks in the background and the idea that the night begins to suffocate the day the longer that winter goes on. The video images will reflect these ideas about weathering, aging and the processes of time, using the latest digital techniques.

The Weathering - Poem no.53 from Murphy¹s collection :

Old Irish version

Scél lem dúib:
dordaid dam;
snigid gaim;
ro fáith sam;

Gáeth ard úar;
ísel grían;
gair a rrith;
ruirthech rían;

Rorúad rath;
ro cleth cruth;
ro gab gnáth
giugrann guth.

Ro gab úacht
etti én;
aigre ré;
é mo scél.

Thanks to Professor Cathal O¹hAinle of the Dept. of Irish Language at Trinity College Dublinfor his help with the pronunciation of the text.

Born in Dublin in 1970, Donnacha Dennehy studied music at Trinity College Dublin. In 1992 he left Ireland to pursue graduate studies in composition at the University of Illinois, USA, after which he briefly studied at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague and IRCAM, Paris. In 1997, after returning to Ireland, he founded the crashEnsemble. He also lectures in music technology and composition at Trinity College Dublin.

As a composer, he is particularly interested in writing for mixed media groups. He has been commissioned and performed by ensembles and soloists as diverse as the Orkest de Volharding, Percussion Group of the Hague, London Sinfonietta, London Brass, Crash Ensemble, the Vanbrugh Quartet, Joanna MacGregor, the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. His music has been featured in festivals such as EXPO 2000, the Gaudeamus Festival in the Netherlands, Bath International Music Festival, State of the Nation at the South Bank, Dance Umbrella, Concerts M Montreal and the Saarbrucken Music Festival. Recent projects include, among others, a WNYC Radio commission for the Bang On A Can All-Stars premiered on 14 June at Symphony Space in New York.