Event

Ensemble Proton Bern
Flute: Bettina Berger
Oboe: Martin Bliggenstorfer
Clarinet: Richard Elliot Haynes
Bassoon: Elise Jacoberger
Trombone: Stephen Menotti
Harp: Vera Schnider
Keyboards / Electronics: Coco Schwarz
Violin: Maximilian Haft
Cello: Jan-Filip upa,
Double Bass: Rebecca Lawrence

Sound Design: Benjamin Miller

James Dillon composed «Lamentations :» for SCHOLA HEIDELBERG and the Ensemble Proton Bern – powerful chants that express not only grief, but also protest and solidarity.

Commissioned by the Bern Music Festival and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, James Dillon created a new composition tailored specifically for SCHOLA HEIDELBERG and the Ensemble Proton Bern. The starting point is the Lamentations, which have a long, biblically influenced tradition in Western musical history. While this reference may have played a certain role in the initial conception, the work has since moved far beyond it and expanded into the universal. This is evident in the selection of texts Dillon chose. Ancient authors such as Lucretius and Virgil appear alongside Sumerian texts and excerpts from a poem by Georg Trakl. Folk music traditions, such as those of Scottish bagpipe music, also influence the work. The piece concludes with a «Lamentation for the Trees.» Five thousand years are thus reflected in this work.

The «Lamentations» should thus be understood not only as an expression of grief, but also as an act of protest and solidarity – and one that is highly relevant today. The piece was created against the backdrop of modern-day displacements – whether caused by the relentless machinery of war or by planetary suicide. Dillon says he in no way presumes to speak on behalf of the displaced—he merely wants to offer a response reminiscent of the sorrowful protest of Scottish bagpipe music in lamentations such as «Is fhada mae seo tha sinn» («Too long in this state»).

Further information here.