Psappha – Bosnian Voices
Thursday 2 May, 7.30pm at St Michael’s Manchester
Programme
Anthony Burgess Cello Sonata ‘for the dead 1939-45’
Arnold Schoenberg Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte
David T Little and the sky was still there
Tim Wright The Bridge
Nigel Osborne Bosnian Voices
Mark Heron conductor
Jessica Gillingwater mezzo soprano
Richard Suart speaker
“And I heard a voice that said to me: If you care about the state of your soul, if you care about anything at all, if you want to continue to be a good person: Get out.” David T Little’s and the sky was still there with a film by R. Luke DuBois challenges the US army’s controversial ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy towards gay and lesbian soldiers.
The war in Bosnia ended nearly a quarter of a century ago, with the tragedy of Srebrenica. Influenced by the chiming of church bells and the Muslim call to prayer, Nigel Osborne’s Bosnian Voices is a set of songs written by ordinary Bosnians – children and adults – about their lives then and now.
Tim Wright’s sparse and tense music for a 1929 silent film by Charles Vidor tells the dramatic story of a spy sentenced to be hanged from a bridge.
Two giants of the twentieth century react to the atrocities of the second world war. Schoenberg takes his inspiration from the poetry of Byron, and writer Anthony Burgess turns to music in his heart-felt for the dead 1939-45.