Where everyone can rest and play
Of roses that clamber and seeds in dark clay
I dream of a garden that grows from the waste”
The powerful words above capture the message that runs through Stories of the Great Turning (edited by Peter Reason and Melanie Newman) the book that composer and academic June Boyce-Tillman has turned into ‘The Great Turning’, a new piece of music that June will premiere in Winchester Cathedral with Southern Sinfonia and Winchester-based community choirs and children. Orchestrated by Alex Fryer, Southern Sinfonia is honoured to be a part of this educational project, building on our long-standing relationship with Winchester University and June herself.
We spoke to June to discuss the project, starting with the challenging task of translating the book into music. June revealed that the first part of the process was to get to grips with the source material, analysing the themes and ideas that flow through the text. June describes how “the book talks about how we need to look after and appreciate the earth. If we don’t do this, there won’t be an earth left; it’s a very powerful message. Throughout the world there is an uneven dividing of resources and this is where rebellion happens”.
Ideas surrounding capitalism and appreciating nature run through the book. The question is: how are these practically turned into music? When discussing her process June explains that she “began to mark passages that would be suitable to turn into verse. The dialogue and language used is fantastic and a number of passages were already written in a rhythmic way.” When discussing the passages that weren’t already written in this manner, June’s challenge was “to use imagination and transfer prose into poetry”.
When these passages and fragments of text had been selected, the next step was to add music. Before sadly passing away, Sarah Morgan (described by The Guardian as “a linchpin of the English traditional folk scene”) provided “a wonderful folk tune that has been incorporated into the piece”. As discussed above, natural musical movements could also be found in the text itself. June animatedly explains that “one of the book’s five sections, ‘Daring to Dream’, has a chorus that repeats the phrase ‘reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink’ and that comes straight from the book. The words have a beautiful rhythm that could be a verse”. The text also conjures up images that inspire – “there is a particular passage in the section ‘encountering the darkness’ where there is a young woman in Hong Kong surrounded by traffic. It made me want to paint the image of rush hour traffic with the orchestra.”
One of the most exciting elements of this concert is the stunning venue. As discussed in last week’s article, Winchester Cathedral has a rich history and, as one of the largest cathedrals in England, provides a sense of grandeur to performances. June comments, “It’s a huge privilege to be able to use a space with such great acoustics. You need a whole day to look at the venue and plan the performance”. Considering the venue and space that a piece will be performed in is one of the most important aspects of a production. Once composition had been completed, the setting and performance style had to be designed. June explains, “we’ve lost touch with the importance of space. I’m fascinated with how space can interact with the music.”
Without wanting to spoil the many surprises that await the audience, June hints that “the evening will be very visual; the children will be scattered around the venue at the beginning of the performance. They will tap stones together and create sounds that represent different rocks and the earth itself”. The music and the performance elements exist to transport the audience somewhere new, and it is clear from talking to June that the idea of taking the audience on a journey leads to dedication and passion within the work.“As a theorist of music, the most important thing to do is transport people. All the elements of a performance, the musicians, the singers and the space are all part of that. The prime aim is to take the audience to another space.”
When talking to June, you can’t help but feel her enthusiasm for using space, music and words to create an evening with an important message. The premiere of ‘The Great Turning’ is sure to be a very special evening; unavoidable, when so much heart and thought has gone into composing and performing the piece. As June hopes, the audience will be transported to a place that not only entertains, but also hopefully allows them to consider how we can work together to create “a garden that grows from the waste”.
Click here to book tickets for 'The Great Turning', taking place on March 27th at 7.30pm.
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