Painting Music
Watch as artist Kerry Holland paints the images that come to her mind as she listens to Debussy’s Six Epigraphes Antiques. Each of these pieces is a highly visual musical interpretation of stories from the epic Poems of Bilitis by Pierre Louys, Bilitis is said to be a woman from ancient Cyprus. The poems are the imagined tales of her life, emotions and sexual proclivities.
Together with music by Schubert and Dvorak, this highly unusual event will be one to remember. This concert is a one-off event in Brisbane.
Bishopsbourne Theological College, 233 Milton Rd, Milton, Brisbane
Sunday May 26 at 4 pm.
Mary & Me
Diana Weston and Mary Sambell
Artist Performer Kerry Holland
Contact: Linda Burridge at St Francis College 07 3514 7424 or Diana Weston 0411 375 821
Posts for Painting Music
Mary Sambell, Kerry Holland, Diana Weston
Comments from Audience members in Brisbane
‘As soon as I heard the Schubert I knew why I loved music.’
‘You both choreograph your hands so well.’
‘The tinkling flourishes were wonderful!’
‘The Schubert was an epic classic. I will add it to my playlist.’
‘It was uplifting to see three mature women expressing their individual creativity with confidence. Wonderful.’
‘I was moved by the sympathetic collaboration between Diana and Mary’
‘The art assisted me in listening to the music.’
‘I was floating on air after the concert. Please come again.’
‘The artist looked as if she was conducting in time with the music.’
‘The concert was great! I’d come again.’
‘The concert was energetic, inspirational and spectacular. I have never seen this collaboration before.’
From Kerry Holland FB page: ‘Kerry, what an absolute triumph this afternoon was. A roller coaster of emotions. At times I was moved to tears. It was almost overwhelming. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a live music concert and your beautiful canvases took it to a whole new level…. Thank you for putting on such a wonderful event . Many thanks to Mary and Diana.’
Full Program
Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)
Divertissement à la Hongroise, Op. 54
Andante, Allegretto
Antonin Dvorak (1841 – 1904)
1.Silent Woods2,Legend
Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918)
Six Epigraphes Antiques
- Pour invoquer Pan. Dieu du Vent d’Ete (Invoking Pan, god of summer winds)
- Pour un tombeau sans Nom (For a nameless tomb)
- Pour que la Nuit soit Propice (So that the night is propitious)
- Pour la Danseuse aux Crotales (For the dancer with crotales)
- Pour l’Egyptienne (For the Egyptian woman)
- Pour Remercier la Pluie au Matin (To thank the morning rain).
Ann Carr-Boyd
Scenes from Country Life
1.Moonacres Farm
2.Old Mandemar Road
There is much imagery in the pieces in our program. The tags or ‘epigraphs’ give you an idea of what it to come. Its up to your imagination to expand on those, just as our guest artist Kerry Holland is doing. Here are a few of the ideas that have informed our interpretation….
The epigraph ‘Divertissement à la Hongroise’ lets us know a couple of things. It informs us that Schubert composed this work, first and foremost, for our enjoyment and entertainment, and that he has based many of the melodies and rhythms on Hungarian folk songs and dances (especially in the Andante). Over and above that, Schubert invites us to view with him the street-scene through his window – marching bands of soldiers (participants in the Napoleonic Wars?), twirling dance troupes, children’s games and imitations, and then the persistent trumpet-like call that recurs throughout Allegretto….
Dvorak’s two pieces ‘Silent Woods’ and ‘Legend’ are indicative of his reputation as a composer imbued with the musical culture of his native Bohemia. ‘Legend’ in particular evokes a wild horse-ride through a forest. Is it the forest that is dangerous, or is the rider fleeing a pursuer? Momentarily the threat abates as a glade opens up and peace is restored, before the ride resumes. ‘Silent Woods’ on the other hand evokes a peaceful if somewhat melancholy scene interrupted by a short tense period that soon resolves.
Debussy was inspired to compose, in the first instance songs, and later these piano duets, upon reading a collection of erotic poetry Les Chansons de Bilitis (the Songs of Bilitis, published in 1894) by his friend Pierre Louÿs. The poems were allegedly the work of a woman from Ancient Greece (Bilitis), found written on the wall of a tomb in Cyprus. They are a celebration of lesbian sexuality and express her inner thoughts and loneliness. This story was later found to be a hoax, nevertheless the poems themselves (by Louÿs) are considered high art.
In using epigraphs with each piece, Debussy points the listener towards the space or sensation he wants to evoke. Invoking Pan in the first, he expresses the ease and warmth of summer breezes. The second does the opposite. We are in a tomb (we don’t know whose) – eery, mysterious, dank, muffled and silent. Interweaving the parts in the third, Debussy implies the expectations, whispered words and intimacies of the bedroom, or perhaps some other form of nocturnal entertainment. The fourth is a dance in which the dancer at one moment entices, at another repels, her moods frequently changing. The dancer in the fifth though, is sensuous and alluring, performing for us against a background of syncopated rhythm. The last brings us back to the natural world once again, thanking the gods for the rain and a reminder that summer will return.
Diana Weston
Scenes of Country Life, 2017/18
Old Mandemar Road, Bong, Bong Street Two Step
Ann lives in the pretty town of Bowral, the main road of which is Bong Bong Steet. During the week, the folks who live there (mostly elderly) wander down the street, chatting and doing a bit of shopping. The pace is slow. It’s a different story on the weekend. Sydneysiders come down for a shopping spree, to see the sights, and indulge in lengthy lunches and coffee stops.
Old Mandemar Road is still there, not used much now the motorway has been built. Its edges are crumbling and overgrown with bush, hence the hint of nostalgia.
Ann Carr-Boyd