ABOUT THE WORK
"Childhood's Awe"
By Sam Perkin (2024)
For Archlute and Harpsichord
Dedicated to George Dunne
Dohyo Sol (Archlute) / Marcus Mohlin (Harpsichord)

“Childhood’s’ Awe” is a new work for Archlute and Harpsichord, by France-based Irish composer Sam Perkin. The work was commissioned by West Cork Music and Cork County Council Arts Office and it was recently premièred by Dohyo Sol and Marcus Mohlin for Camerata Øresund in July at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival 2024.

The delicately resonant world of the work conveys the humbling feeling of finding the long-forgotten music box of childhood. Dedicated warmly to the memory of George Dunne, my first music teacher, an authentic elder with an unbroken inner-child.

"On the dunes, leading from childhood's hold.
Stretched out, resting from where we parted ways.
Onwards, towards the world of the adults.
Ever buried to be unearthed, placed in its wonder of what is.
Who is this sheer-bright awe of childhood that rests within?"

- A poem dedicated to the composer’s first music teacher, who, the composer says,
never lost his inner-child, inspiring a boundless passion and love for music. -

THE FILM
Shot in neutral Black & White, with a subtle film grain, the film of “Childhood’s Awe” is a delicate dance between the arts of composing and film editing.

Whenever I film and edit a new work of mine, I always go all-out! It is just so worth it. As I film with a composer’s eye, I can show the music from just the right visual perspective, though it can be quite stressful doing so many things at once. There must be some improvisation and flexibility with so many moving parts.

For example, for “Childhood’s Awe” we rehearsed and filmed at the same time, while the sound engineer was doing his magic, as well as a photographer, and the team at the festival ensuring there were no interruptions so that the place was calm and quiet.

It was quite fun, and both Dohyo and Marcus said that it was a great way of rehearsing the piece, and one they had not experienced before. One of my favourite things is rehearsing. I love going into pedantic detail with musicians who also love doing the same.

For the audio, we were lucky to have the wonderful Dave Slevin on sound who sent me the recorded performance to mix and master. I love this moment and tend to bask in the act of fine-tuning the subtleties of the acoustic, balance and final polish. Thanks to photographer Murphy Kie, there are also some magical photos of the musicians’ expressions during recording.

Organising a filming session takes a lot of work and preparation. It is one of my favourite parts of being a composer, working with wonderful performers towards the creation of something beautiful.

▶

A Modern Perspective on Historic Finger-Pedalling
In the work, we revisit historic harpsichord finger-pedalling notation from a contemporary perspective. This notation, found in the scores of Louis Couperin for example, indicates note duration through ties. What I like about this type of notation is that each visible note in the score is played just once. Given the nature of the musical material and the extent to which this type of notation is used in the work, it is viewed from a contemporary perspective in a way that both respects tradition and also one that probes deeper into this wonderful type of historic music notation which merits further exploration. In addition, the Lower Manual is set to the special Lute Sound for the entire work, creating an irresistible textural blend of three different sounds which interact/resonate with each other: 1) Regular Harpsichord Sound, 2) Harpsichord with Lute Setting, and 3) The Archlute.

A Classical Perspective on Modern Finger-Picking
In the 14-String Archlute part, we explore a contemporary finger-picking style of playing from country music, though from a more classical perspective.The hammer-ons and pull-offs, often used in guitar or banjo playing, give an earthy feel to the music.The blending of these two sound worlds, classical and country, together with the two harpsichord sounds leads us to the discovery of some pretty unique textures and a fresh sound world all its own.

Jointly commissioned by the West Cork Chamber Music Festival and the Cork County Council Arts Office to mark the 25th anniversary of the purchase of the Cork County Council Harpsichord. Cork County Council and West Cork Music acknowledge the support of the Arts Council of Ireland. Special thanks to Francis Humphrys (West Cork County Music Festival), Ian McDonagh (Cork County Council Arts Office) and David Slevin.

www.samperkincomposer.com
© Sam Perkin Composer 2024