Thread by @ComposeherUK

🔊Today, for the first time, on #InternationalWomensDay2023, we're sharing more about the 7 incredible Composeher works that will be premiered on 27th May at City Halls, Glasgow.

THREAD...

#IWD #EmbraceEquity

The @GSAChoir commissioned 7 female composers to create new works of around 10 minutes in length to seek to address, in our own way, the huge gender inequalities in the granting of music commissions.

Today, on #IWD, we have released programme notes to accompany the new works.

'Angel of the Battlefield', composed by Cecilia McDowall, lyrics by Clara Barton and Seán Street, is inspired by the outstanding work of the pioneering American nurse and founder of the American Red Cross, Clara Barton.

Read more: bit.ly/3ZHzA97

'Margaret's Moon', composed by Ailie Robertson, lyrics by Jackie Kay, sets an incredibly beautiful poem about the death of Kay's birth mother. Full of vivid imagery, it creates a sound world subtle enough to juxtapose ‘regret’ with ‘Margaret’.

Read more: bit.ly/3kW89sT

'14 Weeks', composed by Jane Stanley, lyrics by Judith Bishop, sets a text reflecting upon the experience of the early stages of pregnancy, written from the point of view of a mother-to-be speaking to her developing baby.

Read more: bit.ly/3YwNB7Y

'The Alphabet of Jasmine', composed by Dee Isaacs, lyrics by Gerda Stevenson, is a triptych in tribute to the poet, Nizar Qabbani, who said Damascus was "the womb that taught me poetry...creativity and granted me the Alphabet of Jasmine."

Read more: bit.ly/3JtyrfH

'Papilionum', composed by Sarah Rimkus, lyrics by Maria Sibylla Merian, is a celebration of the entomologist's life and works, with excerpts from the descriptions of the flora and fauna she studied in the early eighteenth century in Suriname.

Read more: bit.ly/3mxZMnR

'Brìdghe', composed by Pippa Murphy, lyrics by Karine Polwart, is a celebration of the legend and lore of St Brigid and her counterpart, the Celtic goddess, Brìdghe, associated with healing, protection, poets, divination and livestock.

Read more: bit.ly/41RJDtl

'Within The Living Eye', composed by Rebecca Rowe, lyrics by Kathleen Raine, leads the listener through themes of loss, yearning for knowledge, love, the divine presence in nature and the responsibility of humankind towards our world.

Read more: bit.ly/3JkbIm0

You can access the programme notes for all 7 of the Composeher works here: bit.ly/3myQXdu

You can purchase tickets to the world premiere on 27 May, and join us to celebrate these amazing new works, here: bit.ly/3XPln96