The Fire Of Innocence In The Darkness Of The World Score Soloists/choir/organ

'My Hazara People is a setting of two texts the title work by Shukria Rezaei a young Afghan poet and Lalai lalai babe bacha shikar rafta (Baby's father went hunting) a traditional Hazari lullaby. Although their characters are entirely different the two poems share much in common. The importance of family and home and beyond that connection with country and heritage are at the centre of both. Shukria's poem is a direct expression of love and despair for Afghanistan with intimate moments of terror - a cup falling from her mother's hand during an explosion her aunt fainting - set against the suffering of Hazaras across the world. In the contextof this devastating contemporary experience Lalai lalai is nostalgic and poignant - open gates straw latches a sleeping child. The tune of the lullaby is heard in two highly contrasted versions. For Shukria's words it is dark and restrained a repeating rhythm illustrating the Hazara's seemingly never-ending pain and for Lalai lalai it is bright and joyful with sounds of the hunt a crackling fire and a gentle chorus as the child is rocked. A further thread runs through the music - a quotation of my favourite traditional Afghan Herati lullaby Allah Hu (God is great) reflecting Shukria's reference to her people's religious heritage. I have adapted the text at the end of Lalai Lalai to bring it into the Shukria's world a reminder that each innocent person caught up in conflict is a mother  a brother a sister a father a daughter .... kids like us. The work exists in two versions for voice and piano and voice and strings. The former was premiered by Charlotte Tetley (mezzo-soprano) and Graeme Bailey (piano) on 20 June 2018 at Somerville College Oxford as part of a panel discussion on women refugees. The work was commissioned by the Orchestra of St. Johns. I am indebted to Shukria for allowing to set her poem and to Cayenna Ponchione for inviting me to be part of this

William Blake était un génie polyvalent universelle - poète, peintre, graveur et philosophe du cuivre - qui, dans le visage du siècle des Lumières a un fondement rationnel mis le culte de l'extase, de l'énergie, l'intuition et l'imagination au-dessus de toute raison. Il a été inspiré par une vision du prophète Ezéchiel comme un enfant et se mit à construire un cosmos créatifs constitués de mythes, les forces opposées et désinhibée de peinture psychique. Incompris par ses contemporains, il n'a commencé à être redécouvert au début du XXe siècle, par exemple par WB Yeats, et la suite Ainsi, durant les années 1960 par des personnalités diverses, y compris les 'poètes battre' associés avec Allen Ginsberg, des cinéastes et de nombreux poètes modernes / Choeur D'Hommes Et Orgue / 44 pages / niveau : Avancé / Partition