Symphony No.5: 'Le grand Inconnu' : 50' duration score for chamber choir, chorus and orchestra, complete with recording
- Submitting institution
-
University of St Andrews
- Unit of assessment
- 31 - Theology and Religious Studies
- Output identifier
- 271522278
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
- -
- Year
- 2018
- URL
-
-
- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- Yes
- Number of additional authors
-
0
- Research group(s)
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C - Institute for Theology, Imagination, and the Arts
- Proposed double-weighted
- Yes
- Double-weighted statement
- This musical composition is an extended and complex work of substantial length (c. 50 minutes).
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- The Holy Spirit, Fire of Divine Love (2017), Wilfrid Stinissen seeks a ‘renewal of the holy spirit’ today, a call which needs ‘the support of the Church’s united reflection’. Although the last decade has witnessed an increased attention to pneumatology (e.g., most recently, Crisp et al. (eds), The Third Person of The Trinity (2020)), the most effective medium for attending to the Holy Spirit may not necessarily be the word, or not only the word. Despite this, the Holy Spirit has rarely been explored in classical music (Mahler’s setting of Veni Creator Spirit being a notable exception). Inspired by Stinissen for the first time in the history of classical music, the composer explores the mystery of the Holy Spirit (‘Le grand inconnu’ of the title) by means of the whole symphonic form. It is less a traditional setting of a text and more an exploration of elemental and primal sounds and words associated with the spirit. The first movement is called ‘Ruah’, second ‘Zao’ (ancient Greek for living water), the third ‘Igne vel Igne’ (Latin for fire or fire), each movement thereby having associations with the physical elements connected to the Holy Spirit (wind, water, fire). These became vivid sources of visual and sonic inspiration. Rather than musical logic dictating the compositional form, they allowed these sound associations and pre-discursive impressions to inform their choice of Scriptural and theological texts, orchestral sounds, and paralinguistic vocalics (including murmuring, whisperings, and breathing noises). They experiment with novel forms of compositional practice and complex orchestral and vocal techniques, including a double choir (chamber choir and large chorus) each of which, at the end of the second movement, is divided into 20 parts. World premiere at Usher Hall 17-08-2019, Edinburgh, performed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, The Sixteen, Genesis Sixteen, and the Harry Christophers.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -
