Proclamation of the Republic.
- Submitting institution
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Birmingham City University
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 33Z_OP_J4001
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
- October
- Year
- 2016
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Andrew Hamilton’s _The Proclamation of the Republic_ is a choral work (presented as a score plus recording) that investigates a key political text through music, seeking to question the mythology that has built up around it. The years leading up to 2016, when Hamilton wrote _Proclamation_ were dominated in Irish civic, historical and cultural discussions by how to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising in 1916 (a key event leading to Irish independence). In 2015 Hamilton visited the Arbour Hill cemetery in Dublin, the final resting place of 14 leaders of the Rising executed by the British government. Surrounding their graves is the text of the Proclamation read out at the Rising. Hamilton decided to set this text for the vocal ensemble EXAUDI.
The aim was to set this lengthy, emotive text for double choir as a response to the historical event. Hamilton investigated the text itself and how it was declaimed on Easter Sunday 1916. The reciter, Patrick Pearse, had to repeat sections as the gathered crowds were jeering and there was confusion about his meaning. This sense of repetition and confusion, along with a nearly comical atmosphere became important elements in the final work. Hamilton also researched the leaders of the Rising, notably Pearse and James Connolly. Some listeners found _Proclamation_ not reverential enough, but it is intended to be a questioning of the glorification of violence that the text has sometimes engendered. Hamilton clarified his ideas through a workshop with EXAUDI, along with his interest in ‘cori spezzati’ techniques from the late Renaissance/early Baroque periods, underlining his interest in reimagining older techniques.
_Proclamation_ was commissioned by the Arts Council Ireland and first performed by EXAUDI, conducted by James Weeks at LSO St Luke’s in November 2016. It won a British Composer Award in 2017.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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