THE Ulster Orchestra will debut a brand new collaboration with The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon next week.
As The Sun Brightens, The Shadows Deepen is a new work written for the Orchestra by the Co Fermanagh-born music star, which will be performed for the first time ever on Friday May 5 as part of its Dwellers all in Time and Space at the Ulster Hall in Belfast.
The piece is partly inspired by A City Solitary, a 1963 short film by Terence McDonald and John Hume based on the latter's university thesis on his home city. Charting Derry's development, the film is narrated by Neil Hannon’s late father, Bishop Brian Hannon, who was then a curate in the city.
"Until quite recently, I’d only been dimly aware of the film and my father’s role in it," explains Hannon.
"Then, not long after his funeral, a particularly resourceful niece tracked it down on the internet. I was entranced.
"I love those little historical/societal documentaries of the 40s and 50s; here was one about the city of my birth, narrated by my Dad! And this just happened to coincide with the Ulster Orchestra asking me for a new piece about the north.
"It was all strangely perfect."
Patrick McCarthy, artistic director and deputy CEO of the Ulster Orchestra, reflects on the collaboration:
“This is what true collaboration is all about; connecting the Orchestra with brilliant artists from here who have a story they want to tell, and putting all the possibilities and colours of a symphony orchestra at their disposal.
"The new piece is everything we hoped it would be and more; evocative, personal and with Neil’s distinctive style evident throughout.”
Dwellers All in Time And Space will also feature a screening of A City Solitary as well as a performance of To Our Fathers In Distress, another of Hannon’s works for orchestra. Originally written to mark the restoration of the organ in London’s Royal Festival Hall, it was inspired by memories of a traditional Hannon family Sunday in the 1980s.
Joining the Ulster Orchestra to perform this will be the singers of the Ulster Consort, with Tristan Russcher playing the Ulster Hall’s Mulholland Organ. The programme also includes two pieces chosen by the Divine Comedy man which have special personal significance to him.
Tickets are available via ulsterorchestra.org.uk/whats-on/.
