{"id":19980,"date":"2016-10-07T07:23:59","date_gmt":"2016-10-07T07:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/?p=19980"},"modified":"2016-10-07T07:23:59","modified_gmt":"2016-10-07T07:23:59","slug":"cantata-memoria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/2016\/10\/07\/cantata-memoria\/","title":{"rendered":"Landslides in Art Part 28: Cantata Memoria – in memory of the Aberfan Disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cantata

Cantata Memoria by Karl Jenkins<\/p><\/div>\n

Cantata Memoria, in memory of the Aberfan Disaster<\/h5>\n

Later this month will mark the 50th Anniversary of the Aberfan Disaster in South Wales<\/a>, the worst landslide disaster in British history and an event that has left an indelible scar on a generation.\u00a0 In brief summary, on 21st October 1966 a spoil heap of coal waste failed above the village of Aberfan.\u00a0 The resulting flowslide struck the village, and in particular the school, killing 116 children and 28 adults.\u00a0 Clearly I will post again on this topic in the fortnight ahead, and of course I posted about it five years ago<\/a>.\u00a0 To mark the anniversary, the composer Karl Jenkins has written a new piece entitled Cantata Memoria.\u00a0 This is released by Deutsche Grammaphon<\/a> today an\\d will be premiered at a concert in the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff<\/a> tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Last Saturday, the Guardian ran a piece<\/a> that provided some background to the composition of Cantata Memorium.\u00a0 The article is worth a read – in this extract Karl Jenkins explains the thinking behind the work:<\/p>\n

Cantata Memoria: For the Children\/Er Mwyn y Plant<\/em> is both music and a poem. It is not a documentary, nor even a dramatisation, but it does include a conflation of ideas and facts that are by now part of the legacy. There wasn\u2019t just one cort\u00e8ge (the title of a movement), but we do know that \u201cAll Things Bright and Beautiful\u201d was sung at Pantglas School from time to time. A poignant line in the hymn has sinister ambiguity in our context as the \u201crivers running by\u201d alludes to the hidden river running underneath the village that contributed to the disaster. The Welsh song \u201cMyfanwy\u201d (written by\u00a0Joseph Parry from nearby Merthyr Tydfil and also quoted) was sung by\u00a0the soldiers who dug for victims. \u201cMyfanwy\u201d was also the first piece performed by the local Ynysowen Male Choir, formed after the tragedy, and from which the community sought to find some solace.<\/p>\n

The text is multilingual: English, Welsh and Latin (from the Mass), while\u00a0also referencing words in many other languages which, it is hoped, symbolise how this memorial is at once\u00a0both specific and universal.<\/p>\n

Cantata Memoria<\/em>, sung by Bryn Terfel among others, is in two distinct sections but performed continuously. The first deals with the disaster and its immediate aftermath, and the second moves from darkness to light, reliving memories and celebrating childhood.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is a an extract of the work on the Classic FM website<\/a>, and it should be viewable below:<\/p>\n