Monologue for soprano, with cello and piano.
In 1773, in County Cork, Ireland, Art Ó Laoghaire (Art O’Leary) was murdered by an English landowner. His widow, Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill (Eileen O’Connell), delivered an extraordinary elegy in Irish at his wake. It entered the oral tradition as the Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire (Lament for Art O’Leary), and was first written down in the 19th century. It has been translated into English several times (notably in Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s book A Ghost in the Throat). I’ve chosen a series of excerpts, roughly an eighth of the poem, from the translation by Vona Groarke. The speaker addresses us across the centuries with a startling immediacy, full of love and loss.
Video of performance by Megan Cullen, soprano, with John Kiunke, piano and Tim Stanley, cello. Performed as part of the Operation Opera workshop, California State University, Sacramento, June 2023.
Text (PDF)
Score (PDF)
Vance Maverick 