User:Robevans123/sandbox/Cantata Memoria

Cantata Memoria
Cantata by Karl Jenkins
A boy looking down and away from the camera is lit by a shaft of light, and is wearing a cap and coat, standing on a cobbled path Album cover of first recording
Full title	Cantata Memoria Er mwyn y plant
Year	2016
Occasion	Aberfan Disaster 50th Anniversary
Language	Welsh, English, Latin
Dedication	In Memory of Aberfan 1966
Published	2016 (2016): London
Publisher	Boosey & Hawkes
Recorded	7 October 2016 (2016-10-07)
Duration	56 minutes
Movements	11
Premiere
Date	8 October 2016 (2016-10-08)
Location	Wales Millennium Centre
Conductor	Karl Jenkins

Cantata Memoria (Cantata Memoria: For the Children) is a choral work written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan Disaster. It was commissioned by S4C, a Welsh language TV channel, and composed by Sir Karl Jenkins with a libretto in Welsh, English, and Latin, written by the poet Mererid Hopwood. The work is scored for a mixed chorus including adults and children, baritone and soprano soloists, and orchestra with solos for violin, euphonium and harp. The work received its premiere on 8 October 2016 as part of a memorial concert at the Wales Milennium Centre, Cardiff.

Although the work was written in memory of the Aberfan Disaster, it also mourns the loss of children in later disasters. The work is performed continuously, but is in two parts. The first part reflects on the disaster and the following days, and the second part celebrates childhood and moves from darkness to light.

Structure

Cantata Memoria comprises 11 movements, performed continuously. The movements are:

1. Pitran, patran

The work opens with harp, percussion, and pizzicato strings simulating the sound of raindrops before the adult chorus sing "pitran, patran" (Welsh for 'pitter, patter'), onomatopoetic words for rain.

1. Then Silence

blurb

1. Cortège

1. Lament for the Valley

1. Lacrimosa Lullaby

1. Did I hear a bird?

1. Satin Feathers

1. And−a−half

1. And once upon a time

1. When the shadow dies

1. Lux æterna

References

Sources

• Jenkins, Karl (2016). Zöllner, Eva (ed.). Cantata Memoria For the Children (Booklet). Design by Mareike Walter. Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers. Retrieved 1 November 2016.

• Hawke, Andrew, ed. (1995). "pitran-patran". Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (A Dictionary of the Welsh Language). University of Wales. Retrieved 1 November 2016.