NOCTURNE

line upon line percussion: 
Cullen Faulk, Matthew Teodori, Jordan Walsh

Ann Cleare NOCTURNE (Irish Premiere)

NOCTURNE is a new site-specific evening-length work by composer Ann Cleare, created in collaboration with theatre-maker Shanna May Breen and multimedia artist Maura McDonnell.

 

For millennia, the stars have guided how we live and have shaped some of our earliest and most important mythologies. In the sky, we have found gods, the measurement of time, chemical secrets and divine warnings. Yet the more secrets we decode, the more mysteries we discover—drawing us ever deeper.

Part music, part theatre and part collective wandering/wondering, NOCTURNE is a dynamic 90-minute work that unfolds across the indoor and outdoor spaces of the historic Dunsink Observatory. From ancient maps to optical instruments to modern spectroscopy, audiences will experience how the night sky has been observed throughout history, exploring what has guided and puzzled philosophical and scientific imaginations across time.

Expect transmissions from space, experiments with light, alignments from ancient worlds, encounters with a spiral galaxy discovered in Birr in 1845, outdoor walking, instrument building, and an illuminated large red orb symbolising a red dwarf—the last star that will shine in our universe 10 trillion years from now—all directed by the musicians of line upon line percussion trio.

This modern-day nocturne is designed for sites that celebrate and protect dark skies.

 

Commissioned by The Ernst von Siemens Foundation with support from The Arts Council of Ireland.​