The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra are hosting Lisa Gerrard and Paul Grabowsky's incredible performance Immortal Diamond at Arts Centre Melbourne's Hamer Hall on Wednesday October 5.
since he was what I am, and
This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, patch, matchwood, immortal diamond,
Is immortal diamond
The above is an excerpt from ‘That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and the Comfort of Resurrection’, by one of the greatest Victorian-era poets, Gerard Manley Hopkins. Published in the late 19th century and still radical today, it’s a short, sharp and at-times exceedingly difficult sonnet that captures the ideological shift from ancient Greek philosophy towards Christian notions of an afterlife.
That difficulty is due to its most enduring quality, Hopkins’ sprung rhythm, which is the same reason it’s captured the imaginations of two of Australia’s foremost composers. The poem is made to be read aloud; it uses an unusual staccato meter to create textured soundscapes that simultaneously push the boundaries of not only poetry, but music itself.
Immortal Diamond at Hamer Hall
- Lisa Gerrard, Paul Grabowsky and the MSO are performing Immortal Diamond
- It will be an ethereal tribute to Gerard Manley Hopkins’ radical sprung rhythm
- It’s happening at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Hamer Hall on October 5
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Enter, Golden Globe-winning vocalist and composer Lisa Gerrard, of Dead Can Dance, Gladiator, Balibo fame, who has teamed up with celebrated Australian pianist Paul Grawbosky AO and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for an immersive and innovative performance inspired by Hopkins.
Gerrard is famous for her glossolalia singing technique – popularly known as speaking in tongues – and backed by 16 choir singers and a symphony orchestra in the incredible surrounds of Hamer Hall, this performance is set to utterly magical.
“This beautiful poem, full of extraordinary sound pictures, provides the inspiration for a sound world in which Lisa Gerrard will range freely, one that speaks of the power of spiritual love and renewal,” Grabowsky says.
“The music will ebb and flow slowly like a tide, the orchestra and sixteen wordless singers embedded within it will wrap around her voice, occasionally falling away to the ruminations of the piano as it continues accompanying a song that—in a sense—has no beginning and no end.”
Find more information and buy tickets to Immortal Diamond via the website here.
