Saturday at Tall Ships

 They wrapped you in linen
They wrapped you in clay
They gave me the promise 
of a bright new day     Peter Sirr








Against all the odds the sun shines for a third  successive day on Waterford.  I make the great expedition  by bicycle to the North Quays to see the larger vessels and I particularly want to see the Norwegian Vessel The Soerlandet, the oldest fully rigged vessel. I played a few tunes on the board and when I strike up a hornpipe a young girl Niamh Linnane joins in and dances a sailor's hornpipe on the lovely wooden deck. It was a magic moment. Sadly my camera man missed it so you'll have to take my word for it. We carry on to the Gloria but there is no reprise of Friday morning vocal manoevres. It is a long walk to Frank Cassin Wharf but I feel a sense of achievement in arriving at the far point  to view the largest vessels close up having viewed them all week from across the river.

Back on the South Quay I join RNLI man John Purcell, busking a few tunes on a nautical theme to assist his fund raising effort. It takes a particular sort of courage I think to take on the elements and go to the aid of those in difficulty at sea. The predicted crowds converge on the quay on Saturday afternoon and it is very busy indeed..

Sharon Shannon and band have a large enthusiastic crowd but the best atmosphere is on the WV Plaza where local boy and recent freeman of the city, Brendan Bowyer is  sending them home sweating with his lively selection. It is hard to square the image of the Bishop's Palace museum case housing the Hucklebuck shoes and other Royal Showband paraphanalia with this larger than life manifestation rocking it .  Even from the far end of the quay, one can hear the emotion in the voice as he belts out My City of Music by local Tops of the Town stalwart, Denny Corcoran. An artist with real cross generational appeal , teenage daughters with their mothers and grandmothers all sing and bop to the energetic and lively set.

As seasoned Spraoi goers, we are somewhat blasé about fireworks but the final fireworks are truly spectacular opening with a stunning waterfall effect .  All that remains is the final leavetaking and crews settle down for an early start with the morning tide

Here,  now, this very moment
In flowing time
within this harbour
And this haven  Michael Coady

The Hucklebuck Shoes

http://youtu.be/V0lLcxVyaCY

'Come The Sails' - Launch of Tall Ships Waterford Festival - A view from the Plaza

Niall Crowley conducts the massed choir and orchestra at Tall Ships Opening Ceremony



Urbs Intacta Manet Waterfordia

 Lend us your sails, your stories too,
Taller than skytails in the blue,
Stowaways to the future
Lend Us Your Sails.

Tall Ship Waterford 2011

The Tall Ships Festival was officially launched on Thursday afternoon  in Waterford with a world premiere of a specially commisssioned cantata for choir and orchestra as the focal point of the opening festivities. The work commissioned by the Waterford Choirs Association features rich settings by five composers  of  poems by five  poets, all  with strong Waterford connections with the recounting of the city's maritime history a common theme. I love the pithy  narrated interludes by Michael Coady set by Marion Ingoldsby.  Even the titles hinted at the richness of the lines. Eric Sweeney's  semiquaver rhythms of A Prosperous Port contrasted with the more stately metre of Greg Scanlon's settting of Calico Dress sung by mezzo soprano, Bridget Knowles. There was a rousing anthem, Come The Sails to finish with a setting of words by John Ennis in a setting by my contemporary Sue Furlong well known in liturgical  composition and choral circles. It was good to see young poet Megan Nolan included in a setting of her poem, Child of Mine by Ben Hanlon,  known throughout the land for his work with De La Salle Choir.

The choir clad in colour coded tee shirts and orchestra met for a final rehearsal before adjourning to the courtyard of Christchurch Cathedral where mountains of sandwiches were consumed and tea drunk before we returned fortified to the splendid William Vincent Wallace Plaza with fingers firmly crossed for fair weather.  Enda duly arrived accompanied by his entourage and Derek Mooney bounded on to the stage to crack open the champagne , so to speak, on the procedings.




Crowd at the Plaza, Waterford



My spot in front of three tenors

 There was an anxious moment when a technical problem with the microphone forced a restart but conductor Niall Crowley calmly waited for the nod and on the second go the 200 strong choir and 40 strong orchestra were off. There was the menace of rain threatening to spoil the party but it mercifully didn't spill.

 Contemporary  music by Irish composers does not often receive such a large audience for premieres.  Afficionados I spoke to praised the innovative work  drawing on Waterford's rich history and maritime heritage and it is good to see the city further cementing its reputation as a hot spot for new music. (See my report on  Waterford New Music Week).  Huge credit is due, I understand, to Niall Crowley of the Waterford  Choirs Association? producer Joan Dalton and the Waterford City Council for bringing   this project from a good idea on paper to an actual performance. For myself, it is  many years since I performed with an orchestra in Waterford and it was thrilling and a privilege   to take an active part  in this gala day in my home city.

Déise Abú!
'Magnificence of rigging above a mile of quay' Mark Roper

Urbs Intacta  Manet









Thursday 30th June 2011