The fine hand
Available in 2027 - 2028
Duration: 60 minutes (without pause);
90 minutes (with pause)
❋
Le Chansonnier d’Évangéline
Following the traces of the viol from Acadia to New Orleans
Trip to Scarbray : Anonymous from the Vickers MS (18th c.)
❋ A hidden collection of violsA dozen viols were discovered in the walls of the Ursuline convent in Quebec City in the mid-19th century, likely concealed there during the 1759 Battle of Quebec. These instruments, three of which are now housed in New York’s Metropolitan Museum, represent what was once a vibrant but little-known tradition of viol playing– not only in the Ursuline House, but across colonial North America.
❋ An imaginary soundscapeThe Fine Hand explores this rich musical moment in North American history through a soundscape centered around the probable (and possible) uses of the viol. We have drawn our own imaginary map of Evangeline's path through various musical styles: the fiddle and flute reels of Grand Pré, the liturgical music of André Campra in Quebec City and Port Royal, the Biloxi Créole music of Louisiana, the Ursulines’ contrafacta in New Orleans, and the stark four- and five-part hymns of William Billings.
❋ Diverse musical traditionsLe Chansonnier d’Evangéline imagines the journey of one of these mysterious viols in the context of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem Evangeline, published just before the instruments were discovered in Quebec. Evangeline's protagonist travels throughout North America, from Canada to Louisiana, and encounters the many diverse musical traditions therein.
❋ Honoring the past and exploring new connectionsWe have travelled along with Evangeline in an effort to honor the kinds of loss many of us experience in today's culture, and to explore vital connections between seemingly far-away lands and traditions, through the lens of the Acadian expulsion from Nouvelle France.
Concert Structure
Each section is dedicated to one part of Évangéline's journey across North America.
Newport - William Billings (18th c.)
"The Wail Of The Forest"
Un matin je me léve
"Murmuring Ever Of Love"
Reel à Bouche - Anonymous/Traditional
Trip to Scarbray - Anonymous/Traditional
Tous les bourgeois de Châtres - Claude Balbastre
Le Carillon de Dunkerque - Anonymous/Traditional
Tota Pulchra Es - André Campra
Derrière chez nous - Anonymous/Traditional
"Scattered Like Dust And Leaves"
Barrett's privateers - Stan Rogers
Etoile du nord - Anonymous/Traditional
Ce monde est une vaste mer - Louis Marchand
“Exile Without An End”
La Belle Délaissée - Anonymous/Traditional
A la claire fontaine - Anonymous/Traditional
“They Gave Themselves To The Maddening Whirl Of the Dizzy Dance”
Valse a Pop - Anonymous/Traditional
Je me suis marille - Anonymous/Traditional
J’ai vu le loup - Anonymous/Traditional
“Pursuing a Phantom”
Echo, qui repondez - Bénigne de Bacilly
Agréable Solitude - Marin Marais
“Oh, My Beloved!”
Newport - Lebanon - William Billings
La Belle Delaissée - Anonymous/Traditional
“In Accents Disconsolate, The Ocean Answers The Wail Of The Forest”
Reprise: Un matin je me léve - Anonymous/Traditional
Patte de Mouton - Anonymous/Traditional
Logistics
Duration: 60 minutes
Number of musicians: 7-8
Instrumentation:
Voices, viol consort, violin, traverso, harp, harmonica, podorhythmie, percussion.
Technical needs:
Projector and appropriate projection surface for textual and visual narration. In the absence of a projector, a sufficient narration alternative must be discussed.
BOOKING AND MORE INFO
Anne-Kathryn Olsen & Mara Winter - Co-Direction
Email: thefinehandmusic@gmail.com
Le Carillon de Dunkerque - Anonymous/Traditional
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