For Mezzo Soprano Duo, Piano, Tape & Movement
Music by Kara Gibbs |Text by Dorothy Wordsworth |Choreography by Rhiannon Beausoleil-Morrison & Emma Hall
Commissioned and produced by Opera Unbound with the support of the SOCAN Foundation & Canada Council for the Arts
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Floating Island
Text by Dorothy Wordsworth
Harmonious Powers with Nature work
On sky, earth, river, lake, and sea:
Sunshine and storm, whirlwind and breeze
All in one duteous task agree.
Once did I see a slip of earth,
By throbbing waves long undermined,
Loosed from its hold; — how no one knew
But all might see it float, obedient to the wind.
Might see it, from the mossy shore
Dissevered float upon the Lake,
Float, with its crest of trees adorned
On which the warbling birds their pastime take.
Food, shelter, safety there they find
There berries ripen, flowerets bloom;
There insects live their lives — and die:
A peopled world it is; in size a tiny room.
And thus through many seasons’ space
This little Island may survive
But Nature, though we mark her not,
Will take away — may cease to give.
Perchance when you are wandering forth
Upon some vacant sunny day
Without an object, hope, or fear,
Thither your eyes may turn — the Isle is passed away.
Buried beneath the glittering Lake!
Its place no longer to be found,
Yet the lost fragments shall remain,
To fertilize some other ground.
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Composer Note – Kara Gibbs
Floating Island is a multidisciplinary work that explores themes of pastoral beauty and feminist history. The impetus for this piece came during a two-week, 340km solo walk on the Coast to Coast Trail which traverses three of England’s major National Parks—the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, and North York Moores—stunning landscape famed for inspiring countless English romantic poets of the 19th century. Many of the surrounding cities were adorned with monuments to these writers, the majority of which are male.
Curiosity regarding the female poets of this location and time led me to the beautiful 1829 poem Floating Island by Dorothy Wordsworth. Unpublished during her lifetime, Dorothy’s poems were recorded in personal journals that were kept primarily private as her brother William Wordsworth pursued a fruitful writing career. I was extremely moved by this particular text which explores the cyclical nature of life, touching on both the harmonious peace and the chaotically unpredictable power of the natural world—warning that “Nature…will take away—may cease to give.” Through the increasingly urgent lens of climate change, this poem takes on new meaning for us all almost 200 years after it was penned.
Within this composition I have also woven in quotations from composer Fanny Mendelssohn’s Nocturne in B minor. Fanny (1805-1847) would have been a contemporary of Dorothy Wordsworth (1771-1855), both creating their art at a time when making a career as a poet or composer was extremely difficult if not impossible for women. Fanny similarly had a brother with an extremely successful career in her field, composer Felix Mendelssohn.
The electroacoustic layer that appears alongside vocals and piano is created from numerous field recordings of primarily nature sounds that I took in and around the area Dorothy Wordsworth lived as I walked the Coast to Coast trail.
With new choreography by Rhiannon Beausoleil-Morrison & Emma Hall, this work combines acoustic and electroacoustic sound with movement to reflect on forgotten histories and hidden narratives that sit at the intersection of collective memory and imagination. As much about inner landscapes as outer ones, it looks to reflect what can be seen and felt in the natural world when one climbs to the top of the highest peak and takes in the solitude and vastness that surrounds them.
– Kara Gibbs
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Choreographers Note – Rhiannon Beausoleil-Morrison & Emma Hall
The choreography for Floating Island assembles connections between sound and movement, self and nature, and tenderness and strength. The co-creation process took place during a time of significant transition for both of us, and the end result is really influenced by this. It is a piece that invites you to reflect on reinvention and the taste of memory.
For our first time choreographing with live music, Floating Island felt like a natural collaboration. Often the choreographic process begins with a blank slate where the piece can be built from the ground up. In this instance, we were lucky to begin our task with music composed and a concept to build from. This really allowed us to melt into the movement and let it take its own shape. We hope it provides a whimsical journey both in sight and sound.
– Rhiannon Beausoleil-Morrison & Emma Hall
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Premiered Aug 2024 by Taryn Plater (mezzo soprano), Rachael McAuley (mezzo soprano), Perri Lo (piano), Elle Derkitt (dance) and Denae Harpham (dance), Dance Deck Onze presented by Belle Spirale Dance Projects. Commissioned and produced by Opera Unbound.
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