Powerful & Dangerous
Women who have made a difference
Script by Ché Ramsden, Séamus Rea and Rioghnach Sachs
Women who have made a difference
Script by Ché Ramsden, Séamus Rea and Rioghnach Sachs
Special Guests
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Dame Ann Murray
Murray is the Patron of The Fourth Choir. She has sung at all major opera houses and is particularly noted for her performances in works by George Frideric Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Strauss. She has performed mainly at Covent Garden, the English National Opera and the Bavarian State Opera. In 2012, she was made an Honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Diamond Jubilee Honours for her services to music. |
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Annette Badland is an English actress known for a wide range of roles on television, radio, stage, and film. She is best known for her roles as Margaret Blaine in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, Mrs. Glenna Fitzgibbons in season 1 of Outlander, and Babe Smith in the long-running soap opera EastEnders. She was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in 1993 for her performance in Jim Cartwright's play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice.
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Stuart Beatch
Stuart Beatch (b. 1991) is a Canadian choral composer currently living in Edmonton, Alberta. He is the composer-in-residence for The Fourth Choir (an LGBT chamber choir in London, UK), and recently completed graduate studies at King’s College London under Rob Keeley, having previously studied composition at the University of Alberta and music education at the University of Regina. |
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Jonatan Bougt
Award-winning Swedish guitarist and theorbo player. Jonatan is the first prize winner of the RCM Guitar Prize 2017, the RCM Historical Performance Competition 2019, The Century Fund Prize and The Richard III Prize. He has performed in venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, Queen’s Gallery, Amaryllis Flemming Concert Hall, Britten Theatre, Kings Place, Snape Maltings Concert Hall, and Stockholm Concert Hall. |
L’Amante Modesto
Music: Barbara Strozzi (1619 – c.1664)
The days fly swiftly and soon
It’ll be a century that I’m loving you, Cloris.
And for my long, devoted love,
not even a small reward have I asked.
I am a lover but a pure and modest one.
I want my heart to adore you silently,
and I wish to relieve my internal passions
with the mute breath of an honest sigh.
Let he who is born more fortunate than I
enjoy impure delights. For me it is enough
to know that I am loved by my Cloris.
Thus, our rivalry is never at war,
never in conflict; we are different types:
he loves you wantonly, I love you chastely.
Gemiler Giresun’a
Turkish Folk Song, arr. Ellis-Peckham/Swingles
Like ships surging to Giresun,
my heart yearns for your voice.
Again I long – ah, ah, ah – for my breath and your breath to mingle.
Alas my love, my Bride…
Salve Regina
Music: Francis Poulenc (1899 – 1963)
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
to thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us;
and after this our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement: O loving: sweet Virgin Mary.
Standing as I do before God
Music: Cecilia McDowall (b. 1951), Text: a reflection on the last words of Edith Cavell (1865 – 1915) by Séan Street (b. 1946)
Carrickfergus - Irish Folk Song, arr. Dominic Peckham
Girl Hours - World Premiere
Music: Stuart Beatch (b. 1991), Text: Extracts from a poem by Sofia Samatar (b.1971),
based on the life of Henrietta Swan Leavitt (1868 – 1921)
Twelve o'clock.
My husband and children asleep.
To chart one more star, to go on working:
this is a way of keeping faith.
Draw me a map.
Show me how to read music.
Teach me to rise without standing,
to hold the galaxy's calipers
with the earth at one gleaming tip,
to live vastly and with precision,
to travel
where distance is no longer measured in miles but in lifetimes,
in epochs, in breaths, in light years, in girl hours.
Panda Chant II
Music and Text: Meredith Monk (b. 1942)
INTERVAL
Unleash the beauty of your eyes
Music: Alexander Campkin (b.1984)
Text: Sappho (630 – 570 BC) translation by the composer
The Lady Oriana
Music: John Wilbye (1574 – 1638)
Madre, la de los primores
Music: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648 – 1695)
La Bruja
Mexican Folk Song, arr. David Conte (b.1955)
The Witch
Oh! how wonderful it is to fly at two in the morning
oh! how wonderful it is to fly, oh woman!
To fly and let yourself fall in the arms of a lady,
oh! how wonderful it is to fly at two in the morning, oh woman!
The witch grabs me, she takes me to her house
she turns me into a pot and into a pumpkin.
The witch grabs me, she takes me to the little hill
she turns me into a pot and into a little pumpkin.
Oh! you must tell me
how many little ones have you drank from?
None, I don't know
I just want to drink from you.
Oh! I was frightened by a woman, where?
in the middle of the salty sea
oh! I was frightened by a woman, oh woman!
Why didn't I want to believe what others had told me?
from above she was a woman
from below she was a fish, oh woman!
When I found my wife lying down
I pulled the covers, she says nothing
when I found my wife asleep
I pulled the covers and I ran out.
Oh! you must tell me
how many little ones have you drank from?
None, I don't know
I just want to drink from you.
I found the witch, she was flying in the wind
I found the witch, oh woman!
So I asked her: "who are you looking for?"
she replied: "who are you?"
"I'm a huapango singer, oh woman!"
Hide your happiness, hide Juana,
there's a witch underneath the bed.
Hide your happiness, hide Joba,
there's a witch out there flying on her broom.
Oh! you must tell me
how many little ones have you drank from?
None, I don't know
I just want to drink from you.
She Who
Music: Jessica Curry (b 1973)
She who continues
She who has a being
Who carries her own name
She who marks her own way
Who makes her own difference
Gathering her own events
Who gathers her own way
She who waits, bearing,
she who cares for her own name
She who bears
She who carries her own way
I am the woman, I am the first person
Who is the first person to no other
There is no other first person
She who floods like river and like a river continues
Sarabande from Partita in C minor - BWV 997 (Guitar Solo) Music: JS Bach (1685 - 1750)
The Runner
Music: Bob Chilcott (b. 1955)
Music: Barbara Strozzi (1619 – c.1664)
The days fly swiftly and soon
It’ll be a century that I’m loving you, Cloris.
And for my long, devoted love,
not even a small reward have I asked.
I am a lover but a pure and modest one.
I want my heart to adore you silently,
and I wish to relieve my internal passions
with the mute breath of an honest sigh.
Let he who is born more fortunate than I
enjoy impure delights. For me it is enough
to know that I am loved by my Cloris.
Thus, our rivalry is never at war,
never in conflict; we are different types:
he loves you wantonly, I love you chastely.
Gemiler Giresun’a
Turkish Folk Song, arr. Ellis-Peckham/Swingles
Like ships surging to Giresun,
my heart yearns for your voice.
Again I long – ah, ah, ah – for my breath and your breath to mingle.
Alas my love, my Bride…
Salve Regina
Music: Francis Poulenc (1899 – 1963)
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
to thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us;
and after this our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement: O loving: sweet Virgin Mary.
Standing as I do before God
Music: Cecilia McDowall (b. 1951), Text: a reflection on the last words of Edith Cavell (1865 – 1915) by Séan Street (b. 1946)
Carrickfergus - Irish Folk Song, arr. Dominic Peckham
Girl Hours - World Premiere
Music: Stuart Beatch (b. 1991), Text: Extracts from a poem by Sofia Samatar (b.1971),
based on the life of Henrietta Swan Leavitt (1868 – 1921)
Twelve o'clock.
My husband and children asleep.
To chart one more star, to go on working:
this is a way of keeping faith.
Draw me a map.
Show me how to read music.
Teach me to rise without standing,
to hold the galaxy's calipers
with the earth at one gleaming tip,
to live vastly and with precision,
to travel
where distance is no longer measured in miles but in lifetimes,
in epochs, in breaths, in light years, in girl hours.
Panda Chant II
Music and Text: Meredith Monk (b. 1942)
INTERVAL
Unleash the beauty of your eyes
Music: Alexander Campkin (b.1984)
Text: Sappho (630 – 570 BC) translation by the composer
The Lady Oriana
Music: John Wilbye (1574 – 1638)
Madre, la de los primores
Music: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648 – 1695)
La Bruja
Mexican Folk Song, arr. David Conte (b.1955)
The Witch
Oh! how wonderful it is to fly at two in the morning
oh! how wonderful it is to fly, oh woman!
To fly and let yourself fall in the arms of a lady,
oh! how wonderful it is to fly at two in the morning, oh woman!
The witch grabs me, she takes me to her house
she turns me into a pot and into a pumpkin.
The witch grabs me, she takes me to the little hill
she turns me into a pot and into a little pumpkin.
Oh! you must tell me
how many little ones have you drank from?
None, I don't know
I just want to drink from you.
Oh! I was frightened by a woman, where?
in the middle of the salty sea
oh! I was frightened by a woman, oh woman!
Why didn't I want to believe what others had told me?
from above she was a woman
from below she was a fish, oh woman!
When I found my wife lying down
I pulled the covers, she says nothing
when I found my wife asleep
I pulled the covers and I ran out.
Oh! you must tell me
how many little ones have you drank from?
None, I don't know
I just want to drink from you.
I found the witch, she was flying in the wind
I found the witch, oh woman!
So I asked her: "who are you looking for?"
she replied: "who are you?"
"I'm a huapango singer, oh woman!"
Hide your happiness, hide Juana,
there's a witch underneath the bed.
Hide your happiness, hide Joba,
there's a witch out there flying on her broom.
Oh! you must tell me
how many little ones have you drank from?
None, I don't know
I just want to drink from you.
She Who
Music: Jessica Curry (b 1973)
She who continues
She who has a being
Who carries her own name
She who marks her own way
Who makes her own difference
Gathering her own events
Who gathers her own way
She who waits, bearing,
she who cares for her own name
She who bears
She who carries her own way
I am the woman, I am the first person
Who is the first person to no other
There is no other first person
She who floods like river and like a river continues
Sarabande from Partita in C minor - BWV 997 (Guitar Solo) Music: JS Bach (1685 - 1750)
The Runner
Music: Bob Chilcott (b. 1955)
