I've been singing in
choirs since I was about 6 and had my first experience of singing
Gregorian chant in an abbey choir when I was 13. Fourteen years on
and I hadn't sung it since, so when Matthew first approached me about
singing some plain song in the Scottish Borders I was interested.
Now, when I'm not singing I study medieval literature, so when he
explained that the music came from a 12th century
manuscript fragment that had been found in an archive near Hawick my
interest became excitement which in turn became a 6 hour train
journey and a performance at the Heritage Hub in Hawick for the
Fragments launch event.
That was my first visit
to the Borders and I was lucky enough to be invited back, just over
six months later, to sing Séan Doherty's new piece, Et Clamabant,
at the Fragments of Blue event in Jedburgh. It was a singular
experience for a singer, being part of an audiovisual experience that
went beyond a typical performance, to be at once performer and
spectator, to be enveloped in the the music, the imagery and the
architecture of the abbey and the fragment. It was also a
heart-warming experience for a researcher of medieval culture because
we were singing music from the world I study and taking part in the
revival of that world, letting its words and melodies ring out again.
Even
more exciting was that we were also witnessing the new creative work
which has sprung from those ancient texts and tunes. To experience
the Red Field's audiovisual pieces during the performance and to see
the new installation in the ruined abbey, complete with the
atmospheric sound sculptures, was both fascinating and moving. And to
perform to such a large audience and to witness the interest and
enthusiasm of everyone present for that little medieval fragment and
what it represents gave me a new faith in my own work, in the idea
that my own studies don't represent a dusty little niche, but rather
a different fragment, waiting to be brought into the light.
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