Even You Song is based on Choral Evensong and interviews with couples from Peterborough, devised by Bettina Furnée (artist) and Lucy Sheerman (writer).
Album & Artwork
The full production of Even You Song incorporates moonlight lighting, a printed libretto, and digital film projections with selected texts and imagery of domestic interiors captured during the interviews.
Composer Biography
Cheryl Frances-Hoad, the composer, has been composing to commission since age fifteen and trained as a cellist and pianist at the Menuhin School.
Composition History
The work's libretto was formed from edited and rearranged answers of twelve Peterborough couples, who were asked questions about a hypothetical trip to the Moon.
Compositional Technique
The Anthem, the most complex chapter, includes unusual sounds like staggered 'shhh' sounds, heartbeat rhythms, whistling to emulate extraterrestrial messages, and tongue clicks.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The project was influenced by Peterborough Cathedral's 'otherworldly Evensong service, soaring pillars and the sheer force and power of the organ', which figures as a kind of 'lift off'.
Notable Performances
The premiere of Even You Song took place at Peterborough Cathedral on February 16, 2017, following the organ's re-pitching from 'Old Philharmonic' to 'Standard' concert pitch.
