The beauty of the Romanian spiritual treasures. An interview with the Irish composer Shaun Davey by Tudor Petcu

1.) I know you are a very well-known contemporary Irish composer. Can I ask you please to tell us, in a few words,  a little bit about your music and activity, so that our readers have the opportunity to discover you in a deeper way.

In Ireland my best-known music is probably The Brendan Voyage in which an Irish traditional musician, Liam O'Flynn, plays with the musicians of a symphony orchestra. In this his instrument, the uilleann pipes, represents the voice of a medieval leather-skinned boat, believed to have been used by 6th century St Brendan in a voyage across the Atlantic; the orchestra represents the elements and creatures of the sea. Part of my intention was to show how it is possible to harness together two different traditions and create something new.

Others of my concert works are also based on narratives from Irish History, for example Granuaile is based on the life of a famous Irish woman chieftain and the occupation of Ireland by Elizabethan England; The Relief of Derry on the historical division in Ireland between Protestant and Catholic. I often assign melodic roles to traditional musicians and instruments because something special happens when musicians of an aural tradition are heard in the context of an orchestra and vice versa. In addition, I think there is a place for music which breaks down barriers between genres, especially those usually associated with social groups. eg court music vs peasant music, religious vs secular.This is what attracted me to the epitaphs in Sapanta - the combination of sacred and profane, the earthly and the spiritual - and led to several year's collaboration with Pr Dobre's Sibiu University Men's choir, concerts in Sibiu, Sapanta and Bucharest, and the creation of Voices from the Merry Cemetery and participation in Peter Hurley's Drumul Lung.

Outside Ireland I have been composer with The Royal Shakespeare Company in England and have worked with leading UK and Irish theatre directors on plays by Shakespeare, Chekov, Ibsen, O'Casey, Synge, Joyce etc. In Romania it was my privilege to work with Teatrul Nationals Radu Stanca in Sibiu and in the USA with theatres in San Diego and New York. I have also composed for Film and TV in the U.K. and the U.S.

 

 

2.) Given the fact that you are a composer, what would be your main worldview from a spiritual point of view? Can you say that spirituality and even God Himself represent somehow a source of inspiration for your music?

For much of my life I have been a composer 'for hire', often writing music to assist the vision of others. Sometimes simply to support a growing family and pay for my children's' education. Sometimes I searched for a music in some  way original, capable of reaching a deeper level. Often the inspiration was great music by other people, at other times it was influenced by a certain outlook, or 'worldview' as you put it. My own philosophy is that all people are equal, which is partly why I chose to write music that brings together musicians of different traditions and different backgrounds.  More than that, I believe all creatures of all kinds are equal and they we, as humans, have a duty to care for all living in this world. I believe in the potential for human goodness to create a better world and that ultimately we must do it for ourselves - some with belief in God and some of us without. I do not know if this is expressed in the music I have written - I would like to think so at least in some of it - but 'spirituality' is not a motive; I just look for what seems to have a roundness, vitality, capability of a lasting life, undeniable beauty of form even.  I believe the traditional ways are best - love song, lament, dances of joy and despair, music that touches and sometimes lifts the heart.

 

3.) I know you have traveled several times to Romania (maybe especially because of your strong friendship with Peter Hurley who's living in Romania) and in this way you have discovered a faraway country, a tradition and, let's say, a civilisation. Taking into account these journeys, what are the most important paradigms of the Romanian traditions that you have discovered? When I am asking you that, I especially make reference to Maramures which inspired Voices from the Merry Cemetery and where you oversaw two concerts of your music. Can you say that in Maramures you found what we might call "an ancient tradition"?

All the Irish musicians discovered a sense of 'fellowship' in Romania. (Does that word translate? We have other words in English like 'kinship', i.e. A sense of belonging to the same family). I am not sure if this was more so in cities like Sibiu and Bucharest, or in rural Maramures where the farming community reminded us of communities in the far West of Ireland, where an older language and older traditions prevail. The division in Romania between urban and rural is very recognisable to the Irish. In Ireland admiration and affection by city dwellers for old rural traditions sometimes combine with ridicule and resentment when older ways clash or threaten to block modern trends (and vice versa). And yet in reality, the dialogue between the two cultures - modern and old - is valuable and indispensable; each enriches the other.

I do not consider I can speak with any authority on Romanian traditions, merely give some impressions. In Bucharest I was encouraged by Peter Hurley to visit the Peasant Museum, the concept of which is extremely interesting as it has no parallel in Ireland. There one is introduced to a strong visual and craft tradition, especially in wood; in Maramures one can see the real thing, and marvel at the distinctive  timber-constructed rural churches, with immensely tall wooden spires seen from far in the distance.

Everywhere I visited I heard singing, in particular in churches, a kind of singing seldom heard in Ireland. Romanian singing in churches is profound and deeply committed, full and fearless. I heard priest's choirs in Bucharest and Sibiu, the community choir in the Orthodox Cathedral in Sibiu and, later, the women's choir in Sapanta parish church. On each occasion I was profoundly moved. Eventually it was this which created the desire to collaborate with a Romanian choir and, following an exchange of letters, it was Fr Dobre who offered the opportunity. The connection with the Merry Cemetery in Sapanta came from a book in the Romanian embassy in Dublin, in which the playful epitaphs seemed to invite music, each one a potential lyric for a song. The Sibiu International Theatre Festival hosted the first performance of Voices from the Merry Cemetery; the Irish musicians travelled with support from Culture Ireland. The next year, with thanks to  Peter Hurley's Drumul Lung and with the permission and support of Fr Lutsai in Sapanta, the work was performed amongst the epitaphs which inspired it, before members of the families whose tombs are decorated by those fantastic wooden crosses made by Stan Ion Patras and his craftsmen.

 

We appreciated the warmth with which we were received everywhere in Romania, and all the practical support from and by Romanians which made our concerts possible. The concerts in Sapanta were especially remarkable because, in reality, they can not normally happen due to enormous cost. How was it possible that an orchestra of young musicians travelled through the night from Bucharest and Sibiu to a rendezvous in Sapanta with Musicians from Ireland, Scotland and Galicia, joined by Professor Dobre's Male choir of Theology students from Sibiu?  Why did the Womens choir of Sapanta take on the challenge of singing for the first time with an orchestra, and give their time so willingly to participate with such dignity and success? How were these 150 musicians and singers of mixed traditions able, later, to perform on specially-constructed stages in the countryside as night closed in, while the music echoed round the hills and over the border into Ukraine? Peter Hurley's fierce ambition to bring Maramures to the world is a big part of the answer; the other part I have witnessed many times - not only in concerts but also as composer with Teatrul Nazionale Radu Stanca in Sibiu in 2012 -  Romanians are resourceful, willing to experiment, they love challenge. Without that this kind of collaboration would never be possible. My concerts have also had support and backing from the Romanian Cultural Institute - for which I am grateful - (let's add generosity to the list of Romanian 'paradigms'); RCI helped make possible reciprocal concerts in St Patricks' Cathedral and the National Concert Hall in Dublin in 2010 and 2014 where we performed Voices from the merry Cemetery. Then Ireland had the chance to hear Fr Dobre'e wonderful choir.

 

4.) What are some reasons from your point of view for saying that there a similarities between the Romanian spirituality and the Irish one?

 

In terms of the areas of Romania that we witnessed - and these are my personal views -  there appear to be differences between our religious, church-based cultures. In Ireland the Catholic priesthood has been undermined, with many instances of corrupt and predatory behaviour exposed; until recently cruel practices were routinely swept under the carpet by Catholic authorities and ignored by civil authorities. Thus the Catholic church and civil authorities in Ireland no longer command the same respect.  By contrast, in Romania the church appears to have the respect of the community and serves the community in an older, more traditional, way. it was a revelation to us that Romanian priests are free to marry and have families; it must must surely increase the shared humanity and social connection between church and congregation. In my own case I was privileged to have the friendship, collaboration and support of a remarkable Orthodox priest, Dr Sorin Dobre and his wife Roxanna. Dr Dobre loves a challenge, and so do 'his boys', the Men's choir of Sibiu University Theology department.

The churches I visited in Romanian cities seem to feed a hunger for safety and stability in a world that still contains much threat and insecurity, despite the  repainted facades and superficial 'normality'. By contrast, in rural areas, there appears to be a greater sense of equality, collaboration, between priest and parishioner; As in rural parts of Ireland, Maramures society appears more self-reliant and independent - minded, a practical people whose spirituality is expressed with equal sincerity but with a lighter touch. I will not forget the beauty and strength of the singing by the women's choir In Sapanta, where we had the extraordinary support of Fr. Lutsai -  a man passionately engaged with the physical fabric of his churches, who loves to build very tall church steeples, and by whose permission we performed Voices from the Merry Cemetery in the same churchyard whose inscriptions inspired the music.

 

5.) If someone, who hasn't visited yet Romania, were interested to ask you why should he come to our country, how would you respond to him?

 

I certainly would encourage people to visit Romania because it has a history which other European citizens should understand. Firstly it is a genuine European country with many centuries of cultural connection to mainstream Europe; Liszt included Romania on his concert tours, Bucharest has a world-famous concert hall; in it's heyday Bucharest was known as 'the Paris of the East'. Romania has powerful and vibrant theatrical, literary and visual art traditions. Especially with it's enterprising and forward-looking younger generation Romania belongs in the family of European nations. It is a deeply religious country; it's fortified Christian churches testify to Romania which served as a bulwark between Muslem East and Christian West. Although the ravages and destruction of the Ceaucescu era can still be seen Romania is a country of enormous natural beauty, from the deep ravines and plains of Transylvania to the rolling countryside of northern Maramures with its distinctive haystacks and traditional costume, However it is complex; even in Maramures one finds the Communist Museum in Sighetu where so many innocent people were imprisioned. Perhaps it is this complexity, this history, which is one of the compelling reasons why people should visit.