w17560
| Title | Snake-Dance of Saint Patrick |
| Contributors |
Derek Ball (composer) |
| Composition date | 2008 |
| Duration (mins) | 4 |
| Category | instrumental solo |
| Instrumentation | Vn |
| Commissioned by | |
| Key signature | |
| First line | |
| First performed | 16 03 2008 Gregory Harrington Memorial Hall, Pehi Kupa St, Walkanae, New Zealand |
| Notes | For Gregory Harrington |
| Programme Note | What is feared is also desired, and the relationship between Christianity and Paganism in Britain and Ireland during the early centuries AD must have been a complicated one which mixed hostility with fascination. Scholars assert that some druids initially welcomed Christian incomers (like Saint Patrick), expecting to co-exist with rather than be ousted by them, while the Christians adopted and adapted Pagan festivals into their own calendar without apparent distaste. It's sad therefore that things went so wrong between them, with the Pagans being – literally – demonised. In this piece I imagine the notoriously irascible Saint Patrick and his Pagan counterparts dancing warily around one another, the latter represented as those snakes who were destined to be expelled from the Island of Saints and Scholars. It may seem unfair to represent Pagans as snakes, but perhaps they wouldn't have minded at all : in many cultures snakes have quite a good press, embodying positive attributes like renewal and health. I take a very simple approach. The snakes move in glissandi, while the great Saint is represented by a "mitre motif" consisting of 3 notes going up and back down in the shape of the bishop's hat that Patrick is usually represented as wearing (whether he actually did or not!) The last half of the piece is not at all pessimistic – why that should be, I'm not sure : see what you make of it! |
This work is associated with the following collection items:
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