400 years of Derry's Walls put to song
2013 is the 400th anniversary of the building of Derry's walls. But I can reveal thatÌýa groundbreaking project to mark the four century old relationship between Derry~Londonderry and the City of London is due to be premiered in the summer of 2013. A new cantata created by Pulitzer prize winning poet Paul Muldoon and composer Mark Anthony Turnage is to be written which will be playedÌýin a simultaneous performanceÌýby the London Symphony OrchestraÌýin London and Camerata Ireland in Derry, playing in the two Guildhalls.
It's an incredibleÌýcreative partnership between Turnage, who has already brought the life of troubled icon Anna NIcole Smith to life on the stage of the Royal Opera HouseÌý, and Armagh born Pulitzer prize winning poet Paul Muldoon.ÌýEven more incredible are the number of leading cultural bodies from Derry and London who have been working on this idea for the past 2 years, including the Verbal Arts Centre, Wall2Wall Music, the City of London Festival, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the LSO, Camerata Ireland and the Barbican in the City of London.
The historic and often troubled relationship between Derry~Londonderry and the City of London started when the City of London and 55 of the London Livery companies were told by Royal Charter to take part in the Plantation of Ulster. The Honourable the Irish Society, a group of members of the City of London Corporation was formed in 1613. It wasÌýthey whoÌýbuilt the walls of the city andÌýit's them, with the City of London, who have put up the money to jointly commissionÌýthe new piece.
There's an inscription on the foundation stone of St Columb's Cathedral, built by the Hon the Irish Society, that says "If Stones could speak then London's praise should sound for those who built this church and city from the ground".
Derry~Londonderry has the title of UK City of Culture 2013 and thousands are streaming across the newly opened Peace Bridge over the River Foyle. But there is still a note of tension around whether the Walls can be celebrated. While London built "this city", it's a very different city now,Ìýeven if the walls remain intact and the Maiden City remains unbreached.Ìý Turnage and Muldoon have yet to meet but it's expected to happen soon in Derry.ÌýÌýÌý
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