Monday 26 October 2015

Ailís Ní Ríain lingers at the Bronte's piano in Haworth.

Ailís Ní Ríain at the Bronte Parsonage Museum
Ailís Ní Ríain at the Bronte Parsonage Museum
Irish composer Ailís Ní Ríain has an intriguing new piece which went live last weekend (23 October). Linger is a set of pieces composed for the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth (home to the Bronte sisters). Each piece has been installed in one of six rooms, the piece each inspired by the rooms, and they are played on and composed for Bronte's own piano. The pieces were particularly inspired by Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and its depiction of alcoholism.  The pieces are the first to be composed specially for the museum, and the first compositions written for the Bronte's piano. The instrument is an early 19th century upstrung piano which was delivered by canal, and which has recently been restored.

For those not able to visit the museum (where Linger will be in place until January 2016) Ailís Ní Ríain has produced an album (available for download) which contains the six pieces from Linger, additional soundscapes based on The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as well as music by Seth Bennett, Sylvia Hinz and Kelly Jayne Jones. There are also a series of videos on Vimeo which give you a lovely taste: Ailis playing the Bronte's piano, a documentary about the commissioning and writing of the music, a documentary about the restoration off the piano and a film introducing the project.

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