Name: Kenny, John: Songs from A Book of Herne
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Kenny, John: Songs from A Book of Herne

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Advanced. These settings of four poems from Eric Mottram's A Book of Herne originated as a dance theatre project with choreographer Rosina Bonsu. Eric Mottram and I met at the London home of John and Mary Whiting on January 9th 1995 to discuss a collaboration but sadly he died suddenly a few days later. At our only meeting Eric gave me a copy of A Book of Herne - I decided to set four poems from this collection as a tribute to him. In my settings I have been at pains to preserve the clarity of the words, since to me their quality is as important as their meaning. The voice and alto trombone interchange much as Herne or the Green Man transform themselves in the poetic images. In no. 1 these two are a pure duo, in no. 2 they share the primary role of theme development. In no. 3 the voice becomes wordless melisma, whilst the trombonist becomes the spoken voice. In no. 4 this interchangeability is explored further, whilst no. 5 is a wordless epilogue. The other instruments have moments of soloistic exposure, but are treated more as a body of sound - the "land mass forests" and "field from amber resin" of Herne Oak. Songs from A Book of Herne is dedicated to John and Mary Whiting. The piece was commissioned by The Chamber Group of Scotland, with assistance from The Scottish Arts Council, and completed in Salzburg in August 1995. The poems are reproduced by kind permission of the Arrowspire Press. John Kenny

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