#5090, With Donnacha Dennehy on "Land of Winter"
From Princeton-based Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy, listen to the dual Grammy-nominated 12-part piece Land of Winter featuring Alarm Will Sound, conducted by Alan Pierson. Inspired by the Latin name for Ireland, which was Hibernia, the work Land of Winter has several things going on all at once – a play of light; the circle of time vs arrow of time; and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio BWV 248 - specifically, the chorale Wie soll ich dich empfangen.
Dennehy, who also founded Crash Ensemble, Ireland’s now-renowned new music group, has a long history with electronic music and electroacoustic music, so even though this piece is completely acoustic, the instruments play overtones that sound almost electronic. The piece, in twelve parts, starting with “December”, may feel like being sonically adrift, with unusual textures and sonic combinations making for a circular experience of time through the year - from the darkness of the winter solstice to the brightness of midsummer and back again.
The connecting thread – the Bach chorale, "Wie soll ich dich empfangen" from the Christmas Oratorio, which is hinted at –makes itself known in the “April” movement with overtones of the chorale (after Bach’s melody used for the Easter season), and in “November”, where all the overtones are stripped away and looped harmonies are created from the chorale. Dennehy also describes how he amended the “May” movement for the 16-piece chamber orchestra Alarm Will Sound to contribute vocalizations instead of their instruments.
Hear several movements of Dennehy’s Land of Winter for this New Sounds episode, along with wintry music from Danish sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard. - Caryn Havlik
Program #5090, With Donnacha Dennehy (First aired 12/22/25)
ARTIST: Alan Pierson & Alarm Will Sound
WORK: Land of Winter_ I. December [1:37]
RECORDING: Donnacha Dennehy: Land of Winter
SOURCE: Nonesuch
INFO: donnachadennehy.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Alan Pierson & Alarm Will Sound
WORK: Land of Winter_ I. December [3:58]
RECORDING: Donnacha Dennehy: Land of Winter
SOURCE: Nonesuch
INFO: donnachadennehy.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Alan Pierson & Alarm Will Sound
WORK: Land of Winter II. January [5:10]
RECORDING: Donnacha Dennehy: Land of Winter
SOURCE: Nonesuch
INFO: donnachadennehy.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Alan Pierson & Alarm Will Sound
WORK: Land of Winter VI. May [3:09]
RECORDING: Donnacha Dennehy: Land of Winter
SOURCE: Nonesuch
INFO: donnachadennehy.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Alan Pierson & Alarm Will Sound
WORK: Land of Winter VII. June [6:30]
RECORDING: Donnacha Dennehy: Land of Winter
SOURCE: Nonesuch
INFO: donnachadennehy.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Alan Pierson & Alarm Will Sound
WORK: Land of Winter VIII. July [3:27]
RECORDING: Donnacha Dennehy: Land of Winter
SOURCE: Nonesuch
INFO: donnachadennehy.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Alan Pierson & Alarm Will Sound
WORK: Land of Winter XII. November [3:33]
RECORDING: Donnacha Dennehy: Land of Winter
SOURCE: Nonesuch
INFO: donnachadennehy.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Tom Koopman & Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
WORK: Johann Sebastian Bach: Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, No. 5, Wie soll ich dich empfangen [:33]
RECORDING: Bach: Weihnachtsoratorium
SOURCE: Erato
INFO: Available at YouTube, Amazon.com, Spotify, Applemusic
ARTIST: Jacob Kirkegaard
WORK: Nyctophobia [5:13]
RECORDING: Snowblind
SOURCE: The Helen Scarsdale Agency
INFO: https://helenscarsdale.bandcamp.com/album/snowblind
ARTIST: Jacob Kirkegaard
WORK: Perish [4:16]
RECORDING: Snowblind
SOURCE: The Helen Scarsdale Agency
INFO: https://helenscarsdale.bandcamp.com/album/snowblind
