Jane Eyre Fantasy in Clinton and No Coward Soul is Mine in Mercersburg

1. A new composition by Ola Gjeilo inspired by Emily Brontë's poem No Coward Soul is Mine is premiered today, April 9, in Mercersburg, PA:

Mercersburg Area Community Chorus & Orchestra
2011 Spring Concert Schedule
April 9, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
April 10, 2011 at 3:00 p.m.

Haydn: The Creation
Ola Gjeilo: No Coward Soul Is Mine

Featuring: Alex Paul, Alex Helsabeck, Colin Eaton, Mary Ellen Brennan.

Public Opinion has additional information:

The second part of the program is a new orchestral piece based on the poem, "No Coward Soul Is Mine," by Emily Brontë, author of the classic novel, "Wuthering Heights." Composer Gjeilo has always been interested in English poets.
"After leaving Oslo, I continued my education in England. This poem by Brontë is incredibly profound and one of my favorites," Gjeilo said.
When he was commissioned to prepare a work for orchestra and chorus, Gjeilo was asked to select a text; the Brontë poem was his first choice. The opening lines read:

No coward soul is mine,
No trembler in the worlds storm-troubled sphere;
I see Heavens glories shine,
And faith shines equal, arming me from fear.

"The orchestra uses the same instrumentation as the Haydn piece," said Gjeilo. "It is very melodic. I write clear melodies so the music is accessible and can be hummed easily." (Cheryl M. Keiser)

2. Tracey Rush's Jane Eyre Fantasy Overture (first performed in 2009) is performed again today, April 9, in Clinton, Iowa:

Clinton Simphony Orchestra

Spring Concert: The Sirens' Call
Vernon Cook Theater -- April 9, 2011 - 7:30 pm
817 8th Ave. S Clinton, IA

Tracey Rush
Jane Eyre, Fantasy Overture

Program notes:
Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre had long been a favored subject in Rush's catalog of unfinished projects when she was approached by Carl Johnson, conductor of the Des Moines Community Orchestra, to compose a work for the orchestra's 'Women's Night Out' program. When she learned that the orchestra had recently performed Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture, her thoughts immediately turned to an unfinished musical on Jane Eyre she and a playwright friend had worked on in the 1990s. She realized 'this was the perfect opportunity to resurrect my previous work on Jane and do my own concert fantasy with those themes that...had been languishing in the piano bench all these years.'

Jane Eyre, Fantasy Overture is patterned after Tchaikovsky's concert fantasy and incorporates five themes, each depicting 'a different emotion in Jane's life and her development and growth into the incredible character that she [becomes].' The five themes are 'Childhood at Gateshead' (based on a plaintive four-note motif J(C)-A-N(G)-E), "The Red Room,""Lowood: Death of Helen,""Flight from Thornfield," and "Reunion." (William H. Driver and Clinton Symphony Orchestra Association)

Categories: Jane Eyre, Music, Poetry