Pioneering soprano Juliet Fraser explores the timeless vocalisation of the lament in a “ritual of letting go”, combining ancient and new music.

Juliet Fraser is known for her inventive programming and commitment to exploring new forms of vocal expression. This time, however, she's experimenting with a whole new way of making. A small ensemble of stellar international artists will gather for a residency in Snape in the spring to co-create this hour-long, late-night “ritual of letting go”.

Caccini, Couperin, and the Byzantine hymns of Kassia are some of the points of departure for a sequence that seeks out the cracks between genres and traditions to offer something uniquely timeless and unusually communal.

Juliet Fraser writes: “Song has always been used to mark the significant moments in a life, whether of celebration, transition, healing or grief. Inspiration for this new sequence of music and movement is drawn from circular rituals such as the canonical hours, antiphonal structures such as weaving songs, and the slow march of a funeral procession. Music from earlier times and other traditions will sit alongside two new laments by Soosan Lolavar and James Weeks, the old and the new speaking to one another across history and geography.”

This is the world premiere performance of ‘Lament’, a project co-produced by Klangspuren Schwaz, a festival of new music in the Tirol, with the generous support of the Vaughan Williams Foundation.

Juliet Fraser soprano
Christelle Monney mezzo soprano
Sarah Saviet violin
Romina Lischka viola da gamba
Eliza McCarthy keyboard