Pioneering soprano Juliet Fraser explores the timeless vocalisation of the lament in a “ritual of letting go”.

Juliet Fraser is known for her inventive programming and commitment to exploring new forms of vocal expression. In this project she's experimenting with a whole new way of making. A small and specially formed ensemble of stellar international artists will gather for a residency in Snape in the spring to co-create this hour-long, late-night sequence which seeks out the cracks between genres and traditions to offer something uniquely raw, timeless and unusually communal.

Juliet writes: “Song has always been used to mark the significant moments in a life, whether of celebration, transition, healing or grief. Inspiration for this 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. Source materials such as the Byzantine hymns of Kassia, Corsican polyphony and songs of longing by Josquin and Couperin sit alongside contemporary laments by Soosan Lolavar and James Weeks, the old and the new speaking to one another across history and geography.”

This is the first 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
Soosan Lolavar santoor
Eliza McCarthy keyboard