The Freebird Times - Issue 3

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LIVING & LIFESTYLE Caravaggio ‘The Taking of Christ’ Housed at the National Gallery of Ireland in Clare Street, this is a story full of sorrow. The sombre mood is depicted by the chiaroscuro/darkness. However, there are definite light sources that draw the eye of the viewer to take a very close look into the painting and study everything surrounding Christ, whose face is visible to us, as he is taken away by the soldiers. Vermeer ‘Woman Writing a Letter with her Maid’ This painting is also part of the collection at the National Gallery of Ireland. Dutch painters of the 17th century “Golden Age” thrilled us with depictions of everyday life. In this painting the maid is seen taking centre stage – most unusual as normally maids and servants were hidden. But from this painting we can assume the maid was totally in the confidence of her mistress as she writes her letter. The maid looks out the window awaiting her chore of delivering the letter. But to whom? What is the letter? A love letter to her husband or a letter to a secret lover – let your imagination run riot ……. The Book of Kells can be found at Trinity college Dublin, click below for details: Carvaggio’s ‘The Taking of Christ’ and Vermeer’s ‘Woman Writing a Letter with her Maid’ can be found at National Gaery of Ireland, click below for details: 18 THE FREEBIRD TIMES – ISSUE NO. 3, AUGUST 2018
LIVING & LIFESTYLE Singing is health enhancing at any age In 2016 I did something I had been considering for years - I joined a choral society! It has proved a remarkable experience and I’m only sorry I didn’t do it a long time ago writes Des O’Neill. The choir I joined was incredibly welcoming but also had a fantastic forward impetus and work ethic. With little previous experience, I found myself singing a moving Beethoven oratorio, a sublime Schubert Mass, three performances of the Messiah, and a delightfully arranged Christmas concert over a period of six months. Since then I have experienced Rossini, Jenkins, Liszt, Gounod, more Handel, and have now sung twice in the marvellous lunchtime ‘Handel in the Street’ concert which takes place in Dublin’s Fishamble Street on the 13th of April every year to celebrate the world premiere of Messiah in Dublin back in 1742. I have also discovered and joined a new ‘event’ choir, the Irish Doctors Choir. It rehearses for a few weekends and then performs. To date we have sung in Mahler’s mighty Second Symphony and Rachmaninov’s deeply spiritual All-Night Vigil. The rehearsals for both choirs are as important as the concerts. I find myself looking forward to Tuesday evenings when all else is cleared from my mind as I concentrate on the score allied to the pleasure of singing together. In addition, there is the constant proximity to the beauty of the music. As a race we are not given to discourse on aesthetics in our personal lives, but aesthetics feature in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as the penultimate step in self-actualisation, a truer understanding of who we are. It is also notable that many choirs focus on religious music and in a secular/pluralist society we rarely dwell on and articulate the hugely important themes of suffering, love, death and redemption encountered in these texts with their impact magnified by the deeply moving and powerful music. The aesthetic experience is unbelievably heightened when performing in one of these masterpieces, almost as if one becomes a living character in a great novel or in a celebrated painting like Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, moving from observer to embedded participant. THE FREEBIRD TIMES – ISSUE NO. 3, AUGUST 2018 There may also be health benefits to singing! Support for this suggestion comes in a recent Irish study from the University of Limerick which examined the topic with 1,779 choral singers from around the globe. The results suggested an overwhelmingly positive perception of the health benefits of choral singing. While the health aspects are undeniable, these may be overplayed relative to the importance of how it helps us to rethink and reshape our world, experience pleasure and companionship, and connect to something deep inside through text and music. Most choirs make strenuous efforts to encourage membership and provide support for novices, including supportive recorded material, and there are also online sites which provide similar help, so you should not feel daunted by approaching a choir for the first time. There are many avenues, and if not through one of the mainstream choirs in your area, consider also the tried and trusted route of the local religious or community choir, often avid for new members Professor Desmond O’Neill is a consultant physician in geriatric and stroke medicine and co-chair of the Medical and Health Humanities Initiative of Trinity College Dublin. For a contemporary take on choral music, the hauntingly beautiful compositions of US composer Eric Whitacre are worth a listen. For a classical experience try the powerful Ode to Joy with words by German poet Friedrich Schiller from Beethoven’s 9th symphony. 19
Page 1 and 2: ENVIRONMENT THE FREEBIRD TIMES ISS
Page 3 and 4: WELCOME Come and join us! We are d
Page 5 and 6: TRAVEL This is a must, especially
Page 7 and 8: COVER STORY ON TOP OF THE WORLD Da
Page 9 and 10: COVER STORY Dawson and Margaret on
Page 11 and 12: SUMMER READS on a journey through
Page 13 and 14: LET’S COOK Just like Grandma use
Page 15 and 16: PROFILE Among one of his favorite
Page 17: LIVING & LIFESTYLE Love Art! Maure
Page 21 and 22: TRAVEL Visit the Pioneer Valley Am
Page 23 and 24: TECH SAVVY Picture this! Michael R

The Freebird Times - Issue 3

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