Early Music Festival to celebrate 101 years of the Brothers Grimm

Arts Week with Judy Murphy – judymurphy@ctribune.ie

One hundred years after the first publication of Grimm’s Fairytales, the Galway Early Music Festival, May 9-12, presents ‘Sonnets for the Cradle’, a multi-media event based on fairytales, directed by Ireland’s foremost recorder soloist, Laoise O’Brien, with original artwork by tapestry weaver, Lorna Donlon.

Inspired by the folk tales collected by the Grimm brothers, Hans Christian Anderson, Giambattista Basile and Charles Perrault, this music and art project takes a look at the dark side of fairy tales.

“I gathered music to make a fine story with heroes and villains, kings and queens, monsters and fairies, really as much as I could fit in to 40 minutes of music,” Laoise O’Brien explained.

“These tales didn’t always have the happy endings that they now have. The themes are abandonment, loss, neglect and impossible challenges that are answered by cleverness, humour and hope.

“I was largely led by the stories and the rhymes that my son liked and I found that he loved the stories that were a little bit scary. He loved Little Red Riding Hood (with the original ending – the wolf eats her, the end!) and anything with a deep dark wood in it.”

Tapestry artist Lorna Donlon’s response to the stories, rhymes and music are beautifully crafted collages and imaginative items that highlight the hidden messages in the stories. Although the project is inspired by the fairytales and nursery rhymes of childhood, it speaks to young and old.

The multi-media concert of Sonnets for the Cradle is on Friday, May 10, at 8pm in An Taibhdhearc, Middle St, Galway. The art exhibition runs from Friday, May 10, to Friday, May 17, in the Rehearsal Room, An Taibhdhearc, during opening hours.

The Galway Early Music Festival, “Word Play: What came first, words or music?” runs from May 9-12 with an imaginative and wide-ranging programme. From 17th century Roman music to the performance of Early Irish poetry and a playful look at the dark side of fairytales, join us for a rich tapestry of medieval renaissance and baroque vocal and instrumental music in the liveliest medieval town in Europe!

For a full programme of events and to book tickets visit www.galwayearly music.com