Unique ‘Moon Phases’ at Thoor Ballylee for Culture Night

Yeats’ former home at Thoor Ballylee outside Gort will host a special event next Friday next, September 21 for Culture Night when sound-artist Francis Heery presents his site-specific work, Moon Phases.

The piece was composed in response to WB Yeats’ prose work, A Vision. Yeats wrote this with his wife George, who claimed to be able to channel the voices of spirits.

Berlin-based Francis explains why he chose this work.

“A Vision isn’t as well-known as his poetry but is very much related to it,” he observes. “It’s basically a book of esoteric knowledge filled with fascinating imagery and ideas. It’s a difficult text to understand but that’s part of its charm.”

Moon Phases, which was commissioned by Galway County Council, will run continuously from 5.30 to 10.30pm on Culture Night. It will involve live percussion, electronics and a presentation by Francis on the piece and Yeats’ vision.

“I’m interested in creating a sonic environment where the audience can arrive when they like and stay as long as they like,” he says. “The main image in A Vision is the lunar cycle, so Moon Phases isn’t really about having a beginning, middle and end. There will be computer-generated sounds, representing each phase of the moon and I’ll be improvising over this with various instruments and objects. The computer part is unpredictable within certain parameters so it’s a bit like a sonic habitat.”

Admission is free.

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