RTÉ NSO: Cleary, O'Leary, Guðmundsson

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Siobhán Cleary Hum! (15’)

Hum! is a musical theatre piece for two actors and string orchestra, a collaboration with the writer Gerard Beirne, commissioned by the Irish Chamber Orchestra in 1997.

The dialogue is limited to only two syllables; the first of these is spoken by the first voice who sits alone and is echoed by a hidden figure. This brings comfort and companionship at first until the “echo” begins to test his partner, initially in a playful manner. As the echo gradually becomes an independent voice, the confrontation veers from humour to rage. At the highest point of tension, the relationship between the two men breaks down as the drama shifts to hopelessness and then inevitably it seems, to tragedy. 

The string orchestra, acts like a Greek chorus, commenting on the dialogue, but not accompanying it. The music alternates between stormy polyrhythmic scalic…