RTÉ Concert Orchestra

RTÉ Concert Orchestra 

Mia Cooper, leader 

Natasa Paulberg Atomic Hope I: Electron II: Proton III: Neutron IV: 

Atomic Hope 

An orchestral piece of music by Natasa Paulberg exploring the component parts of the atom as a metaphor of our current human experience, with a new interpretative illustration by visual artist James Keane. The themes of the work express the variable and fluctuating nature of our existence spanning activity, connectivity, dormancy, and ultimately hope.

Atomic Hope by Natasa Paulberg recorded remotely at home by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra with a new interpretative illustration by visual artist James Keane specially commissioned by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. This is the second time the RTÉ CO has worked with Paulberg, having recorded her soundtrack to the TV documentary The Great Hunger in 2020. Atomic Hope contains four movements which symbolically associate the structure of the atom and our current human experience. Humankind, like the atom, is composed of many unique parts that on coming together create a greater whole. 

The first movement describes the busyness of life and industry through interweaving lines of rhythmic complexity building into a dense texture. Progressing to the second movement the experience of community, family and the interconnectedness of people is represented. This all comes to a sudden halt in movement three where we find ourselves separated, alone in a sparseness that teeters on despair and isolation. From this sense of inertia emerge isolated parts, disjointed initially that slowly merge to again become a whole – different from before, but again as one, an atomic hope. For James W. Keane’s interpretive illustration, each section was filmed in one take as a direct response to the music as it was played.