'All Flesh is Fire': Adelaide Chamber Singers Premiere New Song Cycle by Anne Cawrse
"There are special events and then there are SPECIAL events. The world premiere of Anne Cawrse's song cycle All Flesh is Fire certainly falls into the latter category. [...] it is a masterpiece of choral writing and deserves to find a place in the repertoires of choirs around the world. [...] All Flesh is Fire stays with you long after the performance is over. Indeed, nearly 24 hours after attending its world premiere, it still echoes in this writer's ear with a haunting beauty that will hopefully never fade."
– Limelight
On Thursday 29 February and Saturday 2 March, the Adelaide Chamber Singers gave the premiere of a major new work by our Adjunct Lecturer in Composition, Dr Anne Cawrse. Contemplating a life's journey with themes of faith, refuge and sanctuary, the thirty-minute cycle All Fresh Is Fire filled the Art Gallery of South Australia with song, turning the gaze inward, reflecting the impact and transience of the temporal landscape. Sixteen singers appear in shifting combinations throughout this staged exhibition, combining the alchemy of voice and solitude in the splendour of small moments.
The composer writes:
"All Flesh is Fire is a new work in seven parts composed for the superb voices of the Adelaide Chamber Singers, with text taken from the poem Faith by poet and writer Kate Llewellyn. I see this work as a meditation on memory, ageing, and the passage of time. There is an enchanting beauty in Llewellyn's words: her niece Annabel's claim that 'the humble is always the most beautiful' certainly rings true throughout. Colour, light, and texture all play an important part in the imagery used in the poem, where all living things are imbued with divinity and spirit, and the temporary nature of life is celebrated rather than mourned."
There are two further performances of the work at the Art Gallery of South Australia on Friday 5 April (6.00pm and 7.30pm).
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