Tullis Russell invites friends and family to 'De Profundis' dress rehearsal
Members of the Tullis Russell Band are now in the final preparation stages for what will be a truly remarkable world premiere performance of a new work entitled De Profundis, written by John Wallace CBE.
De Profundis is based on the 19th century plain chant hymn by Sir Henry Walford Davies and the performance, in effect a tribute to Fife’s miners, forms part of the 2017 East Neuk Festival. The event will take place at Bowhouse Farm near Anstruther on Saturday, 1 July. Although the performance has already sold out, despite additional tickets being released for public sale, friends and family are being invited along to the final dress rehearsal tomorrow night, Thursday 29 June with entry free of charge.
A band spokesperson commented: “Getting ready for the performance has given the band many challenges, firstly that we had to provide 50 plus players, and as some bands struggle to get 25 players for engagements at this time of year, providing two bands plus has been a struggle, but we have got there with the help of a few friends from around Fife. The players will be randomly placed in the venue, a massive potato barn which has been converted for the show. The barn will be in the dark with atmospheric lighting and haze machines running, so trying to watch a conductor is nearly impossible so the performance is also being directed by signals from percussion and light effects.”
The De Profundis is a continuous work and features poems written by former miners and a recording of a blackbird in full twilight song intertwined within the performance, and the sell-out audience will be invited to walk around the venue in between players as the performance progresses. The 50 plus players are also being joined by the Wallace Collection brass ensemble.
The Tullis Russell spokesperson continued: “At first, the band really didn’t know what to expect but as the rehearsals went on it has become very apparent that the players are about to be involved with a once in a lifetime type performance, and are really looking forward to it. The music itself is not difficult although absolutely stunning, but it’s all about the timing, the first two bars are repeated randomly for over 5 minutes as the band will start playing just as the doors to the venue are opened to allow the audience in to the darkened space. The performance also has adlib sections with players doing multi-phonics, air blowing and valve clicks so the end performance will be truly a one off.”
Members of the band were invited to the BBC last week where music from the performance and interviews with players were recorded for the BBC Radio Scotland program Classics Unwrapped.
So, if friends and family would like to come along for the free dress rehearsal, the venue address is Bowhouse Farm, St. Monans, Anstruther KY10 2DB and the performance starts at 8.00pm.
