The Voice of the Weaver

Musique Royale presents Voice of the Weaver, a five-movement concerto for bass clarinet and chamber choir by Halifax-based composer Peter Anthony Togni and Mary Louise Martin, a Mi’kmaw poet, artist, and writer from Millbrook First Nations in Nova Scotia.

Written for bass clarinetist Jeff Reilly and The Elora Singers, conducted by Mark Vuorinen, Voice of the Weaver explores the spiritual, dynamic relationship between the overwhelming awe we feel for the giant forces of nature on the one hand and the simple actions of the day to day on the other. With intense choral clusters and soaring soprano lines invoking what Martin calls “patterns of great beauty in and through the standing ones” to clear, elegant figures reflecting that “events are quite… are quite ordinary” Peter Anthony Togni captures the full impact of Mary Louise Martin’s visionary poetry.