Harpist Michelle Paris.

Irish Ambassador Jim Hennessey recently hosted a musical-literary evening at the embassy in Ta’ Xbiex. The aim was to commemorate the Irish poet and Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney (1939-2013) who undoubtedly left his mark on world literature as so many other Irish poets and playwrights had done before him.

Hennessey addressed the guests present, after which the musical part of the evening commenced. What was of particular interest was a taste of a work by American composer Mohammed Fairouz.

The original work, Anything Can Happen, is in five movements, three of them set to poems by Heaney with the last of them in the 5th movement being the poem which gave its name to the work.

Paris is just about the only Maltese I know who performs on a traditional Irish harp like a native born

The 2nd and 4th movements are based on Arabic texts (suras) from the Injeel, translated into English by Fairouz, whose work was composed in 2011 with the full collaboration of the poet.

Anything Can Happen, Fairouz’s first big choral work since his Requiem (2006) is scored for baritone, mixed soprano-alto-tenor-bass chorus and amplified viola.

What could be termed as the European premiere of this work partly came in an arrangement by Michelle Paris of the last movement, in which she conducted the Keltika String Quartet with sopranos Gabrielle Sargent and Maria Cristina Friggieri.

Despite the adverse acoustics, a fair idea and taste of the work was given. It must have been a very challenging, yet stimulating, exercise, bringing together different cultures and traditions. It could be a good idea to put on the whole original work in Malta sometime in the future.

Paris is just about the only Maltese I know who performs on a traditional Irish harp like a native born. She performed two solos, traditional Irish or arrangements of thereof, plus her own original composition, Skylark. She did so with great proficiency. Later, she performed again accompanied by violinist Lowri Noris in five more Irish songs which she arranged.

The literary side included a few words on Heaney by Charles Caruana Carabez and a reading of his poem In Memoriam: Seamus Heaney.

There were also readings of some of Heaney’s works like The Tollund Man by Anne Finn, The Underground and The Forge by Dillon Mac Aonghusa and Tate’s Avenue by Alicia Randolph.

James Corby, senior lecturer at the Department of English at the University of Malta, delivered an interesting keynote address on Heaney’s life and work.

Kathleen Vella, from the English Department, said a few words, after which Hennessey launched the Irish Embassy Facebook cultural page and closed the evening.

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