New musical piece inspired by Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine explores tyranny, tragedy, despair and protest
A story of despair, tragedy and protest, De Profundis is Latin for 鈥楩rom the Depths鈥�. Reflecting on the impact of tyranny, the piece is dedicated to Russian anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny who died in prison in February.
The welcomes a world premiere on Friday,13 December as De Profundis, a newly crafted musical piece from , takes centre stage.
A story of despair, tragedy and protest, De Profundis is Latin for 鈥楩rom the Depths鈥�. The piece reflects on the impact of tyranny, particularly for those who stand up to tyrannical regimes - as such, the piece is dedicated to Russian anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny who died in prison in February.
Switching between time periods, the piece uses multiple languages - Latin, German, Russian and English. It will be performed by the Quatuor Danel string quartet, with Opera North鈥檚 Simon Grange 鈥� Philips鈥檚 son - as bass voice, who is cast as an unnamed journalist.
鈥楾yranny through the ages鈥� is a focus, with the piece featuring quotes from Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, who suffered under Stalin鈥檚 regime.
It then moves back to 523AD, to the Roman Empire and the story of Boethius who fell foul of the Roman Court, being imprisoned and eventually executed the following year. De Profundis quotes from his The Consolation of Philosophy, which he wrote in prison. The piece also uses quotes from Todesfuge by poet and Holocaust survivor Paul Celan.
This piece has been written at a time when concerns about tyranny and the fate of those who make a stand against it is very topical; such concerns spreading well beyond the work鈥檚 original inspiration in Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine
On a personal level, the piece has given me the opportunity to develop creatively through some inspiring collaborations - firstly with writer Kim Ballard, with whom it was decided some time ago that De Profundis would bear the dedication: 鈥榝or Alexei Navalny, and to the many other victims of Vladimir Putin.鈥� With the release of Navalny鈥檚 recent memoir Patriot, this has proven to be quite timely.
Also, I got the chance to collaborate with the Quatuor Danel; one the world鈥檚 greatest string quartets and finally, my own son, Simon, who has taught me so much about the bass voice and its repertoire.
The idea for this originates from February 2022 as a reaction to Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine. At the time, MHC ensemble-in-residence Quatuor Danel were performing the complete Shostakovich string quartets while the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, maintained that the West was anti-Russian culture.
A conversation then took place between Philip and the quartet鈥檚 first violinist, Marc Danel, who enthusiastically embraced the idea of a work for bass voice and quartet. This ignited a creative journey lasting nearly three years.
For the text, Philip turned to writer Kim Ballard, who he has worked with previously. It was Kim who created the main premise for the piece following numerous conversations with Philip. By October 2023 the text was ready, and over the following year Philip wrote the music.
Friday, 13 December 2024 will be the first performance of the piece. Tickets are available .