This Saturday, February 8th, in the Barbican Theatre, the new Drogheda Community Orchestra, under the baton of Tadhg Murphy, will premiere Michael Holohan's orchestral piece The Sabbath Rang Slowly which is inspired by the various Church bells in Drogheda.

Holohan composed a smaller version of the piece in 2017 and it was premiered with great success in The National Concert Dublin in February 2018 by Helen Leahy and The Drogheda Youth Orchestra.

The new and revised version has been scored for a much larger orchestra. The composer describes how he was inspired to write the piece.

“A number of years ago, I was walking one very quiet Sunday morning through West Street and, when I reached The Tholsel at about 11.30 am, I could not help but notice the many bell sounds which could be heard coming from St Peter's Catholic Church, St Peter's Church of Ireland and The Tholsel Clock Tower itself. I was reminded of the beautiful lines from Fern Hill by the  Welsh poet Dylan Thomas:

'And the Sabbath rang slowly

In the pebbles of the holy streams.'

“I immediately set about listening, recording and notating the various bell sounds which can be heard around the town. The next step was to integrate them into the main orchestral sound of the piece. Sometimes, one can hear the tunes very clearly, other times the bells are buried in the orchestral texture.

“The Sabbath Rang Slowly is the first piece from a planned trilogy which I have named 'Our Town'. Other pieces will focus on The Old Abbey and the great railway Viaduct.”

The composer wishes to thank Tadhg Murphy and his new Drogheda Community Orchestra for taking on this big challenge. Amie Dyer and Hannah O'Brien, two of Drogheda's young and up and coming international sopranos will perform in the second half of the concert. The event is sold out and should be a most memorable evening of music.