Relict Furies

Music by Gareth Farr, Libretto by Paul Horan (New Zealand)

Premiered to great acclaim at the Edinburgh International Festival, Relict Furies gives a voice to World War I’s New Zealand “relicts” — the widows and sweethearts who waved their men goodbye and never saw them again. Mezzo soprano Wendy Doyle sings Paul Horan’s powerfully affecting libretto (“Tomorrow I wear my wedding shoes to your funeral”), while Gareth Farr’s score places two mirrored string sections from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra on opposite sides of Wellington Cathedral of St Paul to open up the vast internal landscapes of bereavement and fury. The concert also includes works for strings by Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Peter Sculthorpe.

Co-commissioned by New Zealand Festival and Edinburgh International Festival.

With support from NZ WW100 Fund and Creative NZ.