During a dark time for Waterford last week, an intergenerational choir came together in the Central Library to sing a beautiful medley of songs from the European Union Songbook.
The event celebrated Ireland’s presidency of the European Union and saw the Bealtaine Choir sing with fifth class pupils from the Presentation Primary school. The students are taught by Conor Clancy at Music Generation Waterford, while Brian Brown arranged three of the songs, and the accompanist was Caroline Senior.
With some of the fifth class girls taking the chance to smile at their family in the audience, the uplifting event began with The Fields of Athenry, soon followed popular favourites like 7 Years, Killeagh and I’ll Tell Me Ma. The event finished with Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, which was sung solo by the choir.
THE EU SONGBOOK
The European Union Songbook Foundation was created in 2015, with the intention to unite European countries through a shared affinity for music.
“For more than 50 years, we, the European citizens, have mostly exchanged physical things: coal, fish and other products. The cultural exchange on the other hand, has seen from above consisted mainly in sports – Champions League – and a single song contest – The Eurovision: We feel time has come to create a more lasting common symbol, a songbook,” the Songbook Foundation explains,” states the Songbook Foundation.
The EU songbook is an effort to an encourage an EU identify through music, which is an art form that transcends language, nationality and race.
“To our regret most EU citizens see the EU as a location in Brussels or Strasbourg instead of something they and their home countries are part of themselves,” the Songbook Foundation comments.
“The 27 populations in our Union live parallel lives without a closer or deeper cultural understanding of each other. We see no contradiction between national identities and European identity, national cultures and European culture; we see them as complements. More than anything else, European identity and culture is the exchange of national identities and cultures.
“With the making of the EU Songbook we wish to contribute to bringing the two, nation and union, closer together in an dynamical relation, since the concept of a union without nations is as stuck in the future as the concept of nations without a union is stuck in the past.”
A LIBRARY FOR ALL
Mary Conway, Waterford City and County Librarian and Head of Culture, spoke to The Munster Express at the event.
“The EU Songbook has songs in it from all over Europe,” she explained. “All of the EU member states have songs in the EU Songbook. Those songs were chosen by a democratic process many years ago and they cover various different theme like nature, freedom, folk songs, spirituality.”
Around Ireland the Bealtaine Festival celebrates arts and creativity in older age. Regarding the Waterford’s Bealtaine Choir, Ms. Conway explained that it began in the library about 10 years ago.
“That year we had an ‘everybody can sing’ event and out of that a choir was formed, and that choir has grown from strength to strength. They practice here in the Central Library and sing at library events and different events around the City,” she said.
After the performance, Ms. Conway said it was shining example of the role libraires play in the community.
“It went really wonderful,” she said. “We had a really great audience who sang along. The choirs were in full voice, they were really wonderful singers, and to me this is what a library is for. It is for community events, just as much as it is for books and for information, a library is for community.
“Having this singing event here with two generations, children and older people, really brought that whole thing together and showed that the library is here for everyone,” Ms. Conway added.
AARON KENT Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
