The Golden Echo,

The GM HOPKINS Newsletter 2000

Issue 5, Spring 2000.
Editor: Ann Edghill, The Gerard Manley Hopkins Society

We regret that, due to a technical glitch, we only manage a resume of this issue and no photographs.

Hopkins Lane / Lana Hopkins

It's official! H.E. American Ambassador Michael Sullivan named the lane down to St. Paul's, Hopkins Lane/Lana Hopkins- and Kildare County Council have ratified this. Ambassador Sullivan and his charming wife Jane were a big hit with locals and visitors alike.

The Ambassador proved himself a fine reader (and understander) of poetry when he read a Hopkins poem during the ceremony. Others who participated included the genial William Langdon of Washburn University and Dean Karin Ray.

Monasterevin can now boast of a street, a pub and a sculpture in honour of Hopkins.

Mini-Nobel Prize Winner, Klaus Rifbjerg

The Distinguished Danish writer Klaus Rifbjerg will be one of the big names to participate in Monasterevn this year. Rifbjerg was the 1999 winner of the prestigious Baltic Prize (including Norway, Sweden and Denmark) known as 'the mini-Nobel'. He is Denma's foremost contemporary poet.

Jorge Padron from Spain

Other outstanding writers include Justo Jorge Padron from Spain, and Mateja Matevski, MacedoniaÕs most famous poet. Each poet is winner of many prestigious awards.

McKenna Sculpture in Athy

James McKenna's "Famine Family" who first exhibited at Hopkins XI (July 1998) and stunned our visitors.

McKenna's piece is eight feet high, carved from of black oak 4000 years old. The piece has now been installed in the grounds of Athy Hospital - itself a refuge for famine victims of the 1840s.

A very moving piece, it suggests the separation of two children from one another and the collapse of families and communities - a devastating result of famine.

McKenna now has his work on public show in many parts of Ireland: Monasterevin, Kildare, Dublin, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Peterswell, Knock, Miltownmalbay etc.

Hopkins 2000 will stage an Exhibition of McKenna's work. It features in the video documentary on Desmond Egan.

Maynooth Doctorate for Hugh Kenner

An Honorary Doctorate in letters will be conferred on the famed American scholar (and long-standing friend of the Hopkins Summer School) by NUI-Maynooth. Hugh Kenner in May, 2000 . It was postponed last year because of the illness of his wife Mary Anne, now happily well again.

N.U.I. Maynooth Day

Following on the great success of our last two Maynooth Days, and of the Mary Pound lecture there, we can promise another day out in Ireland's liveliest University! President Smyth (NUI-Maynooth) has promised to show us around: there will be lectures and readings and a sherry reception as well as a recital by two outstanding Swedish musicians, Wieska and Hubert, playing popular versions of the classics.

The Banquet promises to be bigger and better than ever. Our host, as last year will be Dr Seamus Mac Gabhann of the Department of English.

Hopkins and James Joyce Make Music

In the Autumn, The G.M. Hopkins Society based in Kildare and the James Joyce Centre in Dublin came together to sponsor a concert by world-famous Swedish pianist Hans Palsson. This took place in the National Concert Hall and attracted an audience of 600, including the new European Commissioner, David Byrne; the Ambassadors of Sweden, Finland and Denmark, and others from the world of arts, music and politics in what was a memorable evening, crowned by a reception for 200 guests.

Palsson received a standing ovation and many curtain calls.

His programme was very demanding.It proved a showcase for his extraordinary technique - but even more, for its emotional depth.

As poet Desmond Egan said, in the two extracts he read from Prelude, his sequence on Palsson's music, 'this was playing that transcended playing'.

The programme began with a Mozart Sonata (KV331) played with such fineness that it was like silver filigree; the famous Rondo alla Turca movement as fresh as if this were its first playing. After this stunning opening, Palsson had his audience in the palm of his hand. This kind of playing, this intensity, the emotion reminded us privileged to be there of what real music should be: not flashy or self-indulgent or rhetorical but a deep and earnest look into the heart of things. The Beethoven 32 Variations with which the pianist followed provided a contrast of mood but was just as stunningly performed. The spirit of Beethoven was there - perhaps closer than this listener has ever experienced: brooding, tragic, elemental.

On the evidence of his playing of this piece, Palsson must be acknowledged one of the great interpreters of Beethoven: it is hard to think of any other pianist to-day who could match this amazing performance. Some Chopin next: a prelude (op.45) and the beautiful Fantasie Impromptu (op.66). Palsson uncovered in these pieces a strength often lost in some of the saccharine playing of Chopin which we too often hear. This first half of the Concert was loudly applauded, the audience sensing that is was in the presence of one of the great pianists. After the interval came Egan's graceful reading of two Palsson poems, which were very enthusiastically received. But which contemporary pianist can match his playing of Beethoven or of Mozart - both of which he has recorded in classic CDs?

The audience would not let Palsson go and for an encore he played the beautiful Schubert Impromptu with such feeling and insight that it brought tears to the eyes of more than one of the audience that evening. Palsson received a wholly spontaneous standing ovation.

It was great to be there that evening. Great, too, for the Hopkins and Joyce Societies to collaborate in making possible an event the memory of which will linger and nourish us for many a year.

Thank you, Hans Palsson; come back again soon! It was great to be there that evening and great for the Hopkins and Joyce societies to collaborate in making possible an event the memory of which will linger and nourish for many a year. Thank you, Hans Palsson; please come back again!

Hopkins Summer School 1999: a Russian Reaction

by Maria Popova

At the 12th G.M. Hopkins International Summer School, the Russian presence was quite strong - three of us: a well-known poet Anatoly Kudriavitsky, and two professors, Alla Savtchenko and Maria Popova took part in all the events in Monasterevin. Romantic pianist Tatiana Pavlova and Professor Valentina Polukhina, joined us for a few days.

The festival struck us as a major event with a very wide, well-balanced harmonious and interesting programme. Every day the programme was very full. We had , as a rule, a few lectures, the rest of the time being devoted to Poetry Readings, intermingled with such interesting events as musical recitals, art exhibitions, video film premieres, book launches and Hopkins poems both read and sung.

This year's Summer School was "framed" by good music: a piano recital by young Bulgarian musician Ivo Varbanov (July 24) and a superb interpretation of Sergei Rakhmaninov's Sonata 1 by Russian pianist Tatiana Pavlova on July 31 which earned a standing ovation. These gave the School a brilliant start and finish - but we were also greatly moved by the Hopkins Poems sung by Nancy Ellen Ogle (Univ. of Maine, Orono) together with Ginger Yang Hwalek (piano): they carried us away by masterful and penetrating interpretations of G.M. Hopkins, well sung. We also enjoyed the lovely recital given by Tatiana Lamas Gerlein (Columbia) who sung her own songs accompanied by Tatiana Pavlova. As seen through the eyes of Russians, this Hopkins Summer School was a great success. We thank its organisers - especially Richard O'Rourke, Elaine Murphy, Desmond Egan, who represented the visible part of the iceberg, and those who represented the invisible section of it, including boys and girls helping at the office and serving tea and coffee during coffee breaks; and those who prepared such a succession of memorable meals for the evening dinners. We wish them all the best and even hope to see them again at the 13th Summer School, which, we are sure, will be another rich and exciting events. By Maria Popova and Alla Savtchenko (Russia)

Comments from Visitors to the 12th Hopkins International Summer School

You really gave me the most precious Summer of my life - Sakiko Takagi (Japan)

My stay in Ireland was delightful beyond description and I cannot thank you enough for your kindness and generosity. Dimosthenis Kourtovik (Greece)

The Golden Echo, News letter of the Gerard Manley Hopkins Society Monasterevin, Co. Kildare