A Handshake in the Dark
Encyclopedia
A Handshake in the Dark is an anti-war choral piece by Michael Nyman
, based on texts by the Iraqi poet Jamal Jumá
, an exiled poet living in Denmark
, and constitutes a series of imaginary letters to his younger brother, a conscript captured by the Americans and whose whereabouts were long unknown. The poetry graphically describes the pain and loss felt before the brother’s eventual release. The piece was premiered by the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra on 8 March 2007 at the Barbican Hall, London.
Michael Nyman
Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
, based on texts by the Iraqi poet Jamal Jumá
Jamal Jumá
Jamal Jumá, An Iraqi poet and researcher, born in Baghdad, and since 1984 lived in Denmark. Has Bachelor of Arts in Arabic Literature from University of Basrah and Cand.mag. in Semitic Philology from the University of Copenhagen....
, an exiled poet living in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, and constitutes a series of imaginary letters to his younger brother, a conscript captured by the Americans and whose whereabouts were long unknown. The poetry graphically describes the pain and loss felt before the brother’s eventual release. The piece was premiered by the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra on 8 March 2007 at the Barbican Hall, London.
Articles
- The Sunday Times: How a family trauma inspired an Iraqi poet
- Michael Nyman: A Handshake in the Dark
- Richard Whitehouse: A Handshake in the Dark
- The Sunday Times: An extraordinary work
- The Guardian: A Handshake in the Dark
- The Independent: A Handshake in the Dark