BEAN SÍ for solo euphonium and prepared piano (2018)
About the music
From Irish folklore, the bean sí, or banshee, is a female spirit that warns of an imminent death in specific lineages. It is said that the banshee can be heard wailing nearby the night before someone will die. This piece for solo euphonium and prepared piano is an exploration of the various qualities that the banshee embodies: denial, mourning, and anger. To help tell this story, artwork was commissioned from Shay O’Day and poetry was commissioned from Emily Khilfeh.
Bean Sí was commissioned by Dr. Robert Benton, Jason Gilliam (consortium organizer), and Dr. Joanna Hersey Ross. This piece was premiered by Jason Gilliam.
Bean Sí © Shay O'Day 2018
dark mother bog mother she sent howling she black white she
washing the tin heavy as a shield kiss the cliffs and make them weep
palms open like a saint walking forward howling into a new world
some things are kept coins kicked under shoes tidy stitches stone
screaming that word sung death that word sung misery her long hair
dredged from memory she traces lines more mapped than the weaving hands
of colonists there are no names to take from her a vein of beauty
white wearer clawed nameless old young woman witch
you know her know howler screaming truth walking forward warning gentle
warning siren death you know her quiet mother in the fields holier than
a knucklebone walking forward tangle grass tangle face hear her quiet
name her mother name her circle her crying circle her holy
tracer she finds you do not fear she is warning you only warning that sorrow
find her white hair see her stacked rock black cloth eyes like nails
if she lost a lover let her walk forward if she lost a child let her find you
Bean Sí © Emily Khilfeh 2018