Tra Parole e Silenzio (Between Words and Silence) is based on the lyrical, poignant, joyful and soul searching Italian poetry by Eduardo Di Giovanni about the universality of love, loss, separation and the nature of the soul. The musical settings of the poems, which range from hauntingly beautiful choral songs to fiery instrumental textures, are written by Llew Kiek, Paul Cutlan, Andrew Robson, Mara Kiek and Steve Elphick, who all play on the recently released CD along with Sandy Evans and Naomi Vaughan.

Like its predecessor "Sezoni" (Seasons), the suite is woven with duets and solos by the distinctive sound of Mara Kiek and Silvia Entcheva with the a cappella voices of Sydney’s Bulgarian-style women's choir, Martenitsa, one of the most innovative choirs in Australia. The Mara! band's contribution takes us on a sonic feast of whirlwind solos, close harmonies, moody instrumentals and powerful rhythmic passages.

'Tra Parole E Silenzio' was inspired by Eduardo’s son Daniele, sound engineer for the Mara! band. Eduardo wrote and published the poems in the 1950s and 60s, and the idea of setting them to music was irresistible to the Mara! musicians. 'Tra Parole E Silenzio' offers a sea-breeze straight from the Mediterranean.

First performed and broadcast in September 2004 at Trackdown Scoring Stage, Fox Studios, Sydney, TPES was presented again in November 2006 at Paddington Uniting Church. A reworked version, presented at Fairlight Folk Acoustic Lounge to a wildly enthusiatic audience in May 2010, preceeded the commencement of recording  in November that year. The album was completed in 2011, then the work was performed at Sydney's Italian Forum and Woodford Folk Festival Dec 31, 2011 to launch the CD (available from our online store).

Tra Parole e Silenzio was also presented on stage 1 at WOMADelaide in 2013.

 

Mara! with Martenitsa Choir toured the work to Italy in 2015, performing it at the Tuscia Opera Festival (with guest choirs Coro Polifonico nel Cimino and Zanzerei), Infrasuoni Festival Marzabotto and Il Tempietto Festival Rome.

You Tube Videos: 

Partii Ch'era il Giorno di Natale: Mara! and Martenitsa Choir - with audio from the Tra Parole e Silenzio CD.

 

Mara!: Sorella, from CDs Sorella and Tra Parole E Silenzio, with vision by Regis Lansac. 

 

La Nostra Notte: Mara! and Martenitsa Choir - with live audio from Fox Studios and vision by Regis Lansac.

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