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The London-based group the Oslo Twins have a new single titled “Sally” that is based on Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway (1925).

The 3-minute song, produced by band members Claudia Vulliamy and Eric Davies, has been described as “pulsating.” Named the “Record of the Day” on Sept. 2, it was also described as “a gorgeous affair, touched with yearning and melancholia.”

Set during Clarissa Dalloway’s party, the song features Sally, Clarissa’s longtime friend, as they are reunited at her London party on a fine day in June.

Here’s how Vulliamy explains the creative process:

“It wasn’t easy fitting the words ‘Mrs Dalloway’ into the rhythm of a pop song….Sometimes when you’re drinking with people you’ve known for years, you get struck by an overwhelming awareness of the passage of time. Parties can feel like this, which is why I connected the lyrics to Mrs Dalloway, the titular character in Virginia Woolf’s novel.

“The central character organises a party full of people from her past and becomes wistful. Sally is the name of a character in the novel, an old friend – or old flame – of the protagonist, who reflects on when they were teenage girls with big ambitions.”

The Oslo Twins will perform “Sally” when they appear at The Waiting Room in London on Nov. 22.

Oh, Sally, you have read my mind. Some things we never have to say. – lyrics from “Sally” by the Oslo Twins

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Virginia Woolf Society Turkey is hosting another free online Woolf seminar, and this one features a talk by Assoc. Prof. F. Zeynep Bilge of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University on “Woolfian Soundscapes: Noises, Voices, and Music in Virginia Woolf’s Novels.”

What: In this Woolf seminar, Bilge will discuss the structural relationship between Woolf’s writing and musical forms.
Who: Bilge’s scholarly pursuits span the domains of literature and music, adaptation studies, and narratology. She pursued her early studies in voice at Istanbul University School of Music (1991-1994) and later obtained her B.A. (1999) and M.A. degrees (2001) in English Language and Literature from Istanbul University. In 2008, she earned her Ph.D with a dissertation focusing on the communicative function of songs in Shakespeare’s tragedies. As a visiting scholar at Cardiff University in 2012, she conducted research on the opera adaptations of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Currently, she is engrossed in the composition of a scholarly monograph centered on opera adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays.
When:
Friday, May 24, 7-9 p.m. Turkey time and 12 -2 p.m. EST.
Cost: Free
Registration: Online

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A discussion with the composer of Animal Spirits, a musical about John Maynard  Keynes and the Bloomsbury group, will air March 20 at 5:30 p.m. UK time and is a members-only event for the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain.

David Thorne Scott will discuss the new musical, for which he is writing the book, music and lyrics. He will present a synopsis, read scenes, and play songs from the show.

About Keynes and the musical

Keynes developed groundbreaking economic theories in a turbulent time. Animal Spirits shows how Keynes’s friendships and love affairs with brilliant artists and free-spirited bohemians unlocked his genius and changed the world.

About the composer

Scott is professor of voice at Berklee College of Music, where he teaches jazz, classical and contemporary styles. He is also a singer and songwriter who “explores the intersection of jazz and Americana, city and country, instrumentation and lyrics to create lush compositions and covers that are unifying, and healing, in their beauty,” according to the Eponymous Review.

This event is exclusive to members of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain  They will receive an email about booking details. To join the society and attend this and other events, email: membershipvwsgb@gmail.com.

Ticket sales close at 1 p.m. on March 20. The ticket price is £6. Contact onlinevwsgb@gmail.com with any queries.

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It has played to sold-out audiences since it premiered on stage at New York’s Lincoln Center on Nov. 22. PBS Newshour called it, “The opera event of the year.” A Variety review claimed, “it’s Woolf who’ll make you swoon.”

Now, whether we can get to New York or not, we have the chance to see the Metropolitan Opera’s version of Michael Cunningham’s 1998 Pulitzer prize-winning novel The Hours, which was based on Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway (1925).

See it in a theater near you

How? The opera version of The Hours is coming to theaters around the country as a Fathom event and as part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series. Tickets for this three-hour-plus event range from $18 to $24.

The live performance in English will screen at 12:55 p.m EST on Dec. 10 with encore showings at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. EST on Dec. 14.

Search for the theater closest to your location on The Hours page on the Fathom Events website.

Trio of heroines

Soprano Renée Fleming, soprano Kelli O’Hara and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato play the roles of the opera’s trio of heroines. Kevin Puts is the composer and Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.

The opera is set in London suburb Richmond in 1923, LA in 1949, and Manhattan at the end of the twentieth century.

“The mere fact of this opera’s existence does an interesting thing: It cements ‘The Hours’ as a foundational piece of contemporary art,” according to Daniel D’Addario’s review in Variety. The Hours is on The Met stage through Dec. 15.

Rave reviews, a synopsis, and a program

You can read more rave reviews from critics, prepare for the performance by reading a synopsis, and download a program.

Woolf’s words live on through the generations, and the concerns and troubled thoughts of women echo, too, no matter how much progress seems to be made in the world outside Virginia, Laura, and Clarissa’s minds. – “‘The Hours,’ in Its Latest Adaptation, Is a Stunning Triumph for the Met: Opera Review,” Variety.

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Kirsty Warrick, a member of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, has written a song inspired by Virginia Woolf that she calls “The Shape That Remains.”
This video is available on YouTube, where Warrick describes it thus:
A song I wrote, composed performed and recorded a few years ago. It’s about the life and work of Virginia Woolf but was particularly inspired by her novel ‘To the Lighthouse’ and its recurring phrase and sentiment “Life stand still here”.
Thanks to Marielle O’Neill, executive council member of the society, for sharing this news via the VWoolf Listserv.

Read this post from 2012 to learn more about music inspired by Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group.

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