LONDON - 30 August 2006 - 320 words
GM Hopkins poem released as a single to help threatened woodlarks
The words of poet and priest Gerard Manley Hopkins are helping preserve one of Britain's most endangered wild birds. 'The Woodlark', performed by Sean O'Leary and co-singer Belinda Evans, was released as a single on 28 July, Hopkins' birthday, in support of the work of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The release coincided with the year of the woodlark survey by the RSPB - Britain's biggest environmental charity.
Sean O'Leary said: "There's a nice synchronicity that this is both the year of the woodlark survey and also the year of Jubilee for the Society of Jesus, to which Hopkins belonged. You could say, too, that Fr Hopkins was one of the first Greens."
O'Leary only recently discovered the work of Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 89), a Jesuit priest and poet, whose poetry did not receive recognition until after his death. Sean says he was moved when he heard Hopkins' poems, and was inspired to put many of them to music. These musical adaptations were published last July in a double album entitled 'The Alchemist'.
Belinda Evans, a classically trained singer who works regularly in the fields of opera, jazz and musical theatre, loves the improvisation and sense of freedom that Sean's compositions allow and her voice features on many of O'Leary's Hopkins' songs on 'The Alchemist'. She is currently permanent soprano of the Choir of the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, and has just appeared in Kenneth Branagh's new film adaptation of The Magic Flute.
Woodlarks are a ground-nesting bird that breeds in young plantations or heaths with scattered trees and scrub. They need areas with short grass where they can feed on insects, but in winter will also feed on the seeds of grasses. In 1998, the Government agreed a Biodiversity Action Plan for the species, to help reach certain targets to safeguard the woodlark's future. The RSPB is carrying out the first survey in a decade to see how close the population is to the target of 1500 breeding pairs.
Sean added: 'Hopkins would have been concerned about what was happening to the woodlark and that's one of the reasons I wanted to do something to support the work of the RSPB, which is actively doing something to try to reverse the decline in woodlarks along with many other threatened birds.'
'The Woodlark' CD can be ordered for £2.95
online at: www.thewoodlark.co.uk
An mp3 sample can also be downloaded from the site.
© Independent Catholic
News 2006
Contact Independent
Catholic News
tel/fax: +44 (0)20 7267 3616 or email
Chaplain • Latest news • Archive • Listings • Pictures •