| Date | Location |
|
Saturday 6 October 2007 'CELEBRATING
SYDNEY' |
Finchley Methodist
Church |
|
ABC Radio — LINGUA FRANCA 30/04/2005: NOTHING FIXED OR
FINAL |
|
|
NOTHING
FIXED OR FINAL
— A
concert by Franciscus Henri Our
small congregation was delighted to have Franciscus Henri
present his program of the songs and poems of Sydney Carter, NOTHING
FIXED OR FINAL at our community concert in October. The
audience was a diverse mix of church and community people, but
all were engaged by the passionate presentation, high quality
musicianship and theatrical skill of Franciscus Henri. The
seventy-five minute length was just right. Sydney
CarterÂ’s songs, though dating from the 1960Â’s and 1970Â’s
were still able to express todayÂ’s impatience with religious
pomposity and yearning for an authentic spiritual experience.
FranciscusÂ’ (and Sydney CarterÂ’s) humour saved this evening
from being a dour tirade against various authorities and led the
audience into the whimsical and poetic world of Sydney Carter
where truth can be told. Mother
and be mothered by your burden, | |
For CONCERT booking enquiries, you can contact Elizabeth Antheunis on:
Ph: 03 9439 8332 Fx: 03 9439 7380 or please email us.
"NOTHING FIXED OR FINAL"
In this concert Franciscus Henri presents an exciting collection of the
extraordinary songs and poems written by Sydney Carter.
Though some were written as long as four decades ago they are still as relevant,
thought provoking and challenging as at the time they were written.
This concert incorporates the spiritually contemplative songs and poems such as
'Lord of the Dance' 'Bell of Creation' 'Run the Film Backwards' as well as his
humorous and at times satirical 'My Mum was a Woman' 'Silver in the Stubble' and
'The Rat Race'.
'Crow on the Cradle' has to be one of the most moving anti-war songs
ever written.
This performance rediscovers the imaginative and stimulating work of Sydney Carter.
It is not a 'map to salvation', but more a compass pointing to a journey of possibilities or a possibility of journeys.
In Sydney's own words,
'A celebration of the spiritual and the secular, and in the end we may not be able to tell which is which.'
Franciscus Henri has been a performer for over three decades, having recorded over twenty music and story albums for adults and children and has presented concerts across Australia in Singapore and Canada. In 1972 he accompanied Sydney Carter on his Australian tour and subsequently presented 'Lord of the Dance ' as a promotional add for the Christian Television Association.
Sydney Carter was born in London in 1915.
Reading history at Bailiol college he wrote poetry and dreamed of being a
painter and film producer. He became a teacher and during World war two
he served in the Mediterranean with the friend's ambulance unit.
From this determining experience flowed the possibilities of all his
subsequent achievements.
Not only the hand full of classic songs that are known and loved world wide
but also his work in satire and humanitarian politics and as the author of
questioning probing songs about religion.
Sydney's work has been an inspiration to countless people and continues to be so.
In 1999 Sydney succumbed to Alzheimers Disease,
To quote another English poet, the past for him had become "a strange land",
where memory itself has no recollection.
Sydney Carter died 13 March 2004.
Sydney Carter may be no longer 'with us' but in his words and music, he is still travelling on.