In May University of Waterloo professor Carol Ann Weaver was taking in the sights of Africa as she sat listening to the teachings of a traditional healer. Weaver recalls the “sangoma” telling her that though there are many problems in the country, she felt as though Waterloo had its own troubles to take care of.
At the same time the story of Lydia Herrle, a St. Agatha youth struck by a truck on May 17, touched the heart of many in the region. Upon returning to Waterloo, Weaver dedicated herself to bringing a measure of comfort to Lydia’s family by writing a symphony inspired by the young girl’s trials.
“Everywhere there were green banners on the fence posts and mailboxes in honour of Lydia. It sunk more deeply into my sense of sadness and hope for her well-being,” Weaver said of her inspiration for the composition
Weaver is in charge of the concerts put on by Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo and was due to present a piece of work soon.
“It finally came to me that I wanted to write something for her,” Weaver explained of the pending free public concert making its debut at Conrad Grebel Chapel on Oct. 31.
The concert will feature Weaver herself as well as Waterloo-based composer and pianist Joanne Bender who, in addition to Weaver’s composition, will perform what she calls a healing piece she originally wrote for a friend and selected as a fitting addition to Weaver’s 17-minute composition.
Cautiously, Weaver pondered on what to write and how to approach the Herrle family with her idea. After a number of meeting and e-mails passed between the composer and the Herrles, she was ready to make music.
The first section of the composition she entitled Summer Silence and describes as hazy, representing Lydia’s silence as she lay at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. A cello represents her heartbeat.
One morning, Weaver stood watching a sunrise; she had an epiphany which would lead her to write the second section of the work, Autumn Dawn, to signifying Lydia’s recovery in the fall.
“I watched one of the miraculous dawns that broke through a haze and watching this; the sun gradually light up and clarify the distant shore made me think about Lydia Herrle … because the first day that she talked it was amazing. Gradually things are adding to her life, points of clarity,” she explained.
Weaver thought she was finished with the composition, yet something was still missing from the creation that took her several weeks to compose.
“I thought no one knows what will happen this winter coming up. I was virtually done with the piece and then I thought it needs a blessing,” she said adding that she sat down at the piano that very day to put the finishing touch on a tribute to the young girl.
Every note had to be right, every image the music brought to mind had to be beautiful; had to be thought of and revised again and again to capture what Weaver wanted to represent in the finished Three Seasons written for flute, alto saxophone, cello and piano.
“I’ve not worked so hard in a long time that every note wasn’t right; I had to think of it again and again. Somehow the delicacy of the topic made me want to do something that was as un-clichéd as possible and then this blessing just fell into my fingers,” she said of the last section called Winter’s Prayers and Blessing.
The concert is free to the public and takes place at noon. It’s expected to run about 45 minutes.
