Festival Review: Hanni Liang

Earlier this year when we were planning our summer salon gatherings, we thought we should follow last year’s pattern and have a Festival Preview Salon in July. Besides our connections with the Book and Film festivals (not to mention the many others) it was a delight to discover an enquiry through this website from someone involved in the Edinburgh International Festival wishing to reach out to the Literary community. 

As part of the programme of events at The Hub, pianist Hanni Liang was staging a concert in which the audience would provide ideas to create a unique experience. Hanni wrote to us, saying, “People are invited to share their dream which can be either a dream they wish for or a sleeping dream. They can also use literary passages which remind them or inspire them.” This ‘dream’ inspiration would be preceded by a performance of Claude Debussy’s ethereal piano piece, Rêverie.

“I believe music, and art in general, has the power to contribute to society and shape the world... It’s not just about playing notes; it’s about having something to say.”

This was a recital with a difference. When the audience were given pencils (apparently sharpened by Hanni herself!) it was clear this was going to be an immersive event, although the engagement with her theme transpired to be more about actual dreams, rather than aspirations, reveries, or literary transports. That said, the initial exercise felt like straight out of a Creative Writing workshop: five minutes to write from the prompt, “I once had a dream where…” which we then had to share with the person beside us. 

This set the tone for the live interaction: individuals scribbling, on two iPads, words and images projected onto a screen to which Hanni reacted musically. While there were some tender and provocative statements and pictures, it was mostly good humoured, occasionally surreal (especially the younger contributors) and overall entertaining. Nobody wrote about Yeats wishing for the cloths of heaven, but that’s okay. It was predominantly about ‘play’ and Hanni Liang responded to an audience who were prepared to have fun (while keeping the psychiatrist at bay) engaging in a little impromptu free association.

There’s no doubt the International Festival has changed since Nicola Benedetti has taken on the Directorship. This was a ‘classical’ concert anyone could enjoy, and while it may have been seen as a little gimmicky, or could have flopped horribly, as Hanni said at the end, when thanking the EIF for inviting her, “The risk was high – but so was the magic.” At the end of the long dream-inspired improvisation the music morphed back into Debussy’s beautiful piece, casting a spell over the whole experience.

End Note:

We hope to keep the magic of our literary community alive, but it also comes with a risk as we are an unfunded, voluntary organisation. Please help us keep hold of this website so that more people like Hanni Liang can make contact and engage with our community in future. Visit our Go Fund Me page, or buy us an imaginary coffee.