Frank Corcoran

Eight Haikus

The Irish composer Frank Corcoran already won several first prizes, such as for his English-language choral composition 'Eight Haikus' at the International Foundation for Choral Music in 2013. The almost 10-minute work for 4- to 8-part mixed a-cappella choir is based on eight secular texts written by Corcoran himself in the style of the famous Japanese haiku poems. In this shortest lyrical form of world literature which consists of only three lines, the composer born in 1944 uses a large variety of labials, sibilants and plosives and addresses socially relevant topics by means of simple descriptions of nature and seasons in a content-wise and musically figurative and almost mystical language.