The Sacred Veil - A Story of Love, Life and Loss

What if our departed loved ones are not truly gone, but are closer than we think?

On Wednesday 2 April at 8pm, at St James's URC Church in Newcastle, Fenham Ensemble will be joined once again by Royal Northern Sinfonia cellist, Gabriel Waite and pianist Len Young in a rare performance of Eric Whitacre's devastatingly beautiful The Sacred Veil.

The Sacred Veil is a 12-movement collaboration between Whitacre and his longtime friend, poet Charles Anthony Silvestri (Tony) exploring the fragile lines between birth, love, life and loss, with heart-breaking directness.

Silvestri’s wife, Julie, died of ovarian cancer at age 36 in 2005, leaving two young children. The piece is based on poems and texts written by Silvestri, Whitacre and Julie herself and whilst being a deeply moving, intensely personal story of Julie and Tony’s relationship, her battle with cancer and his overwhelming grief at her passing, it is also one which is a very human journey that so many of us can relate to.

Eric Whitacre has composed this entire work around Silvestri’s idea of a thin “veil” that separates the world of the living from those who have passed.

“How can we mourn those we have lost while still moving forward? We have all experienced the loss, in one way or another, of someone or something we have loved deeply. How do we know when it’s time to move forward? The Sacred Veil represents a journey toward the answers to these questions... That veil between here and there is always very close, and we are not as separated as I had felt. Our loved ones who have died stand so close to us.” (Silvestri).

The Veil Opens

Whenever there is birth or death,

The sacred veil between the worlds

Grows thin and opens slightly up,

Just long enough for Love to slip,

Silent, either in or out

Of this our fragile, fleeting world,

Whence or whither a new home waits.

And our beloved ones draw near,

In rapt anticipation, or

In weary gratitude, they stand;

Our loved ones stand so close, right here,

Just on the other side

Of Eternity.

Charles Anthony Silvestri

Working on this project has been quite challenging, as the reality of losing someone we love to this dreadful disease is sadly, for so many of us, a part of our lives. The experience has been heart-wrenching at times. The piece is undoubtedly tough, not only technically, but emotionally too and we have taken time to deal with the material sensitively, supporting each other throughout. The Sacred Veil allows us space to grieve and acknowledge that it is okay to do so and the overall sense at the end of the piece is one of hope and consolation, expressed in the beautiful final movement 'Child of Wonder'.

“Encountering (Julie’s) voice again,” says Silvestri “reminded me what a deep honour it is to have loved, to have become so intimate with someone that theirs is the hand you hold when you experience the most intense and sacred moments of your life: birth and death, those moments when the two sides of eternity mingle. Those moments are all here in this work: love, life, loss, anguish and, eventually, acceptance, peace, and welcoming home... What I have found is that through hard work and time the old wounds do close; but they leave scars behind. Those scars are powerful talismans, evidence that we loved—and still love—those we have lost. Oh, but they are not lost; their journey continues. The Veil is thin. They stand so close, just there, just on the other side of eternity”.