On A Wing and A Prayer Shetland Performance

On a Wing and a Prayer – Recorded live in Shetland – Broadcast online 28th-30th October – sign up here

Once again regretting the non-existence of a ferry between the Faroes and Shetland, after less than a week at home, I was travelling north again to Shetland, thankfully by train and boat this time!

Creative Process

After 6 months of working with composer, percussionist and sound artist Renzo Spiteri and poet Lesley Harrison on the first stage of my On A Wing and A Prayer project, it was time for the inaugural concert. It’s been an interesting process working on a collaborative project at a distance over a period of time and not something I’d necessarily have thought of taking on pre-pandemic. It’s been amazing to see how in each intervening period, the work has come on in leaps and bounds as we each listened back to work in progress, honing the structure and the sounds we were working with, sending musical material back and forth to push on our ideas. It’s a great way of working over large distances whilst doing minimal damage to the environment.

Changing habitats 

Meanwhile, the ecological issues we were focusing on were developing over time, meaning that our response changed too. These issues were principally bird flu and the dichotomy of the benefits of renewable energy versus the damage done to moorland, peatland and birdlife in its construction. We chose not to present a particular standpoint but to express our own emotions through music in the hope that it would become a vehicle for other people to express theirs.

Poetry

The final piece in the jigsaw was Lesley Harrison’s poetry. Renzo and I both felt we needed language as a focal point for the music and we sent some clips of our preliminary work to Lesley, a poet who has a very strong affinity with music. In turn, Lesley’s words provided the final impetus to our work as we asked Shetlander Billy Mail to read them for us, so we could incorporate them into the musical texture. Lesley prefers us to use the words sparingly in a way that serves a real function in the music. At the same time, they’re poems that deserve an airing in full, and so they’re printed in the programme. If  you sign up to our online concert 28th-30^th October then you’ll receive a link to this.

The performance

Our performance took place in the Boat Hall at Shetland Museum. I love performing in this space with its views across the harbour and the sixareen next to us as an ever-present reminder of seafaring. The core of our programme was a triptych of pieces by us: Serenity, Bleakness and Windfarm. For those interested in our compositional process, these were partly scored whilst leaving some room for improvisation on the day. The music took us from a state of calm by the sea with birdcalls and the lapping of the water, through a reflection on the bleakness of the open moor, the damage done to the peatland and the impact of bird flu on the skua population. Windfarm speaks for itself with a mixture of industrial sounds, uncomfortable low frequencies and the human voice, followed by an intense processional marking large-scale human footprint on the landscape – and it was scale we were focusing on in this piece and not the principle of renewables, which is something I very much support when done sensitively and with respect.

Continuing our reflections on birdlife, we performed two movements from Drrrunnn by Faroese composer Kristian Blak. The first of these featured storm petrels, recalling my visit to Mousa Broch last summer and the second featuring guillemots, fulmars and gannets. Gannets, of course, have been heavily impacted by bird flu. There had been a Faroese element in Serenity too, as my melody was inspired by the contours of a Faroese hymn.

The performance finished on a positive note with our arrangement of the old Fetlar tune, Winya Depla.

Audience Response

We got many responses to our question “What is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about our changing habitat?” Here are a few comments:

“Deep sadness, impotence, rage and – hope“

“Missing the birds: dunter, puffins, tirrick – only a few are around now“

“It feels like so few people really care!“

“We need to apologise to the earth and the sea and all the creatures we share a dying planet with“

“It has always changed. It will always change.“

As On A Wing and A Prayer progresses and the body of thoughts grows I need to think about how to collate and present these ideas and I’d love to hear your thoughts, so please do either comment or use the contact form. One idea I have is to arrange some intergenerational workshops taking these immediate responses as a stimulus to create music and art by  the community. What do you think?

Online Concert

Sign up here to listen to a recording of our Shetland performance from 28^th-30^th October. Suggested donation is £5 to cover music licensing and recording costs, but pay just what you can afford. Here’s a short taster:

Enjoying autumn in Shetland

Aside from the music-making, I had a little time to enjoy Shetland although, burdened by a cold, it was all short trips close to Lerwick. I did have time after one rehearsal, though, to explore the isthmus where Renzo lives in  bright sunshine between heavy showers. Beautiful panoramic views across the sea to the Drongs and Eshaness, one of the most dramatic areas of Shetland. The bus journey out to West Mainland is always a delight, especially as you summit the climb over to Whiteness Voe and see Burra and all the small islands set against the silvery light on the water at midday.

I also cycled across Bressay and spent some time by Noss Sound in the most exquisite autumn light. The sea was a deep blue, the land a mixture of bright greens and vegetation starting to turn brown. A series of convective showers offered a fine and varied display of cloud formations and some full double rainbows.

This year I’ve been lucky to work in Shetland in three seasons (spring did a good shot at masquerading as winter, too!). Summer was lovely and offered easy living, but I have to say, I love the light quality and shifting weather of the equinoxes more. Shetland in the snow in March was an especial treat and something I’ll never forget. I’ve learned so much working with Renzo and we’re already planning new projects working with musicians further north. Watch this space!