Exploring Nature and Music: On A Wing and A Prayer Concerts in Scotland

Nordic Viola is most usually seen north and east, but this summer, we’re heading west with a pair of On A Wing and A Prayer concerts.

Shetland comes to Glasgow !

First up is a repeat of On A Wing and A Prayer- Shetland with Renzo Spiteri. We’ll be performing at Scottish Music Centre, Glasgow, on Friday 28^th June at 1pm. Our music was inspired by Shetland and reflects Shetland’s wild beauty, but many of the environmental issues we explore are salient to Central Scotland, too. There have been cases of bird flu near the lochs I swim in in the Trossachs and there are ongoing public consultations with energy giants SSEN. Of course, as with our first piece, “Serenity”, there is much peacefulness and beauty to be found in nature, too.

We’re looking forward to sharing your thoughts and emotions regarding our changing habitats. SMC, in the heart of Glasgow’s Merchant City, is a small venue, so book your tickets now to avoid disappointment.

Renzo and I will also be presenting the processes behind our piece, “Windfarm”, at the Music and/as Process conference at the University of Glasgow on 30^th June at 10am. More information on the conference here.

On A Wing and A Prayer Morvern

One of the other presenters at the conference is Lisa Robertson, who also happens to be our next On A Wing and A Prayer composer! Lisa is a composer and violinist from Morvern in the West Highlands of Scotland for whom nature and ecological matters are central to her work and way of life.

Lisa and I first met through the RSNO’s Composers’ Hub. Actually, I’ve been following her music for a long time now. We recorded Lisa’s piece, “Machair” during lockdown for an online concert and, ever since, I’ve been looking for an opportunity to work more closely together.

Morvern Residency

That came to fruition two weeks ago when we had a residency at Lisa’s home. Morvern felt like a very different place to Shetland and Deeside – straight away I was struck by the lush green vegetation and the woodlands which, in late spring, are teeming with life and birdsong. Yet here, as everywhere, nature is under pressure. The native rainforests have historically been squeezed out by commercial forestry and overgrazing by sheep and deer while birds have struggled with the wild swings in temperature and strong winds that we’re seeing nowadays. If a late cold snap means the insects aren’t out and plants are slow to grow, then food sources don’t always match the hatching time of chicks. Strong winds can destroy nests.

Yet, as in Deeside, on meeting experts Steve Hardy from the Scottish Wildlife Trust Rahoy Reserve and Alasdair Firth from the Woodland Trust, I was struck by nature’s ability to bounce back if we give it the right conditions to do so. The Morvern rainforest of native deciduous trees is expanding. I really treasured our morning with Alasdair who taught us to look at the tiny detail in the forest. Who knew just how beautiful, fascinating and varied lichens could be? In Morvern they cover every inch of the bark on the trees and they’re so intricate and colourful. We’re in the throws of writing a woodland piece that will start with us interpreting a graphic score using the images of lichen as our inspiration.

Both Alasdair and Steve Hardy helped us identify the birds in the forest and told us more about their lives. No musician could fail to be inspired by their song and much of Lisa’s music includes birdsong transcriptions. Alistair and his wife Sam are also crofters and were able to talk to us about more sustainable methods of food production.

Ardtornish Community Hydro Scheme

Finally, our site visit to the Ardtornish Estate Community Hydro Scheme is something that is very close to home for Lisa as her father was involved in designing it and her mother provided archaeological advice on the area! This small scheme is sensitively sited and scaled with an eye to protecting the species who share the area. It’s now believed that, with the power produced, Morvern has reached net zero. This prime example of humankind working symbiotically with nature will inspire an upbeat and energetic end to our concert in July.

Morvern Performance of On A Wing and A Prayer

The performance is on 27^th July at 3pm at St. Columba’s Chapel, Drimnin, Morvern.

So now the hard work starts, listening to our field recordings and turning all our experiences into music! We are writing a collaborative, improvisatory piece that depicts the life of the Rainforest from the minutiae of the lichen to the noisy chorus of the living forest. Lisa is also composing a piece inspired by the hydroscheme, looking at the symbiotic relationship between humankind and nature and about how we can conserve the natural world in ways that benefit us, too, be that materially or emotionally.

We’re also including music by Judith Weir (Atlantic Drift), whose 70th birthday falls this year as well as Icelandic composer, Anna Thorvaldsdóttir.

If you happen to be on holiday in Mull, you can travel on the Fishnish-Lochaline ferry there and back. Morvern is a beautiful and rarely visited part of the Highlands so do come and join Lisa and I with cellist Ruth Rowlands for some peaceful new music and some woodland walks. Tickets are available here.

Sustainable travel

As a footnote, I’d like to say a big thank you to Lisa for embracing the sustainable travel aspect of this project. Morvern is a compact area and all our site visits were done by bike and on foot, with Lisa (wo)manfully taking on the sharp climbs on a bike with one operating gear!! I’m happy to have inspired her to look at getting a more functioning bike and to consider using the bike as part of a multimodal transport plan. For myself, the bike was loaded up with heavy work gear and a viola for a trip involving both train and bike. From Tyndrum to home is quicker by bike than train for me and, whilst the haul up Glenogle was hard, my efforts were justly rewarded by the long descent onto home ground!