Immersed in Sound 2

A programme of virtuosic works for solo strings and electronics, as Riot Ensemble’s Marie Schreer and Scott Dickinson, until recently the Principal Viola of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and now in the same seat in the Philharmonia Orchestra, take the stage. Perttu Haapanen’s in vitro for violin and electronics plays with the possibilities for sound offered by the Finnish double consonant, with music evolving both from the text and from sounds of eating. An apple, chewing gum, and a carrot all feature as unlikely instruments. Ollie Hawker’s piece is based on a traditional Scottish tune of the same name, with abstract ideas and digital samples reinforcing a feel of melancholy through the ages.

Ailie Robertson’s new work, written for Scott Dickinson, references the famous acoustic of Hamilton Mausoleum. Reflecting both the mausoleum’s role as a burial site, and as a site where the sound slowly decays and erodes, the piece is centred around traditional Scottish keening songs – laments for the dead – which have almost been completely eroded from our oral tradition.

Leo Butt’s ambisonic work uses samples of historical horns and violins from St Cecilia’s Museum of Musical Instruments, and new co-composed works from the UNM x NMD Composer Exchange complete the programme.

Perttu Haapanen (Finland): in vitro 20’
Ollie Hawker (Scotland): Lochaber No More 5’
Ailie Robertson (Scotland): Beannacht 12’
Aileen Sweeney (Scotland) & Heli Hartikainen (Finland): new work 5’
Saga Fagerström (Sweden) & Finn O’Hare (Scotland): new work 5’
Leo Butt (Scotland): Archives 5’

Marie Schreer (violin)
Scott Dickinson (viola)
Ian Gibson (electronics)