Elemental

Elemental centres around a new piece for harmonium, piano, fiddle and string orchestra by Aidan O’Rourke and Kit Downes – two musicians with an embarrassment of accolades, and a taste for musical pioneering.

There is no beginning fuses the visceral energy and haunting beauty of Aidan’s traditional roots with wisps of jazz, folk and modern classical. Surrounding it will come a clutch of contemporary works that speak to us of all things elemental – space, silence, waves and air – intertwined with melodies which echo an ancient Scotland.

The piece – and the performance – are inspired by Edwin Morgan’s 1984 poem Slate, generally accepted as a love letter to a politically- and environmentally-battered Scotland. Led by guest director Simon Blendis, together with Aidan and Kit we’ll explore themes of time, change and transformation, particularly in relation to our nation and our world; entities that, as with music, are subject to the constant processes of time. Through sound, we’ll conjure thoughts of the past, present and future of the land we all share – as well as creating a space to contemplate it.