“A lively, evocative exploration of winter in the Scottish Highlands, with a stunning new piece from composer Donald Grant.”
This weekend saw composer and violinist Donald Grant premiere a new work in London: Thuit an Oidhche Oirnn (The Night Overtook Us). The piece was performed by Grant and his band with the local Aurora Orchestra as part of a concert exploring the harshness and beauty of winter in the Scottish Highlands. With a varied yet cohesive programme, the evening was an exciting blend of traditional melodies with new writing and creative new arrangements.
The concert opened with a traditional tune from Grant’s hometown of Roybridge – “A Mhairead Óg,” and then under soft washes of light, the rest of the ensemble entered with modern composer David Fennessy’s Hirta Rounds. Inspired by Hirta, the largest of the islands in St. Kilda, this evocative and haunting piece had light, dancing notes fluttering over sustained, droning chords. The strings conversed in a sort of harmonic chaos reminiscent of sounds echoing down a glen, a chorus of birdsong, or rain pattering into a lake.
The next pieces saw the tempo pick up, as the band took centre stage for Calum Stewart’s Am Monadh Ruadh, evoking the mountains known as the Cairngorms today, and Donald Grant’s own piece To the West, inspired by his childhood camping holidays on the coastlines overlooking the Inner Hebrides. Grant’s arrangement of Am Monadh Ruadh was beautifully balanced, drawing on the combined power of the band and ensemble while still allowing each instrument their moments to shine. With swelling strings and some slightly jazzier stylings on the piano, this tune had the audience tapping their toes from the start, and To the West kept the energy up with a bluesy, bluegrass-esque jig, which drew out the rhythmic and tonal elements of traditional Scottish tunes which have shaped these more modern genres.
Next, Scottish folk singer Mischa MacPherson led the ensemble in “An Robh thu sa Bheinn,” a wool-waulking song; these work songs are usually led by the eldest woman in the group as a call-and-response chant to keep the group working the wool in time. Grant’s arrangement added a driving beat to the melody, resulting in a rock-and-roll energy enhanced by dynamic red lighting onstage. MacPherson then lent her talents to “Ailean Dubh,” a love song about an admittedly problematic raider who has captured a woman’s heart. With simpler piano and sustained strings, Grant’s setting allowed MacPherson’s dynamic and graceful vocals to shine. For Ailie Robertson’s string trio, The Black Pearl, some of the other musicians sat or stood around the back of the stage, lending an easy, communal atmosphere to this jazzy piece which added a more driving, suspenseful tone to the programme. La Bottine Souriante’s Prelude Valse was a catchy, swinging waltz, and a nod to the Scottish roots of traditional Québécois music.
Donald Grant’s new composition, Thuit an Oidhche Oirnn (The Night Overtook Us), was a true highlight of the evening. Grant drew some inspiration from winter’s elemental brutality, such as one 19th-century storm in Roybridge described by local John MacPhee, which hit like a flash in the middle of the day and wreaked havoc on the community. Alongside this intensity, Grant also wished to capture the culture of communities working together to bring light, warmth, and music into the longest nights, and chose to honour the siskin (a.k.a. pìobaire, or ‘piper’) as a symbol of this hope, as this bright yellow bird stays each winter in Scotland and can serve as a reminder of more colourful times to come. With delicate trills on the violin over a steady beat from the double bass, the piece eased into a waltz, with soaring strings and sunny melodies. A more haunting, traditional tune shifted the energy of the piece, as the rhythmic guitar started to conjure images of a rising storm, and Grant was able to show off some impressively quick fingers and dynamic phrasing on the violin as the piece built to an energetic finish with resounding applause.
MacPherson returned for another love song with “Dohmnull Nan Domhnull,” bringing a delicate warmth and tenderness to the melody, and the evening was brought to a jolly close with Grant’s The Way Home. This concert was a varied yet cohesive modern folk programme, and a brilliant exploration of the joy to be found in blending historic and modern tunes, tones, and stylings.
Thuit an Oidhche Oirnn (The Night Overtook Us) was performed on September 28th at Kings Place.