Cello Concerto (Storm Runes)

Commissioned by Robin Michael.

1 Runes of the Dark Night

the rock is loud and cold tonight

the rock is dark and cold tonight

the night was dark, a shut oyster

2 Gull Runes

here the gulls sit, head into the wind, winter and summer

3 Storm Runes

the storm danced all that night loud with demons

4 Runes of Lament

then there was silence on the earth and sea

The Storm Watchers by George Mackay Brown has been an obsession since

first I came across this short play many years ago, and it has been the inspiration

for several musical works. It is a ritual piece which presents 7 women and their

stories against the backdrop of the sea, a storm, life and loss. During Covid lockdown

the film of this work was made in Orkney, bringing a community of local performers

together filming on their phones, and this was a project for which I wrote the music.

When I was asked to write this concerto by Robin Michael, I knew that this was a good

opportunity to investigate some of the musical themes from the film as well as some music that

never made it to the screen and draw together some other music that had been inspired by this.

The four movements take small ideas and hints of ideas

to create atmospheres which try to conjure up imaginary scenes - the cello

perhaps takes Propsero's role from a different piece of theatre. The idea of runes is not only

something closely connected with the Viking history of Orkney but also a frequently

repeating patterning in the poetryof Mackay Brown and there is something

mystical and magical about this idea of

repetitive and small scale ideas forming short ritual pieces.