Ceòl na Mara (music of the sea) is the name of my LSO Jerwood Composer+ Showcase concert at LSO St Luke’s on 10th January. I envisaged the concert as a transportation to the wild and visceral coasts of my home in the West Highlands, exploring cultural connections to the sea and the risks presented by the changing climate. I am excited to have been able to programme pieces which paint this picture by some of my composing heroes including Hans Abrahamsen and Kaija Saariaho. There are pieces showing the power of the sea like the Abrahamsen’s ‘Storm og Stille’ and Tine Surel Lange’s ‘Flaskepost’ and some pieces which are more haunting and reflective, showing the expansiveness of the sea and the life within it, like David Fennessy’s ‘Changeless and the changed’ and Emiliy Doolittle’s ‘Social Sounds of Whales at Night’. My new piece is called ‘Sluaisreadh’, an onomatopoeic Gaelic word meaning the peaceful sound of the sea ebbing and swirling against the shore. The piece journeys from this tranquil sound to increasingly destructive, dangerous sea sounds which are the consequences of climate change. In the concert there will be field recordings of the sea from near my home as well as some snippets of Gaelic songs about the sea. I have also worked with a filmmaker who captured footage of the sea in the West Highlands which will be shown during my new piece. I’m so looking forward to hearing it all come together in the hands of a group of fantastic musicians!

Concert Info:

Lisa Robertson: Ceòl na Mara | London Symphony Orchestra