Music

A group of synthesizer players in the north has been meeting online to play together through the pandemic and inspire each other, and this evening they’d like you to join them to listen to a mixture of pieces and find out more about the workings of synthesizers and their rich range of relaxing and sometimes ethereal sounds.

Sit back over a drink to hear the composer Edward McGuire in conversation, speaking about his setting of Three Donne Lyrics, and his interest in the life and work of Donne amidst the turmoil of the 17th-century scientific revolution. He describes too his own interest in astronomy, expressed in works ranging from Big Bang and Orbit to Symphonies of Galaxies. There’s an opportunity to put your own questions and to hear an introduction to the bass flute by flautist Ewan Robertson.

Underwater hydrophones at the Fall of Warness. The wind driving the turbines on Hammars Hill. Building a tidal machine at Leask Marine’s workshop. An electric car and a home air to water heating system. Brian Cromarty has used field recordings to compose four pieces of music inspired by Orkney’s energy story.