Modern Chants - participatory concert (2021)
‘Modern Chants – participatory concert’ is an hour-long concert of new poetry and contemporary music, with integrated instructions for audience participation.
The piece explores the connection between language and music – a dive into ancient onomatopoeic words, resembling times when music and language were inextricably linked in our prehistoric brains. These sound-words are still very present around Scotland, in Gaelic and Old Norse languages, bagpipe Canntaireachd music, and bird song.
The event is an immersive experience, which submerges the audience into sounds inspired by winds, lochs, birds, and bagpiping. Following the many voices of the ancient goddess Cailleach, Gaelic and Old Norse imagery is unfolding in poems created for this project.
The project is a collaboration of composer Rūta Vitkauskaitė with poet-storyteller Dawn Wood (Templar Poetry); clarinettist Joanna Nicholson (former Story Specialist, Scottish Book Trust), violist Katherine Wren (Nordic Viola); composers Gemma McGregor (Aberdeen Unibersity), Emily Doolittle (Research Department at the RCS), also joined by Ellie Cherry, and live-streaming specialist Chris Adams.
The concert premiered at Book Week Scotland 2021 and was supported by Creative Scotland, PRS Foundation and An Lanntair.
Duration: 60 minutes (short version), 120 minutes (long version, including a break)
Format: concert (live music and live electronics)
Performers: 4 (instructor, narrator, 2 musicians – clarinet and viola)
