Hebrides Ensemble

David Alberman Violin

William Conway Cello / Artistic Director

Emma Roche Flute

Yann Ghiro Clarinet

James Willshire Piano

Programme

Mingdu Li Superposition and Measurement

David Fennessy Changeless and the changed

Rylan Gleave Leave John, take Michael First performance

Helen Grime Seven Pierrot Miniatures 

Stuart MacRae Ursa Minor

Mingdu Li Superposition and Measurement [7’]

(for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello)

First performed by Hebrides Ensemble

In Einstein’s photoelectric effect, we learn that light has nature as a particle (aka. photon). In the double-slit experiment, we learn that photons and other microscopic particles have nature as a wave, thus we learn that microscopic particles (photons, electrons etc.) have wave-particle duality (a superposition of a wave and a particle state). Therefore, we believe that in the unmeasured case, the microscopic particles are a superposition of multiple states until the moment of measurement when the collapse of the states occurs. 

At a macroscopic level, this is often referred to as the ‘Schrödinger Cat’, where the cat in the box is in a superposition of ‘dead’ and ‘live’ states before the box is opened, and the opening of the box leads to a measurement that collapses this state, resulting in either a ‘dead’ or ‘live’ state, rather than a superposed state.

Such a phenomenon is expressed in Quantum Physics that a system is in all possible states at the same time, until it is measured. After measurement it then falls to one of the basis states that form the superposition, thus destroying the original configuration (aka. Quantum superposition principle). 

In my composition, I have expressed the moment of measurement as a consistently repeated melody mostly on the piano, wave-like states mostly on the strings, and particle-like states mostly on the winds. After each measurement intervention, the superposition state collapses into either one of the stationary states, and returns to the superposed state after the measurement ends. In the musical structure aspect, the entire piece continues to alternate between superposition section, wave section, superposition section again, then particle section etc., with sections being linked with a measurement melody. I hope that my musical fantasy will allow my audience to gain some personal attachments with the wonders of this superposition of multiple states and therefore to better understand this foundation of Quantum Physics.

Mingdu Li

David Fennessy Changeless and the changed (2014) [7’]

(for violin and cello)

This piece was written for Sequoia Duo as part of their ‘Transplanted’ project, an exploration of Scotland’s plant life. I found inspiration in the Taraxacum Pankhurstianum, a unique species of dandelion found on the remote island of St. Kilda, a remote and barren archipelago in the Atlantic, miles off the coast of Scotland, once inhabited by a thriving community but long since deserted.

The title comes from a chapter in the book The Life and Death of St. Kilda by Tom Steel:

“They (St. Kildans) were unique and inflexible. Neither they nor their way of life was capable of change, particularly the violent changes in values and attitudes that would have been required to continue the struggle. The attempts made by the few to stave off evacuation were noble and well-intentioned but bore marks of the pathos and futility of working against the inevitable. St. Kilda stood in the Atlantic, the changeless amid the changed. All that could be done was to wait and allow the men and women of Village Bay the courtesy and privilege of making for themselves the decision that would make Nature’s defeat of man a reality”.

David Fennessy

www.universaledition.com/david-fennessy

Rylan Gleave Leave John, take Michael (2023) [10’] 

(for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello)

First performance, commissioned by The Night With…

I’ve wandered to and from a lot of different churches this year, and dissected psalms and hymns for a variety of projects. The title appeared in the back of my head walking to St. Vincent’s Chapel in Edinburgh, bracing against the cold morning air. ‘Leave John, take Michael’ feels like a return to notated, non-vocal music after a period of focusing more intently on performance. The melodies throughout this work are vocal melodies, re-imagined for the ensemble with all of the natural colours kept in, particularly with microtones where my pitch escapes. I have used harmony that I would intuitively sing with myself, a residue of stacked choir vocals and of soft dissonance.

There are many passages within the piece where I had lyrics in mind, but this text was a part of the process rather than the final piece itself. I noticed moments when writing where the ensemble would ‘drown out’ the text I had been thinking of. It feels quite different to my previous compositional work, and much closer to where I see my artistic voice resting at the moment – less of a compromise between ‘genres’, and more of a marriage of them.

Rylan Gleave

rylangleave.com

Helen Grime Seven Pierrot Miniatures (2010) [12′]

(for flute, clarinet, piano, violin/viola and cello)

Commissioned and first performed by Hebrides Ensemble

In Seven Pierrot Miniatures, I took the Commedia d’elle Arte character, Pierrot, as my primary source of inspiration. Other, more tenuous, links to Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire also served as a starting point in forming the general shape of the work. The piece is cast in seven short movements whereas the Schoenberg is in three sets of seven movements. Although there is no part for voice, I have taken seven poems by Albert Giraud (none of them set in Pierrot Lunaire) as points of departure:

1. The Clouds
2. Decor
3. Absinthe
4. Suicide
5. The Church
6. Sunset
7. The Harp

Each movement takes its impetus from the corresponding poem, but in the piece as a whole, I wanted to explore the extreme contrasts of the multi-faceted character of Pierrot in a musical setting. There is an almost mirror-like quality to the form of the piece and a sense of ending where it has begun: movements 1, 3, 5 and 7 are closely linked, both in terms of their musical material and a sense of melancholy, dream-like quality and longing. Movements 2 and 6 are also strongly connected, with allusions to the more mischievous, violent side of Pierrot. Movement 4 serves as a sort of pivot point within the work, juxtaposing a surreal, shimmering calm with brutal outbursts. There is never any direct repetition, yet there is a strong sense of material returning and mutating as the work unfolds.

Helen Grime

helengrime.com

MacRae – Ursa Minor (2020) [6’]

(for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello)

Commissioned and first performed by Hebrides Ensemble

During the lockdown of winter 2020–21, Stuart MacRae began to undertake night-time walks from his home and it was those wanderings that inspired ‘Ursa Minor’, with the constellation appearing to him as a reassuring emblem of permanence. 

Reflecting that continuity – a transmutation of turmoil into calm via the medium of distance – MacRae’s composition is monothematic in style. Like ‘Ixion’ (also on this programme), a sense of eternity is evoked by a music that loops round and round itself like string. The mood is entirely different, however: gentle, stabilising, even hopeful. Apart from occasional digressions or brief ornamentations, the ensemble plays (in various combinations) as one, presenting a fundamentally unchanging thread from a variety of perspectives.

Tim Rutherford-Johnson

stuartmacrae.com

Hebrides Ensemble: Making new music familiar and familiar music new

With programmes that are diverse, imaginative and inspiring, Hebrides Ensemble has established itself as one of the foremost chamber music collectives in the UK. 

Co-founded and led by its Artistic Director, the cellist and conductor William Conway, the Ensemble is renowned for its fresh and intelligent approach to programming, which places contemporary music at the heart of a diverse range of repertoire.

The Ensemble’s strength is its flexibility; it draws its performers from a pool of the most outstanding musicians in the UK and beyond, ensuring the exceptional performance standards for which it has become renowned. This is an international ensemble with its roots in Scottish culture, a collective which performs regularly at venues and festivals throughout the UK and Europe and is regularly featured in broadcasts for BBC Radio 3.

In recent years, the Ensemble has given premieres at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, at Kings Place and Wigmore Hall in London, at the Aldeburgh and Lammermuir Festivals, and in 2023 it returned to both the Edinburgh International Festival and the St Magnus Festival. 

Hebrides Horizons supports the next generation of performers, composers, artistic directors and cultural leaders through its mentoring programme, and Hebrides Digital allows audiences around the world to be part of every performance the Ensemble gives, using livestreaming and digital technology.

Hebrides Ensemble recently released the critically acclaimed Ursa Minor, the fifth in the Scotland’s Composers series in partnership with Delphian Records, focused on the chamber music of Stuart MacRae. Previous volumes featured music by Judith Weir, Nigel Osborne, Peter Maxwell Davies (EVM Award for New Music Recording of the Year at the 2018 Scottish Awards for New Music) and the premiere recording of James MacMillan’s ‘Since it was the day of Preparation…’ which went straight to No.1 in the Specialist Classical Chart upon release in July 2016.

hebridesensemble.com

Hebrides Ensemble is proudly supported by Creative Scotland.

With programmes that are diverse, imaginative and inspiring, Hebrides Ensemble has established itself as one of the foremost chamber music collectives in the UK.

Co-founded and led by its Artistic Director, the cellist and conductor William Conway, the Ensemble is renowned for its fresh and intelligent approach to programming, which places contemporary music at the heart of a diverse range of repertoire.

The Ensemble’s strength is its flexibility; it draws its performers from a pool of the most outstanding musicians in the UK and beyond, ensuring the exceptional performance standards for which it has become renowned. This is an international ensemble with its roots in Scottish culture, a collective which performs regularly at venues and festivals throughout the UK and Europe and is regularly featured in broadcasts for BBC Radio 3.

In recent years, Hebrides Ensemble has given premieres at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, at Kings Place and Wigmore Hall in London, at the Aldeburgh and Lammermuir Festivals, and in 2023 it returns to both the Edinburgh International Festival and the St Magnus Festival.

Hebrides Horizons supports the next generation of performers, composers, artistic directors and cultural leaders through its mentoring programme, and Hebrides Digital allows audiences around the world to be part of every performance the Ensemble gives, using livestreaming and digital technology.

Hebrides Ensemble recently released the critically acclaimed Ursa Minor, the fifth in the Scotland’s Composers series in partnership with Delphian Records, focused on the chamber music of Stuart MacRae. Previous volumes featured music by Judith Weir, Nigel Osborne, Peter Maxwell Davies (EVM Award for New Music Recording of the Year at the 2018 Scottish Awards for New Music) and the premiere recording of James MacMillan’s ‘Since it was the day of Preparation…’ which went straight to No.1 in the Specialist Classical Chart upon release in July 2016.

Mingdu Li  https://www.mingduli.com/

David Fennessy –https://www.cmc.ie/composers/david-fennessy

Rylan Gleave – https://www.rylangleave.com/

Helen Grime – https://helengrime.com/

Stuart MacRae – https://stuartmacrae.com/