The Reid School of Music's Ensemble in Residence, Sequoia, present their award-winning project: WATER MUSIC source to sea.

WATER MUSIC source to sea was conceived as a sonic imagining of the journey taken by a raindrop as it crosses Scotland. Water is one of our most precious resources, iconic to Scotland, and the project highlights this and celebrates its power as a creative force. Sequoia curated the musical narrative to reflect its changing nature, juxtaposing different styles and timbre to chart the course from delicate raindrop to crashing wave, flurrying stream to serene hill loch.

At the heart of the programme lies a series of specially commissioned works by contemporary classical and folk composers based in Scotland. These come at key points in the raindrop’s journey - Lisa Robertson’s Clõta’s Song gives voice to the River Clyde, Lochbroom by Mairearad Green depicts the West Coast sea loch of the same name, the ebb by Stuart MacRae captures the power of the tide, and Whale, Bow, Echo by Alex South (written in collaboration with Sequoia) is inspired by Humpback Whale Song.

Composer and sound engineer Timothy Cooper created three field recordings from locations around Scotland - The Burn, The Estuary and The Waves - which are interspersed with the music and explore the melodic qualities of water itself. The other works in the programme were curated to reflect the source to sea journey; Sequoia drew inspiration from the flowing lines of JS Bach’s two-part inventions and also the huge wealth of Scottish traditional music inspired by water, including several tunes by Shetland fiddler Chris Stout.

Violin - Alice Rickards

Cello - Sonia Cromarty

Admission Free. All welcome.

Part of the University of Edinburgh Concert Series.