This piece is inspired by the remarkable collection of early medieval sculpture to be found in Govan Old Church on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow. | |
The opening section of the piece celebrates
The Sun Stone, a rather
unusual representation of the Sun. It
has a central boss, presumably the Sun, with four rays emanating from it
in the form of snakes! Musically, semiquaver runs both up and down are
used to illustrate these rays, while the stone itself is represented by
a powerful dotted quaver, semi-quaver motif which recurs in various
forms throughout the piece. |
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The
second section starting at bar 46 is much more light-hearted, taking as
its subject
The Cuddy Stane.
The rhythm here is 6/8, the pace leisurely, presenting a picture of the rider relaxing, perhaps with a hint of hunting at bar 83. |
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The third movement changes mood again.
This time the focus is on the mysterious
Hogback Stones, thought
to be gravestones used to cover the final resting place
of, perhaps, important Viking settlers. Or maybe not. In any case, I
have chosen to think these stones
are related to Vikings, and have used the fanfare-like rising 5th
of the Viking Lur (a sort of horn) to build a haunting opening chord
which leads to memories of a life now gone, probably involving hunting,
sailing and foreign conquest. The strange symmetrical markings on these
stones suggest the various musical patterns which occur in the quieter
sections . |
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The
final section of the piece celebrates what some consider to be the
finest exhibit in the collection, the
Constantine Sarcophagus.
It is a moot point whether this title refers to a Roman Emperor, a
saint, or a Scottish king. Whichever, it is a monumental piece of
carving hewn from solid stone. I have chosen to represent this work by
an original hymn tune, the climax of which incorporates motifs from the
earlier sections of the piece. |
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View
and/or download Listen to the complete piece here |