Cairn is a collection of choral pieces about stones and fossils found in Scotland, based on poetry by Perthshire-based writer and artist Dawn Wood. This is my third collaboration with Dawn: I really enjoy working with her, both because of her vividly evocative poetry and because of a joyful and open creative process. Each of the poems can be understood metaphorically, but also describes an actual encounter Dawn has had with a found stone. Much of my music is based on sounds, processes, or ideas from the natural world, but I typically focus on the ephemeral or transient – a birdsong, wind, rain. For these pieces I really enjoyed tuning into the much longer timescales of stones – their quiet steadiness as ideas, species, and even geographies come and go. (Emily Doolittle)

Cairn was commissioned by the McEwen Bequest for the Glasgow University Chapel Choir, conducted by Katy Lavinia Cooper

Cairn_1 Quartz_Emily Doolittle and Dawn Wood

Association of Canadian Women Composers

The ACWC is a professional organization for Canadian women composers, their supporters, and the performers of their music.

Cairn_1 Quartz_Emily Doolittle and Dawn Wood

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