Highland Chamber Orchestra will be giving this a whirl at a play-through day on the last September. It's not a public event, but is a stage in the process of getting it into public performance.

This is a 5-minute sample of the music I wrote for piano and orchestra describing a traverse of the Black Cuillin Ridge in Skye. The landscape is unique in Britain, being the most Alpine mountain chain of sharp peaks, narrow ridges and deep rocky corries. The ridge can be traversed in a long, tiring day. The music describes this. This sample presents the elation at reaching the first peak, the ridge walk and the wild corries.

Black Cuillin Ridge (Sample)

Duncan, the great fiddler of Badenoch could turn any occasion into a ceilidh with his vast repertoire of tunes from all over Scotland. On one of his travels, he was playing his fiddle while resting by a hillock and some passing fairies invited him to join them in their underground kingdom as they had heard his fiddling. He made a great impression on the king of the faeries and had the audacity to add a phrase to their royal anthem. Duncan turned the occasion into a long party of fiddling, dancing and merriment. When after seemingly ages he begged the fairies to allow him to continue his journey back to Badenoch, they agreed, reluctantly. On returning to his home village, however, he found 100 years had passed, he recognised no-one, his house was in ruins and his playing was mocked. The villagers had turned out instead to see the great local sensation, the pipe band. The band strode into view playing his old tunes, but changed to the pipes' key of B-flat major! After an altercation with the band, trying to re-establish the original key of his tunes, Duncan staggered off, distraught. By all accounts he went to re-join the fairies and could be playing to this day.

Badenoch Legend

This is the second new Companion to cheer Schubert up. While the anxiety he conveyed in his own 8th Symphony is still here, rearing up in a variety of forms, like someone complaining about a variety of misfortunes, the general trend is for this anxiety to be soothed and dissipated as the movement goes on. A kind of "questing and coming home" story, finishing with the opening notes repeated, but in reverse order. The name of this Companion is Pacithea, after a Greek goddess who calms things down, mother of Morpheus.

Another New Companion (2)

I'm still beavering away composing more than ever now my 40-year career as a countryside ranger is over. The places I have lived are the greatest sources of inspiration, and I'm very grateful for the support I've received from a wide range of listeners. In 2017 I moved from the Cairngorms to near Kyle of Lochalsh where I operate as a mountain guide in Skye.

Badenoch Legend

Nic56

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