Programme Notes

Arthur's Seat; a towering behemoth of basaltic rock leering over the city of Edinburgh; a symbol of the city; an allegory for geological time; a place steeped in legend; a landmark that most visitors to the city want to conquer.

I was no exception to the latter. In early summer 2022, I was visiting my good friend Matthew Norriss of Piraxa Studios, and one of the things we got up to during my stay was an ascent of Arthur's Seat. Being a person of not the greatest physical fitness, I had to stop several times along the climb up, which afforded several views of the city on a day of clear blue skies. Nothing, however, could beat the scene at the summit: with the city and Scotland beyond stretching out as far as the eye could see, the wind in my hair, the sun on my face, and the sense of achievement making my soul the most bouyant it had been in a long time.

In 2023, after a conversation with the conductor Mark Austin, I was commissioned by the Stamford Chamber orchestra to write them a piece for their June 2024 concert. The programme included Mendelssohn's Symphony No.3; the so-called "Scottish" symphony. When searching for a topic for this piece to respond to, I very quickly remembered the climb of Arthur's Seat, and it was only natural for me to write about that.

This piece is a tone poem, and is in five sections. Firstly, the main theme acts as the promise of the view at the top of the hill, but with the task of climbing it making it a daunting proposition. Secondly, the climb. Look out for the new purposeful theme passed around the orchestra and the brief pauses to catch one's breath! Thirdly, the main theme returns and is repeated three times, growing in intensity all the time. The fourth section is where the persona crests the summit, and the view from all around makes the climb all worth it. Here, I use a tune which I call the summit theme. While not deliberately trying to create a "Scottish" tune, I have heard some comments about my folkier melodies sounding Scottish anyway, so I leant fully into that for this triumphal melody leading to a heartfelt climax. The final section is about the elation that I felt looking out over the Firth of Forth, the distant sea, the city and the countryside beyond. The summit theme comes back in the flute, but then turns into the major with the oboe. The piece slowly settles down and ends with two chords: a very broad B Major chord in the woodwinds and brass, and another in the divisi strings.