It’s intriguing to think that something orbiting the earth is constantly falling towards our planet, yet fractionally missing it.
There’s a beautiful juxtaposition of vessels orbiting extremely fast, yet people on board experiencing weightlessness. In fact the International Space Station will be a tenth of the way around the earth by the time this piece is finished (Nasa, 2010).
The simple idea of circling the earth and coming back to where one started, added to the complexity of physics that allows us into orbit is too much to comprehend. So, here’s a piece of music about it instead.
RCS Brass
Amy Stewart is at the end of her second year as a composition student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, studying under Ailie Robertson. Having developed her voice as a composer over the last six years, Amy writes in a variety of genres, including contemporary classical, film, electronic and songwriting. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Amy has been able to continue creating and working with others, with her latest online premiere of her piece Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot, an audiovisual ‘collage’ of people’s experiences of Covid-19 in 2020, in collaboration with a filmmaker. More recently, after some socially-distanced in person rehearsals, recordings were made of her PLUG 2021 piece for Brass Quintet, and new work, Campfire, for open score, involving the use of phone torches, electronic track, and improvisations over the traditional song Kumbaya.
Previously she has had work played by Red Note Ensemble in their recent project “Noisy Nights” as well the Royal Scottish National Orchestra when her piece White Noise, which investigated distance and connection through physical space and radio white noise, was awarded runner-up in the “Notes from Scotland” Competition 2019.
Originally from Aberdeenshire, Amy is heavily inspired by the beauty of landscapes and nature, or by deeper conceptual ideas which often form foundations of her work. Her musical style tends to explore the listening experience, with simplicity in harmony, and incorporating texture-building timbres on instruments. She plays piano and violin. In all of her compositions, Amy strives to reach and move people, allowing them to make an emotional connection to her music.
She also enjoys songwriting, and released her debut EP “Surround”, in 2020, in a contemporary Christian style arranged for a small group of instrumentalists. Amy’s faith deeply influences her work, as she constantly seeks to question music and meaning. In the future she would love to combine some of her songwriting with electronic and instrumental composition, to create innovative but also accessible music, that can be appreciated by those educated in music, and others, including community settings.
