Divided Light takes inspiration from Sarah White’s capture of the Northern Lights over Edinburgh, and is constructed from three movements depicting the key focal points that drew my attention. The first of which being nature: the surrounding wildlife and greenery and the resonating Mirrie Dancers (a term originating from the Shetland and Orkney islands for the aurora borealis) and accompanying stars lingering over the city. The second movement explores the artificial lights gleaming from the city floor, and the perception from the city’s residents whom cannot see the natural wonders beyond the overhanging light pollution is depicted in the final movement:
“Kids in large cities are growing up having never seen the stars. Can you imagine that – having never walked under the vastness of the star-lit sky, and there’s that feeling of awe, restoration and imaginative spark?” – Peter Kahn
“Scotland’s natural wonders are one of the most distinctive attractions for the country and to think that some of the most world-renowned spectacles are being blocked from city dwellers is gutwrenching Blackford Hill, Edinburgh” – Sarah White
Red Note
Linger to Sea for solo violin is a “sea-scape” constructed from a recorded landscape that follows the natural structure of events that happened in real time, translated into music. The work is an attempt to create an interpretation of the beauty and vulnerability present in nature and how it shifts and progresses over time. Additionally highlighting the intricate details that one might not notice when watching at a surface level.
Violin: Daniel Pioro
Erin Thomson (b. 2000) is a Scottish composer from Glasgow. She is currently in her fourth and final year at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, studying composition under the tutelage of Dr. Linda Buckley.
Erin is currently working towards completing her undergraduate degree and has already achieved the endorsement of music education, with distinction. She is the current Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Brass Department Composer in Residence and is the most recent first prize recipient in the Walter and Dinah Wolfe Memorial Composition Award 2021, for her work Linger to Sea for solo violin and reverb.
Erin is a young emerging composer creating and engaging in opportunities to collaborate across disciplines. Her next steps include commencing a Masters in Music specialising in composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Autumn 2021, where she hopes to engage further in her external passions, involving community and education work.
