I am Prometheus Dark Liquid Ixion cladonia bellidiflora Tol-Pedn Lento in memoriam Peter Maxwell Davies Ursa Minor fthinoporinos Diversion (The room behind the room behind the room) Parable
This compelling survey of music by the Scottish composer Stuart MacRae – a fifth instalment in the acclaimed Hebrides Ensemble/Delphian Records series of composer portraits – focuses on works of the last decade while also reaching back to include two pieces from the composer’s mid-twenties.
Reflecting diverse inspirations from nature and myth, it also reveals underlying continuities: a preoccupation, in particular, with questions of scale and perspective. The ancient Greek hero Prometheus receives an unexpectedly intimate portrait, his human aspects to the fore – flawed yet sympathetic. MacRae’s perception of the natural world, meanwhile, extends from the microscopic scale of lichen to the vastness of the night sky, in which the medium of distance transmutes all turmoil into calm. Recorded on 12-14 August 2021 in The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh.
