craig armstrong memory takes my hand
This Summer hails the release of three new works by Craig Armstrong. Composed over the last four years, a period that saw Craig Armstrong search for a personal style of composition which reflected his musical influences, developing his approach to the acoustic classical world with processes he had used in recording electronic music.
‘Immer’, his Violin Concerto No. 1, was composed in 2007 for Clio Gould, with whom Craig Armstrong collaborated when she was artistic director to the Scottish Ensemble. She is regularly involved in the performance of contemporary solo repertoire.
In ‘Immer’ Armstrong creates a specific acoustic sonority with techniques found in contemporary music software, using slow loops that phase in and out with one another, creating a blurred tonality, with the solo violin singing above the orchestra - a technique which also has its roots in early music; repetition, canons, fugues etc.
‘One Minute’ is a work composed of 15 one-minute pieces for orchestra, each minute functioning as a self-contained piece. It was commissioned by the Horse Cross Trust for the opening of the new Concert Hall in Perth.
‘Memory Takes My Hand’ was a commission from the Glasgow City Council to write a new concert work for the reopening of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in October 2006. Craig Armstrong collaborated with the playwright Peter Arnott for the words, in this work sung by the British soprano Lucy Crowe.
Track Listings
- Immer - Violin Concerto No.1
- Knoydart - One Minute, 15 Pieces For Orchestra
- Sionascaig
- Sound Of Jura
- Bauchaille Etive Mor
- Rassay
- Govan
- Kirkwall
- Crimond
- Quiriang
- Rackwick Bay
- Edinburgh
- Cape Wrath
- Glasgow
- Rannoch Moor
- Perth
- Us - Memory Takes My Hand
- World
- Age (Once)
- Taittirya Uphanisad
- Recovering
- One Day
- North
- Glasgow
- As We Loved
- Risen
- The World Shall Turn
- Many
