Symphony No.1

The ancient ‘classical music’ of the Scottish bagpipe, the pibroch or - in Gaelic - piobaireachd, is a set of variations on a slow theme, or urlar. The variations follow a set pattern, moving from a simple paraphrase of the original melody, adding increasingly elaborate instrumentation, until the music builds up to a frenzy of rapid grace notes. At the end, the urlar is usually repeated.

I recently wrote a pibroch of my own, later expanding it into a piece for piano trio, using more contemporary methods of variation. This involved experimenting with the separation of ornament and melody into different keys, and even developing the ‘drone’, which extends downwards by a tone in each variation, so that in the end it encompasses a complete whole-tone scale.

In Symphony No. 1 I have developed the idea still further, this time interspersing the variations with a ‘setting’ (albeit without voices) of Psalm 104.

The structure emerged thus:

1. Verses 1–5, ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul!’ (brass).

2. Urlar (strings).

3. Verses 6–13, ‘..springs gush forth,’ ‘the birds of the air.’

4. Variation 1 (flute, bassoon).

5. Verses 14–18, the abundance of creation (passacaglia, beginning on cellos).

6. Variation 2, Taorluath (I oboe; II percussion and piano).

7. Verses 19–23, the seasons; night and day (passacaglia, solo horn plays urlar in Gaelic psalm style - ie solo echoed by tutti).

8. Variation 3, Crunlauth (I trumpet and horns; II flutes; III woodwind and side-drum).

9. Verses 24–32, ‘O Lord, how manifold are thy works’ (chorale), ‘..the sea, great and wide...ships and Leviathan.’

10. Variation 4, Crunluath mach (I flute and piccolo; II strings; III tutti).

11. Verses 33–35 and Urlar, ‘I will sing to the Lord all my days.’

Symphony No. 1, which is dedicated to my husband, represents for me a celebration of the beauty of Scotland, and the inspiration I have found here.

Commissioned by City of Reykjavik. First performed by Iceland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gunther Schuller in Reykjavik, 1993.