The Hebrides Suite

Concert performance of musical composition

'The Hebrides Suite' explores and communicates aspects of the history, culture and memory of the
Outer Hebrides, remote islands off the coast of Scotland, through the medium of composed sound.
Each of the works in this series uses a similar mixture of compositional material - monologues, field
recordings and existing archival sources as well as new interviews.
'On the Machair' is loosely woven around aspects of the crofting (a form of land tenure and smallscale
food production unique to the Scottish highlands and islands) lifestyle past and present.
Machair is a Gaelic word that describes an extensive low-lying fertile plain which is one of the
rarest habitat types in Europe and supports the crofting lifestyles in terms of the plants, crops,
animals and birds that can be found there.
'Tweed' engages with the another historic and integral part of the Outer Hebridean lifestyle and
culture – the weaving of the famous Harris tweed. Threaded in with the voices of the independent
hand weavers are atmospheres, voices and mechanical sounds from the mechanised mill. The
physical elements of weaving form spatial templates for the treatment of the recorded material in
the composition.