‘TERRE’ - A sonic exploration of scottish landscape
Made In scotland showcase 2023
SOUND SCOTLAND COMMISSION - EMERGING COMPOSER OCTOBER 2022
Blending collected sounds of nature with harp, voice, piano and French horn, composer Deborah Shaw (Aurora Engine) presents a series of contrasting electroacoustic compositions inspired by and developed from data collected from specific locations in Scotland. Pitch-shifting blackbirds, buzzing honey bees morphing into dance beats, soundscapes made from ocean waste and a suite of ‘sonic trees’. This sonic journey is often textural with harmonic stability, a deliberate device intended to evoke a sense of home and roots.
Commissioned by Aberdeen’s prestigious SoundFest hosted by Sound Scotland to premiere a new suite of compositions ‘Terre’ exploring composers relationship with the natural world, and our response as artists to the climate crisis. Premiere 28th October 2022
‘FRACTAL’
Fractal was devised from a graphic score designed by the composer based on the fractal patterns of nature - specifically trees. Starting from a mid range note (E Flat 4 - G4) the work expands contrapuntally, creating melodic layers and fragmented rhythms as the branches split. For the soundfestival premiere, Deborah is using a series of extended techniques on the harp to develop the fractal shape. French horn and voice add sonic foliage.
‘SYRINX’
Drawn to birdsong since childhood, in composing Syrinx Deborah recorded and analysed vocalisations from birds on the Water of Leith, Edinburgh. Notating rhythms and using pitch shifting techniques to decipher melodies and intervals in detail, Deborah recreates the sound of birds using her own voice. Deborah has led a series of workshops with choirs exploring birdsong and recording / biomusic, creating ‘flocks’ of sounds made of collective human voices.
‘Drone’
Drone Bees, harp, voice, synth, electronic percussion, French horn
Drone is made up from bee sounds collected from Edinburgh University’s Apiary. Drawn to the intriguing sounds and communal habits of bees, Deborah recorded a variety of hive sounds. Drunk on smoke, jumping, shouting and, of course, buzzing, the bees make different sounds depending on their mood, surroundings and time of year.
‘PLASTIC SIREN’
Opening with aeolian harp, played by the autumnal wind on Thortonloch Beach (Scottish Borders), this piece explores the sounds of the Scottish coastline using recyclable ocean waste, sounds made from glass and plastic bottles are blended with traditional instruments and voice. The movement in the piece responds to the ebb and flow of the tide at this specific location.
REVIEW
Aurora Engine - TERRE @ Cowdray Hall, Sound Festival 2022.
‘I’ve got a lot of wires’, says Deborah Shaw, lightly, as Aurora Engine, as she makes adjustments between pieces, asking the audience politely for patience between movements. I am attending the second Spotlight gig for Sound Festival 2022 at Cowdray Hall, recently refurbished and quietly busy with an attentive audience.
The music is beautiful, lilting and lifting, impressions of birdsong through vocalisations and the buzzing of honey bees. We’re asked to listen out for the swarming of the bees, where during the recording the keeper had disturbed the hive. In the setting of Cowdray Hall, gently lit, sound reverberating gleefully, the audience certainly think they notice the moment that this happens.
The pieces are collectively titled TERRE, a response to the Climate Emergency. AuroraEngine is surrounded on stage by branches, a harp, plucked, pedals and a piano. They’ve been commissioned specifically for Sound Festival, which brings such wonderful, unusual and moving music to Aberdeen and the wider North East.
The pauses to rerrange during the performance give space for reflection, time to consider how they relate to the natural world they are drawn from, this concert hall, so often underused . It’s refreshing to see music which is so naturally speaks to the world around us, and important that it is given more opportunities to do so.