Scottish Music Centre - Catalogue

Programme Note

Several years ago, I was involved in a research project with the animator Jenny Chapman, where we looked at how a fuller understanding of our respective creative processes could inform our work. I had always been aware that I visualized the sound, texture and colour of my music, but it was during the making of our film that I could begin to see my music, in terms of very real pictures, textures and shapes. I then began to look at whether my musical language could communicate imaginary pictures to an audience without any visual help, or whether I could encourage listeners to hear pictures of their own as a work unfolded.
The images which Hearing Pictures aims to reflect are twofold. The first is of flocks of sea birds darting above the waters of a calm Loch Fleet in Sutherland, appearing and disappearing as they move in perfect unison. The second is of the wild water of Loch Ness on a dismal Autumn day, battering the stony shoreline at Dores. What you, the audience hears or sees may of course be entirely different.