We first met David Ward when we performed one of his duos for Huntly based chamber music club Music Centeral. The concert repertorie was inspired by the the education work of local composer and teacher Ronald Center from which the club draws it's name. We look forward to returning to the Tin Hut in November to perform his miniature based on the Summer plant, Bog Cotton. David talks about his inspirations for the miniature below.
Lukkaminnie's Oo or 'Grannie's Wool' is the Shetland name for Bog Cotton or Cotton Grass. For this piece, we might imagine ourselves on a rather boggy, island moor in high summer, with white tufts of bog cotton all around. It is a calm and sunny day, and because of the bright sun there are, for the moment, only a few active midges. Suddenly one of those strange, miniature whirlwinds, which occur from time to time in such places, rushes past. Then we return to the previous atmospheric calm.
When this idea first came up, I was minded to do something clever with the one-page presentation, perhaps as in the 'Der Spiegel' duo attributed to Mozart, or maybe something else exploiting the single page in an unusual way. However, I couldn't relate anything of that kind to Bog Cotton, but instead instantly heard in my head the very simple, but I hope atmospheric, piece which you've seen. Maybe some of the other pieces will be able to exploit interesting tricks with the one page: it will be interesting to see (and hear) what you do get.
Photograph by Knock News
