Camac Blog
Recomposed, remoulded and gently unfolding: FitkinWall and ‘Harpland’
News
May 8, 2024
Internationally renowned harp and electronica duo FitkinWall (comprising harpist Ruth Wall and composer/performer Graham Fitkin, are about to embark on the second leg of the UK tour of their critically acclaimed new show: Harpland.
FitkinWall, Photo: Steve Tanner
The immersive presentation explores themes of migration, loss and longing:
“Our planet houses over 8 billion humans at the moment, and we move around an
awful lot. Migration is not new. It’s been going on for millennia. The reasons for
migration may be geological, climate based, oppressive, work related or voluntary.”
Highland-native Ruth Wall’s explorations into traditional Gaelic song tunes have unearthed a wealth of music that has particular focus on migration within Scotland and the Highland Clearances:
“This performance focuses on one small aspect of migration, the eviction and
subsequent migration of farmers and crofters from the Scottish highlands during the
Clearances.”
As only FitkinWall can, they have created a heady mix of the ancient and the modern, creating new work using these Scottish melodies, but “remoulded and recomposed” and interspersed with words from recent migrants in to Scotland. These fragments of folkloric material undergo surprising transformations into the searing, energetic music that is Fitkin’s signature. To complete this immersive experience, the performance will feature a specially commissioned light installation by the extraordinary artist Peter Freeman.
The London Jazz News has said of Ruth’s harp playing: “The harp is luminous, pastoral and urban at the same time under Wall’s fingers, she pushes the instrument to its limits.. the sound is immaculate.”
For this show, Ruth’s performs on three different harps – Gaelic wire-strung, Bray and Camac Electro harps. This is in itself emblematic of the way in which their work combines the very old with the very new. A sound world which is rooted in Ruth’s passion for the highly ornamented traditional Scottish tunes, combined with cutting edge sonic and visual elements. As a complement to the magic of Ruth’s playing, Graham uses a Moog Voyager, Ableton and various FX modules.
As FitkinWall tell us: “The melodies are still there but distilled.” You can hear an excerpt here of the haunting ‘Gently unfolding’ tune, ‘Uist’ and gain a sense of this fragile, but vital, utterly unique sound world.
Ruth Wall, photo: Steve Tanner
Below are the spring/ summer dates, with more planned for the Autumn, we urge anyone in the UK not to miss this important feat of artistic imagination and endeavour.
Spring/Summer Dates 2024
15 May Howard Assembly Rooms Leeds
17 May Tolbooth, Stirling
18 May The Queens Hall, Edinburgh
19 May Eden Court, Inverness
23 May Shetland Arts, Shetland
28 May NCEM, York
29 May The Stables, Wavendon
5 June Lakeside Arts, Nottingham
11 June The Haymarket, Basingstoke
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