Harp and electronica duo FitkinWall bring their stunning new show to Manchester.
Waterside is delighted to welcome the world class FitinWall, who will perform their haunting new works on Thursday 17 October. Ruth Wall’s explorations into Gaelic song, fiddle and pipe tunes and history of the Scottish Highlands where she grew up, are at the heart of this show. Composer Graham Fitkin has created enigmatic and mesmerising new versions of these tunes for Ruth’s three harps - the sitar-like Renaissance bray harp, the beautiful medieval Gaelic wire harp (clàrsach) and the Scottish lever harp. The concert tour also features a specially commissioned light installation from acclaimed artist Peter Freeman.
Following threads of migration, loss and longing, the movement of people during the Highland Clearances is brought into modern-day focus. Ruth spoke with recent migrants to Scotland and their voices are incorporated at times in the performance. FitkinWall have really created something truly beautiful and at times disturbing. Dark, fragmented folk moods transform into soaring fast-paced music in this memorable show.
Their music is strong and immediate - pulsating patterns, eery melodic fragments, sumptuous harmonies - all constructed with care and precision. Allusions can be drawn to new classical, folk, even ambient and systems music with hints of artists such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Lau or Haushka somewhere in the ether. “FitkinWall conjured a haunting sense of longing and loss, wringing contemporary resonance from traditional tunes. A quietly dynamic duo, reinventing themselves with every project, yet always true to their individual musical identities while implicitly attuned each to the other”. The Guardian.
Listings
- FitkinWall’s Harpland: Thursday 17 October 2024
- Waterside, 1 Waterside Plaza, Sale, Trafford, M33 7ZF
- In the Robert Bolt Theatre
- Doors 19:30
- First Half: 20:00 - 20:45
- Interval: 20:45 - 21:05
- Second half: 21:05 - 21:50
- 90 minutes, plus interval
- Tickets: £18 spektrixlink.watersidearts.org
Further Information: Welcome | Waterside (watersidearts.org)