Orkney, 22-27 June 2007

I HAVE just returned to London from a packed week at the St Magnus Festival in Orkney. Between 1980 and 2006, Orkney was my home. It will always be an important place for me. Both the St Magnus Festival and the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness were key in the decision to move to Orkney in 1980, to live and work there, and again to return in 2007 to enjoy the festival in its 30th year, with friends.

The journey home started with the Northlink ferry, the Hrossey that sailed overnight from Kirkwall to Aberdeen at 11 45pm; as the remnants of a beautiful midsummer evening were replaced by a spectacular and almost full rising moon.

And this, after a raw and emotive adaptation in the Stromness Town Hall of Luke Sutherland’s most recent novel, ‘Venus as a Boy’. An evocative story that has a particular resonance for its Orkney audience, set in part in Orkney and moving to Ullapool, Edinburgh and London, where future performances will be held.

This was the play’s third performance in Orkney, having premiered in Hoy at the Gable End Theatre, and the Orkney Arts Theatre in Kirkwall.

Tam Dean Burn’s performance was for me, an honest and vivid interpretation of Luke Sutherland’s novel, where depictions of childhood fear, extreme bullying, bigotry, discrimination and violence are interwoven with evocations of a fragile and precious childhood: friendship, intimacy, first love, loss, rejection and a powerful interpretation of love and forgiveness; where gender and sexual expression give power and meaning to the central character, ‘Desiree’.

Luke’s enigmatic presence on stage, as author, composer and live musician, was integral to the performance, his music echoing and anticipating the dynamics of Tam’s main and supporting characters.

The challenge to Orkney audiences appeared to be accepted, the mirror held up, the message attentively received and appreciated. ‘Venus as a Boy’ is a National Theatre of Scotland Workshop and Burnt Goods production. The novel is also being translated into film by Film Four in conjunction with Picture Palace North.

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I am encouraged by the number of local young musicians and participants in the festival, and I hope in time this translates into younger audiences as well

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This was my final festival event, completing a whirlwind week (including actual unseasonably cold wind and rain at times – and spectacularly bright Orkney sunshine at others). A week that started for me in the magnificent ‘Spiegeltent’, a hand-made tent of wood, mirrors, leaded glass, velvet and brocade, set up in Garden Square, Kirkwall, and a performance therein of ‘Oiseau Rouge’.

This part of 2007’s Magfest production was a sensational mix of circus, cabaret, burlesque, comedy and music that had the audience laughing and gasping, amazed and perhaps somewhat shocked at Ursula Martinez’ commitment to take the mystery of her disappearing hankies to its logical conclusion!

Once seen, however, news soon spread far and wide of nudity, sword-swallowing, impossible ping-pong balls, comic precision, acrobatic timing and fantastic physique.

There were other opening performances to the festival, but needless to say I could not get to them all. I attended 20 festival events over 6 days, including 4 Magfest events – a welcome recent development of the festival bringing comedy, jazz and the Spiegeltent, widening the possibilities of what can be fitted into a week.

Resident festivalgoers and visitors alike were keen to enjoy the eclectic mix that the Festival and Magfest provide. This atmosphere, the openness to new works and challenges attracts both audiences and performances and enables the festival to keep reinventing itself afresh each year.

As with the Orkney weather you have to be there when it happens and so to get the full benefit if you don’t live there, visit it more than once at least.

From its inception the festival has provided exciting opportunities for collaboration between local, national and international composers, musicians, actors, writers, artists, community groups and schools.

‘Tales of the Golden Slipper’, a collaboration between Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Master of the Queen’s Music, resident of Orkney and driving force behind the festival; Alan Plater, a playwright with strong associations with Orkney; and local director Penny Aberdein, who worked with local actors and music to develop this community play which premiered at the Orkney Arts Theatre and was very well received. The play can be seen at the Edinburgh Festival from August 13th -17th.

The opening performance of the Festival, ‘JumpStart’, was a celebration of sport in Orkney, bringing together over 200 school children, dancers, and sports people at the Pickaquoy Centre in Kirkwall. Coordinated by Andy Howitt, this was, from all accounts a spectacular event, bringing children of all ages and their parents to the festival, some for the first time.

I was particularly disappointed to miss the collaboration between Christil Trumpet, artists in residence at Papdale Primary School and ‘Between the Notes’, an ensemble who specialise in musical experimentation and improvisation.

The artists’ Consequence paintings were the starting point for BTN’s improvisation, with both the audience and musicians participating to convey in their response to these magical works through sound. Work produced during Christil Trumpet’s residency will be exhibited at the Pier Arts Centre from November 2007 to January 2008.

Although the Pier Arts Centre will not be opening to the public until 7 July, there were two readings by the Festival poet, Andrew Motion, on Saturday morning. I was very glad to be able to get a ticket for the second of these.

This additional opportunity (the main event sold out very early) to hear this modest yet exacting poet, biographer and, since1999, Poet Laureate, was an opportunity almost missed. This appeared to be due to a mix-up in communication.
We waited patiently in the upstairs room, enjoying a tantalising though restricted view of this fantastic building, including a glimpse of the huge triangular window overlooking the harbour, at the end of the purpose-built gallery that’s parallel and complementary to the much-loved original ‘Pier’.

As Andrew Motion contemplated Orkney’s history at the Stromness Museum, unaware of our anticipation, we were granted an unexpected treat. Pam Beasant a local writer and the first George Mackay Brown Writing Fellow, stepped in and read some of her own poetry, to an eager and very receptive audience. She carried this off with a natural charm and eloquence and all were struck by the depth and quality of her work.

‘Curry for Breakfast’ had a particular resonance for me as we both shared the experience of care work in Orkney. Also ‘ Running with a snow leopard’ which captured a fleeting moment of ‘collusion’ between her then young daughter and a young snow leopard… running in parallel behind a fence at the zoo. This poem is the title of a new collection of Pam Beasant’s poetry to be published in January 2008.

This more than made up for our wait as did the readings and discussions with Andrew Motion that followed. The poem ‘Mower’ brought the reality of loss and remembered loss to the fore, as an everyday object or activity: in this case mowing the lawn unexpectedly brought back long hidden memories of childhood and his father who had died some time before.

Loss in childhood is central to Andrew Motion’s memoir, ‘In the Blood’, as his mother died suddenly following a riding accident when he was still a child.

Andrew read an extract from ‘In the Blood’ and spoke very movingly about the impact of his mother’s death on him, as a child and adult. He spoke in his characteristically modest yet clear fashion about the reason he writes, and the value and central place of poetry in our culture. In particular his search for simplicity – to create something that appears to be as straightforward as a ‘glass of water’ but turns out to be a ‘glass of gin!’

He also described the need to provide structure and clarity in poetry whilst balancing this formality with the emotional raw content that can rise almost or sometimes entirely subconsciously from ‘the other side of the brain – the primeval swamp’.

This balance provides access and understanding for both the poet and the reader, giving credence to the view often stated in many art forms, that the poet, (artist, musician..), does not know the full significance of what they have created and they can learn more of this themselves once it is in the world and being perceived and understood by others.

I was listening to these readings and to ‘Max and Motion’ (poet and composer in conversation) on Sunday lunchtime, with an article I’d read a few days previously on poetry at Guantanamo in mind, and in particular this terrifying but all too representative statement: ‘As far as the US Military is concerned ‘’ poetry…presents a special risk and the DoD (Department of Defence) standards are not to approve the release of any poetry in its original form or language’.

Orkney may be in the North of Scotland but ideas are not geographically-based, nor are the implications of statements such as this.

The Festival could be seen as an extension of what historically has been an embedded connection to and between Orkney and more far-flung places. The Johnsmas Foy held at Stromness Academy took the Island of North Ronaldsay, Orkneys’ most northerly community, as its central theme.

In ‘Four Green Miles’, local people of all ages, seated apprehensively in semi-circle facing a full house, told stories, read poetry, played music and enacted the drama of North Ronaldsay’s history and influence in the world.

Past and present combined in the form of the viola made locally from pieces of a Swedish East Indian Company sailing ship, ‘The Svecia’, lost off the Reef Dyke, between Sanday and North Ronaldsay in 1740.

This is a story in itself, but even more representative of continuity and community is that the composition played on this wonderful instrument was commissioned by the St Magnus Festival and the George Mackay Brown Writing Fellowship, from Douglas Montgomery, a local musician and teacher, and himself an ambassador of Orkney music and young musicianship, taking groups of young Orkney musicians to venues across the world.

Between my first and last performances we enjoyed visiting a great range of venues in Stromness and Kirkwall (and though these were the focus of the festival there were many other venues across Orkney, as the programme will testify).

At Stromness Town Hall (also recently refurbished) Alexei Ogrintchouk (oboe) and Lidija Bizjak (piano) presented compositions by Neilsen, Berg, Haas, Maxwell Davies, Brahms and Britten.

Young accomplished musicians, they appeared dressed in bright Orkney tee shirts as their finery had been mislaid with their luggage on route. An engrossing programme that kept my attention throughout, though Maxwell Davies meditation for solo oboe ‘First Grace of Light’, and the Brahms piano piece op.119, stood out.

St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall is a majestic venue and though very appropriate for the Concerto Caledonia programme, the period instruments made it difficult to hear from our seats further back in the nave, so we moved to the unreserved seats and missed a view of the performers. The sound made up for this, along with the intervals of evening sun filtering through the stained glass windows along the nave.

The programming was innovative: Bach Contrapunctus 2, Art of Fugue BWV 1080, moving without pause to Burns/Clarke ‘The Slave’s Lament’ beautifully sung by soprano Lisa Milne, Contrapunctus 7, straight into John Cage’s ‘Radio Music’, a refreshingly brave counterpoint to the main programme – with snatches of traffic news, fiddle music and speech, reverberating between the pink sandstone columns of the cathedral, the echoes of the harpsichord and the slave’s lament.

David McGuiness introduced the programme and ‘warned’ the audience of its challenges – I later heard mixed responses to the Cage in particular. However its inclusion keeps us alert and reminds of connections as well as differences between musical genres and periods.

For me the faithful rendition of B.A.C.H., Bach’s unfinished fugue that stopped suddenly as the Bach himself had stopped on the page, was more disconcerting. A reminder of life’s fragility.

After Cage, Bach’s Suite No 2 in B minor was refreshing and reassuring. ‘Ich Habe Genug’ has been a long time favourite for me and I was delighted to see it in the programme. Lisa Milne sang this with clarity and emotion and lived up to all my expectations for the piece.

Following this came another link across time and continents with ‘Coral’ by Piazzola (1921-1992), with its echoes of Bach’s suite in B minor and merging of jazz chords with baroque instruments.

We were soon hooked on the excitement of the Festival, and faced the dilemma of what else we could fit in during the week and still manage to catch up with friends. We had added tickets to ‘Songs for Unsung Heroes’ by Liz Fletcher, and the Alan Barnes Quintet and Alan Plater at the Spiegeltent.

Liz and the Spiegeltent stole the show. Finally that day, a brief sojourn at the Festival Club and the Alistair Savage Trio gave a lively performance on fiddle, bass and piano, but by then my critical facilities were failing…

Sunday was again a feast – starting with Max & Motion, then Allan Gerhart (cello) Steven Osborne (piano) at the Stromness Town Hall. This was a virtuoso performance of works by Beethoven, Chopin, Ligeti and Shostakovitch – which was for me the most resonant.

Then the Foy and into Kirkwall for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and the Festival Chorus’s performance of Elgar’s ‘The Black Knight, followed by Mahler’s Symphony No. 4.

I heard a mixed response to ‘The Black Knight’: a less well-known piece with chorus and orchestra in full flight on a wave of sound. I found it powerful, based on a medieval, somewhat dark poem, yet embedded in Elgar’s lyrical and embracing musicality. Mahler’s Symphony No 4 was also spellbinding in a very different way, taking folklore and the simplicity and innocence of childhood as its focus.

I always find the festival chorus with full orchestra particularly gratifying and often moving. The combination of world-class musicians, the scale of a full orchestra, a well-versed and experienced choir (thanks to the work and commitment of Glenys Hughes, Festival Director) singing with passion and enthusiasm, is unbeatable.

Hearing great music where you live (or did live), made by people you know in your day-to-day life and in theirs, brings a connection and resonance that is particularly uplifting. This is a great strength of the St Magnus Festival.

Straight from Mahler to Joplin at King’s Street Hall, Kirkwall to see Lisa Milne let her hair down (literally) and party with her ‘band’ members – David McGuiness and guests – to sing the songs of her childhood heroine Janis Joplin in ‘Lisa sings Janis’.

Moving within an hour from Mahler to Joplin was an achievement and done with such fun and enjoyment – the audience loved it and so it appeared did Lisa and the Band. Yet another rare twist to a week at the St Magnus Festival. I could well image a great festival party following this performance!

I didn’t make the Edward Kunz (piano) at Stromness Town Hall, though heard that the Cage ‘In a Landscape’ and Piazzolla ‘2 Preludes’ particularly were much enjoyed. Instead I went to Kirkwall to sit in as an observer at the Conductors and Composers Course at the St. Magnus Centre and Peedie Kirk opposite. This was to follow a recommendation from the Festival 2006 and I wasn’t disappointed.

An opportunity to sit in and listen and watch young conductors developing their skills was fascinating. It was a real opportunity to develop my understanding of the relationship between the written music, the conductor and the performers (Lynda Cochrane and Judith Keaney) on two pianos.

Gaining an understanding of the complexity of each gesture gave a brief glimpse of each conductor’s personality and developing style. Going straight across the road to hear these same conductors working with the young composers rehearsing their new compositions with the Kreisler Ensemble extended this to the work itself, adding a new depth to the festival’s embrace of new music.

The following day each conductor had a chance to demonstrate their skills with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, who provided them a wonderful resource for a full day. I imagine an exciting and exhilarating experience, certainly it was fascinating to observe.

Lynda Cochrane and Judith Keaney, who I felt I had got to know at the St Magnus Centre Conductors’ Course gave a tremendous performance of Brahms, Variation on a Theme of Haydn, Rachmaninov Suite No. 2 and Variations on a theme by Paganini – the only piece of Lutoslawski’s from the war to have survived. The two pianos resounded magnificently in the cathedral.

The previous evening at the late night concert in the Cathedral, Victoria Mullova played exquisite Bach Partitas, and this was a particular highlight. Victoria in her red dress with her violin held the rapt attention of a very full cathedral, with Bach’s precise, highly-structured yet intensely emotive music filling the towering space. This will be hard to forget.

The Spiegeltent also provided a venue for the comedian Andrew Maxwell, who gently warmed up the audience, though appearing somewhat apprehensive of the expectations of a St Magnus Festival audience.

The weather that evening gave him ample ammunition, as did his rough survey of the places where festival-goers have travelled from, including great hilarity at his own Irish origins. This was counterbalanced by an underlying measure of enlightened social comment. It was just warming up when it came to an end.

Classical Meets Cabaret followed Andrew at the Spiegeltent. By this time it was even colder and less summery, but the promise of the glowing tent was hopeful. Lit in cabaret red, the Kreisler Ensemble set the scene with a Kaiser-waltz arranged by Schoenberg – you could have danced.

Next, Schoenberg’s ‘Pierrot Lunaire’ was more difficult, and very long. We had been given the words original and in translation but it was unfortunately too dark to read. Despite this and the creeping cold, it was generally appreciated.

We were then rewarded with Kurt Weill’s cabaret songs particularly the ‘Alabama Song’ and Natalie Raybould’s (soprano) energy, costume and determination that the audience enjoy the experience despite the temperature.

Finally in Kirkwall, at ‘The St Magnus Composers’ at the Cathedral I was lucky enough to get a returns ticket in the 2nd row, so was able to both see and hear the developments of the 8 composers and 7 conductors. The standard was incredibly high, the commitment apparent and the potential very exciting.

I found all the pieces arresting though Etelka Nyilasi’s evocative strings and cello with its bell like piano still resonates, as does James Ross’s Air and Reel.

The festival strongly supports young musicians, composers and conductors. I couldn’t help noticing that for many concerts the audience were predominately from older generations. I am encouraged by the number of local young musicians and participants in the festival, and I hope in time this translates into younger audiences as well.

Opportunities to observe at the conductors and composers courses could perhaps support this process. One local young man had done so, supported by his music teacher: a great opportunity that could have lifelong repercussions.

Before my last festival event we managed an invigorating walk from Marwick Beach to the cliffs at the Kitchener Memorial, with a bracing wind and hints of the spectacular summer weather that Orkney can and does produce.

Sitting on the cliff top in pink sea thrift watching the multitude of seabirds, mostly guillemots, razorbills, fulmars and kittiwakes coming to roost on the precarious cliff ledges, launching out to sea, or apparently just enjoying a meandering ride on the updrafts was mesmerising. The views to the north, of the Brough of Birsay and Westray beyond and, to the south, St John’s Head and the Old Man for Hoy were encouragingly familiar, though as always stunning.

The evening, my last of this visit developed as warm, sunny and clear, and provided an good opportunity to enjoy great fish and chips sitting on the Stromness harbour wall before venturing to ‘Venus as a Boy’ at Stromness Town Hall, and to the boat with a great deal to think about from a St Magnus Festival to remember.

© Clare Froy, 2007

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• St Magnus Festival