Atlantic Island Festival, Luing, 8 July 2009

Mark Sheridan and Norman Bissell

THE OVERWHELMING success of the Atlantic Islands Festival was a tribute not only to the beautiful island of Luing which hosted it (incidentally laying on some idyllic summer weather), and the warm welcome provided by the islanders, but to the vision and hard work of Norman Bissell, who as Director of the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics and the Chairman of the Luing Community Trust, became the festival’s organiser and chief architect.

At the heart of the festival was the première of the Atlantic Islands Suite, created by Norman Bissell and composer Mark Sheridan, and featuring the slate that played such a part in the island’s history, and which is at the heart of island itself.

It was Mark Sheridan who approached Norman Bissell at the Celtic Connections Festival and suggested that they should work together on a piece inspired by his collection of poems Slate Sea and Sky (published by Luath Press 2007). The theme of sky and sea has been a significant element in Mark Sheridan’s work, which includes Landscapes for Guitar and Cello (2005), Landscape for Ensemble (2007) and The Flight of the Arctic Tern, which was first performed at the Tall Ship in Glasgow in February 2009, and which will tour the Highlands later this year.

Mark Sheridan says: “The piece grew out of Norrie’s poems and was a natural extension of my work – and his poems are so evocative of the west coast and the Atlantic.”

A key element of the composition was the ‘slate-phone’. Norman Bissell says, “Mark Sheridan had built a slate sculpture in the Hall at Cullipool on Luing which had attracted curious attention during the early days of the festival. On Wednesday night it came into its own as the musical instrument it was designed to be”.

Mark Sheridan explains, “I decided to use a slate instrument – to create one after wandering around the island to find a way of making music out of the slate …… a symbol and actual representation – an idiophone … to hit! It actually has a great range of timbral quality if you can play it properly! It is earthen and elemental – a real representation of the island … based on the ancient instruments … and with these musicians we created a real rhythmic vibe and energy to support Norrie’s poems…”

To this iconic instrument, Mark Sheridan added his own keyboards, the traditionally based and jazz-fuelled fiddle-playing of Aidan O’Rourke and Lori Watson, the rich and haunting voice of Margaret Bennett, singing the traditional songs Eilean I and Iariaidh Aotr, performances on slate by all three musicians, and the spoken voice of Norman Bissell performing nine poems from Slate, Sea and Sky.

The story of these generally understated poems takes the poet from the empty pounding of city street noise to the open landscape, serenity and continuity of island life, characterised by natural beauty, turbulent weather, and deep relationships. The music tapped into what Bissell calls ‘the plays of wild energy’ of the Atlantic coast, and produced a sound which, along with the fine performances and the quality of the rapport between poet and musicians brought out the warmth, intelligence and supple sensitivity of Norman Bissell’s work, and provided a memorable experience for the audience of islanders and visitors.

The Atlantic Islands Suite will be played at the Tartan Heart Festival at Belladrum (7 August 2009), and it will be interesting to see how the new venue will affect the performance. The one to look forward to, however, will be the one proposed for next year, when Mark Sheridan would like to see it played in the quarry at Cullipool, where the acoustics and the sense of history should add another magical dimension to this multi-layered piece.

© Elizabeth M. Rimmer, 2009

Link

• Atlantic Islands Festival