The beauty of Gaelic culture is celebrated in this poetry and music event that features the works of one of the most innovative of all Gaelic poets, Sorley MacLean with internationally renowned folk singer Julie Fowlis.

Marking the centenary year of MacLean’s birth, Bath International Music Festival have brought together award winning Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis and Jo MacDonald, trustee of Urras Shomhairle the Sorley MacLean Trust, to celebrate MacLean’s powerful works and influence on Scottish culture.

Sorley MacLean is one of Scotland’s poets of national and international stature, and one of the most distinguished of all Gaelic poets. Born on the island of Raasay, off the east coast of Skye, his upbringing was rooted in Gaelic culture and in its rich song tradition. His poetry is characterised by its innovation and boldness; his seminal work Dàin do Eimhir speaks of love, choice, suffering and injustice, and simultaneously considers the seismic political events that were to shake Europe to its foundations in the 1930s and 1940s. Events such as the Spanish Civil War and the rise of Fascism were welded together with his own intense personal feelings to produce poetry that has attracted national and international acclaim. 

Sorley MacLean’s canon of work, although relatively small, contains some of the best, and best known, of modern Gaelic poetry, which at times achieves a lyrical peak unrivalled in Gaelic verse. In many ways he brought Scottish Gaelic poetry into the modern era, and he is a key figure in modern Scottish literature.

Julie Fowlis has become one of the most internationally well known Gaelic singers, establishing a major following in the UK and USA through her live performances and TV appearances (including Later with Jools Holland), and winning a host of awards including BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year in 2008.

More recently it has been announced that Tha mo ghaol air àird a’ chuain’ (My love is on the high seas) from Julie’s first album was used to in the first TV advert for Pixar’s forthcoming film, Brave, screened during the Oscars.

This project sees Julie performing her own original and traditional songs, alongside new works written in honour of Sorley’s life and work. There will be readings of some of his most important works as well as reflections on the life of this pre-eminent bard of the islands.

Conducted in both Gaelic and English, Celebrating Sorley explores the rich vein of Gaelic culture in the 20^th and 21^st centuries through two of its most renowned figures.

2012 marks Joanna MacGregor’s seventh and final year as the Artistic Director of Bath International Music Festival. The programme boasts a glorious mix of specially commissioned productions, classical orchestral and chamber concerts, opera, folk and jazz together with a range of talks and films to enrich the live performance experience.

Julie Fowlis and her Band: Celebrating Sorley

Thursday 31 May 8pm

Assembly Rooms, Bennett Street, Bath, BA12QH

Tickets £18 & £10

Box office: 01225 463362

www.bathmusicfest.org.uk