"Whare ghaists and houlets nightly cry..."

Rabbie Burns has legend status amongst Scots, and as a fellow Ayrshire-man, I grew up hearing his poems and songs, frequently reciting a few myself! His work has inspired this piece – I looked to his famous poem “Tam O’Shanter” – and was gripped by his description of the Alloway Auld Kirk, ablaze with music and dance in the middle of the night.

And so, my piece aims to musically re-create this scene – devilish music, wild dances, screaming and squealing monsters and ghosts. The music is somewhat programmatic: the opening depicts Tam’s first sight of the wild yet eerie scene. The dancing begins, and he follows various gruesome creatures as they fly around the auld kirk, then his eyes land on Nannie, Tam’s “cutty sark” - a particularly beautiful young witch. His vision narrows, the scene settles and what seems like a spotlight illuminates her and her alone. A fleeting moment of calm, before he’s awoken by the dancing resuming, uglier and almost unrecognisable – especially after a few drinks! It grows increasingly wild (“The piper loud and louder blew; The dancers quick and quicker flew”) as more ghosts, ghouls, witches and warlocks join in, kicking and screaming to the very end.

This piece was written for and commissioned by Emily Crook for her final recital at the Royal College of Music, in connection with her Master of Performance degree. It’s dedicated to her with admiration and love.

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