FitkinWall – Harpland at Theatre Royal, Bath
We’ve been performing our new show Harpland extensively in 2023-24 and are delighted to be continuing the tour into the 2025. For several years we’ve been exploring the music and stories of the Scottish Highlands and the theme of migration in its many forms. Graham then composed new works based on old Gaelic songs and tunes from bagpipe and fiddle books for my three harps – the beautiful medieval Gaelic wire harp (clàrsach), the buzzing Renaissance bray harp and the Scottish lever harp. This is an opportunity to hear us perform the works from our new FitkinWall album, as ancient music is re-imagined in looping, evolving patterns.
My background growing up in Sutherland, in the far north of Scotland has driven the new album and the music you will hear in the show. The enforced eviction and subsequent migration of crofters from the highlands, as part of the Clearances which benefited landlords, gentry and wealthy Southern sheep farmers, provides a central focus.
The performance will feature a choreographed light installation by acclaimed light artist Peter Freeman as well as snippets of interviews from people who have migrated into the Highlands in the last 50 years.
“ Taking the theme of migration as the connecting thread, composer Graham Fitkin and harpist Ruth Wall conjured a haunting sense of longing and loss, wringing contemporary resonance from traditional tunes” Guardian on Harpland show, Cardiff 2023 ****
——–
CREATIVE TEAM
Composer, Electronics, Sound Design, Editing – Graham Fitkin
All harps, Interviewer – Ruth Wall
Lighting artist – Peter Freeman
Sound Technician for tour – Charlie Rickett
Technical advice – Alessandro Baldessari
Senior Consulting Engineer – Tim Oliver, Real World Studios
Film – Berta Valverde, Ian Kingsnorth
Website – bebang.com
Huge thanks also to:
Cultivator Cornwall, Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees, Patricia Findlay, Tonia Liu, Rosie, Tony and especially to our Interviewees – Lewis Backie, Marija Matvejeva, Mariya Bezkorovanya, Farhad, Shameran Lafferty, Brigitte Geddes, Rhona and Alec Morrison.
