Cronan an Dain

Programme Note

This work is a setting of the traditional Gaelic lullaby Cronan an Dain, or Fate Croon that is thought to originate from the Hebridean Isle of Eigg. These lullabies, or croons as known within the Western Isles, are essentially cradle songs the quality of which are, as the ethnomusicologist Marjory Kennedy-Fraser describes as ‘living, moving, rhythmical germs, that have a mesmeric, wheel-like pulsation’. The subject of these croons often entwine folklore, with ritual and superstition that bring a sense of foreboding – represented here by the clarinet and electronic parts that shadow the vocal line.

Commissioned by Ian Mitchell and Alison Wells Premiered at SABRe symposium, Keele University, February 2012.