**Elemental** centres around a new piece for harmonium, piano, fiddle and string orchestra by **Aidan O’Rourke** and **Kit Downes** – two musicians with an embarrassment of accolades, and a taste for musical pioneering.
*There is no beginning *fuses the visceral energy and haunting beauty of Aidan’s traditional Celtic roots with wisps of jazz, folk, ambient and classical. Surrounding it will come a clutch of contemporary works that speak to us of all things elemental – space, silence, waves and air – intertwined with melodies which echo an ancient Scotland.
The piece – and the performance – are inspired by **Edwin Morgan’s 1984 poem *Slate***, generally accepted as a love letter to a politically- and environmentally-battered Scotland. Through music, SE, Aidan and Kit will explore themes of time, change and transformation, particularly in relation to our nation and our world; entities that, as with music, are subject to the constant processes of time. Through sound, we’ll conjure thoughts of the past, present and future of the land we all share – as well as creating a space to contemplate it.
Aidan O’Rourke is a fiddler, producer and award-winning composer who has pioneered a new sound in folk music and redefined traditional forms. As well as performing with his band Lau – who have won Best Group at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards an unprecedented four times – Aidan performs as a solo artist, finding new ways of articulating the tradition.
Kit Downes is a pianist, organist and harmonium player. He has toured the world performing on various keyboard instruments with his own bands – ENEMY, Troyka, Elt and Vyamanikal – as well as artists such as Squarepusher, Thomas Strønen and Django Bates, and collaborated with film-makers, video game developers and classical composers. A BBC Jazz Award winner, Kit has also been nominated for a Mercury Music Award.
Amongst their many collaborations and solo projects, Kit and Aidan perform together as a duo.
Programme
**Aidan O’Rourke and Kit Downes**
There is no beginning
**Tansy Davies**
The Beginning of the World
**Dave Fennessy**
Hirta Rounds
**György Ligeti**
Ramifications
**Ruth Crawford Seeger**
Andante for Strings