Dulax

2014

clarsach + fixed medium (stereo)

6’00”

Dulax forms part of the Aberdeen Harp Book, a collection of pieces for lever harp players of an intermediate standard. It was commissioned by and composed for Alan Carr, for soundfestival 2014. Dulax is the name of Alan Carr’s house in Glenbuchat. The name derives from the Gaelic “Dubh leac” which can be translated as “hill slope”. Using a simple cipher, I translated the letter names of the house name into the notes D, C, E, A and D, which are not only the first five notes of the piece, but also the harmonic underpinning of each of the five short sections of the work.

Alan Carr gave the first performance of the piece on 2nd November 2014 at Glenbuchat Hall, Aberdeenshire.

Pieces from the Aberdeen Harp Book can be downloaded from the soundfestival website