Torridon, fragile shell

Words by Murdoch MacDonald (spoken), with words from Psalm 90 (sung), set for choir and oboist

This piece was first performed on 26th May, 2012, at Halifax Minster. The performance was given by the Leeds University Liturgical Choir, with Jonathan Tobutt (oboist), Richard Rastall (speaker), and Bryan White (conductor), with the composer at the organ.

I've put this simple website together in case it's of interest to any of you who took part in the piece: I'm so grateful to you all and was delighted with how you all performed. You might find some of the photos give a bit of context to the words...

I'm also particularly grateful to Murdoch MacDonald, for his inspirational writing, and for permission to use his words in this piece.

Please let me know if you'd like any more background, or have questions, comment, etc. - I've loads more photos, writing, etc. if anyone is interested. (This site also has a few write-ups from our latest summer visit to Torridon, mainly aimed at hill-walkers etc. Also some photos from our recent winter trip there.). You can use my home number or e-mail if you have it; otherwise please e-mail me at D.R.H.Gordon@leeds.ac.uk.

Many thanks!

Dan.

Files: as a matter of courtesy (and for copyright), please let me know if you are downloading any of these.	Words (PDF format)	Recording of first performance (MP3 format: approx 12 MegaBytes)

Programme note

Torridon's highest peaks are celebrated in Scottish hill-walking circles, but this far corner of the Highlands remains remote and wild, its beauty intoxicating but austere, its history poignant. Even now, no-one wrests an easy living from here. Yet it is a haven for some - distant fastnesses a world away from modern ills. Wildlife also finds refuge here, for all the land's sparseness of fertility, and its vulnerability.

Murdoch MacDonald's wonderfully evocative yet unsentimental writing about Torridon has guided many of our wanderings there, and given us much to reflect on back home. With the place itself, his books are the inspiration for my efforts.

Religion in Wester Ross has a long and mixed provenance, but the Psalms have played a prominent role in recent centuries. Psalm 90 seemed quite apposite as a reflection of the nature of life there. I have attempted to link the two, with quotations from Murdoch's writing being spoken, and parts of the Psalm sung. The use of cor anglais, oboe, and oboe d'Amore for the three sections of the piece is intended to reflect their respective themes: the frailty of humanity with the eternity of God, harshness in human existence, and renewal/faith. Only at the very end do the choir sing from the Torridon text - "fragile shell".

There are some rather more constant threads: timelessness - the world's apparent, and the divine's actual. Also the death of children. Psalm 90 calls for God to return, and for "children of man" to "turn again". Turn, return... infant death is a slight paraphrase of this, but it is a harsh reality of human life, particularly under forced starvation such as that of the Highland Clearances.

To some extent this piece takes a Christian perspective on the Psalm - I omit ascribing the harshness of human life to divine anger, for example, which is more an Old than New Testament concept. The piece also uses the Psalm's words to hint at the eternity yet fragility of the divine: the offstage cor anglais is to some extent a small, enduring voice. This more prophetic aspect of the Psalms is perhaps appropriate: in the Highlands they have always been used in worship where the Gospels are central.

Some photos

[To see any of the photos below at a bigger size, please left-click on the (small) photo in the table: You can step through the photos on the enlarged display by using the arrow keys; press Esc to quit the bigger display. To make the enlarged display full-screen size, press F11. The full-screen mode will take effect once you move to another photo. Press F11 again to get it back to normal size, etc.

Each box on this page is linked to a self-contained slide-show. You can start the slides at any point in a box clicking on any thumbnail: the caption for the displayed photo will appear in larger text than on this page!]

Mountain and loch:
Loch Torridon, from Sgorr a Chadail	Sgorr a Chadail, from Loch Torridon	Sgorr Ruadh	Beinn Liath Mhor, from Corrie
Loch Torridon, from above the Ling path	Looking north from Meall Chean Dearg	Coire Mhic Fearchair, Coire Mhic Nobuill and the Flowerdale hills	Quartzite on Beinn Eighe
Sub-arctic alpines in the tundra gravel, Ruadh-Stac Mhor summit (Beinn Eighe)	Beinn Eighe from Glen Grudie	Beinn Eighe from Lochan Neimhe	The Alligin gneiss, from the north slopes of Sgorr a Chadail
The Alligin gneiss, from An Mheallan Ruadh; a 'three-islands' loch in the foreground	The gneiss, on the coast towards Diabaig	..and further west, above South Rona's Church Cave	Talladale falls
Lichen near Talladale falls	Meall a Ghiuthais	Slioch and Loch Maree	Sunset over Loch Maree
Shielings, places of refuge, religious sites, meeting-places:
Remains of shieling, between Annat and Lochan Neimhe	..looking upstream from the sheiling	Sheiling sites near Alligin	Food was stored here, high above Annat, in the months following Culloden
Another loch of three islands: this was the abode of an old woman 'on the very edge of existence'	..Remains of her dwelling	..Lichen on her stones	..and sphagnum by the loch
The Suileagan Bealach: lochans at part of Torridon's northern march	The western marches with Gairloch	Old crofting settlement above Fasag (the field of the springs)	Corrie church (recently closed), and the Darroch memorial
Am Ploc: once an open-air church, and before that possibly a Viking meeting place		War memorial at Fasag. It is very sobering how even in these tiny, remote communities, so many people are commemorated on these stones dotted round the Wester Ross coast.
Some winter scenes:
Day 1 at Lochside: nacreous clouds over Beinn na h'Eaglaise	Mother-of-pearl gone, there was still drama in the skies	The squalls tore spray from the loch:	Day 2: we walked to Bealach a'Chomhla and back, but first... clear reflections at dawn...
...soon became fuzzy: the seaweed can't be used to this...	Views from the main Coire Mhic Nòbaill path: Alltan Glas joining the Abhainn Coire Mhic Nòbuil - a much photographed waterfall	Beinn Eighe, viewed from the path to Bealach a Chomhla	...Beinn Dearg (without backlight correction), from a little higher up, ...
Nearer the bealach now: Baosbheinn	Ice on the path	Evening light: Loch Torridon again	Nearly back at the road by the Coire Mhic Nòbaill car park: the last light of the day through the pines. As we walked along the road, the distinctive profile of Sgorr a'Chadail way above us, a brilliant starry night followed.
Day 3: The ice had really set in overnight, and we woke to this:	Once the colour faded, streaky cloud took over: much of the sky seemed to radiate from across the Loch:	Then we went otter-watching, just a stone's throw from the cottage	The shore ice shone at midday
...The estate pond, just west of the path up to the road bridge: winter colours	Sunset approaching	Day 4: At Annat: morning light on Beinn Alligin, reflected on one of the few parts of the loch not frozen	More path ice
Contrasts started early, though they became stronger: The skyline is Beinn Eighe's Spidean Coire nan Clach (left) and Sgùrr Ban (centre), snow-covered quartzite territory; low sun picks out Seana Mheallan's very different (Torridonian) structure in the foreground.		The Fannaichs in the morning	Beinn Damh from Loch an Eoin
Ice on Loch an Eoin	Heading back now towards Loch an Eoin, Beinn Alligin re-appeared dramatically	Afternoon light round Loch an Eoin	..now joined by Beinn Eighe: we're back at the stepping stones now
Back at the big slab...	Spidean a' Choire Lèith	The distant Fannaichs, really pink now, stealing the show from the nearer Sgorr Dubh (right)	Beinn Eighe also caught some alpenglow
Although we still had a little way to go, it was a fitting "endpoint" to pause Jo's place - Torridon Stores and Cafè - even after it had shut for the night, looking bright and welcoming, and Christmassy.		The next morning, it was time to head home. We realised what the incredible cacophony overnight was - like the sound of a massive fireworks display. This was ice on the beach by the shore road
Silver world: nearer the head of the loch, it was still frozen over		Looking back: a sharp angle in the precipitation behind us - a sign of snow on its way...? But for now, it was time to meet Murdoch, Mairi and John MacDonald at Jo's place - a great end to an extraordinary holiday.

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