A HEBRIDEAN GULL CRASHES FROM AN AERIAL TOWER
The final act of The Chinese Room’s Dear Esther involves a long climb up to the summit of an aerial tower
Your final act is to survey the hebridean island you have spent your last days exploring
until you fall
and grow wings
and fly
free at last
I think about the final act of indie interactive-novella/video game Dear Esther a lot: climbing up a hill to an aerial tower, slowly making your way up the ladder, listening to your final monologues before jumping and becoming one with the gulls on the hebridean island you have spent the game inhabiting.
a hebridean gull crashes from an aerial tower was built over the course of 2021-22 as part of Psappha's Composing For... programme, inspired by the structures of traditional hardanger fiddle music, and the idea of crashing and rising, the contours of the piano's strings and harmonics synchronising with Dear Esther's final act.
a hebridean gull crashes from an aerial tower is dedicated to the memory of Clare Salaman - an inspirational figure in this piece's development over the course of my time with Psappha.
'a hebridean gull crashes from an aerial tower' was written for Psappha's Composing For... programme of 2021-22, and was premiered online via the Psappha YouTube channel on October 18, 2022, alongside works by Kat Wallace, Laura Shipsey, Pierre Flasse, Murrough Connolly, and Zhenyan Li.
The full YouTube premiere of 'a hebridean gull crashes from an aerial tower' can be watched above.
Performers:
Piano - Benjamin Powell
Note: this piece employs the use of an e-bow and plectrum.
Interested in performing this work or perusing a score? Get in touch!