Commissioning and public performance of new Scottish Chamber Music
Sir John Blackwood McEwen (1868 - 1948) © National Portrait Gallery, London
The Edinburgh Quartet perform Alasdair Nicolson's Slanting Rain (2015)
Autograph score of McEwen's Quartet for strings in C minor, May 1928
The Ixion ensemble (2014), L to R: Duncan Strachan, Simon Smith and Yann Ghiro
The 2013 ensemble with composer Hafliði Hallgrímsson and conductor Bill Sweeney.
Renowned composer, teacher and University of Glasgow graduate Sir John Blackwood McEwen bequeathed the residue of his estate to the University to help promote the performance of Scottish chamber music.
Since the bequest, a rich catalogue of new Scottish music by the likes of Sally Beamish, James MacMillan, Thea Musgrave, Eddie McGuire, Helen Grime, John Maxwell Geddes, Ailie Robertson, John Lunn and John Purser has been commissioned and premiered at the University.
Award-winning composer and harpist Ailie Robertson is the recipient of the McEwen Commission for 2022 and will compose a song cycle for trio (flute, harp and voice) setting the poetry of Marion Angus.
The premiere of the new work will be held on Thursday 24th March in the University Concert Hall.
An excerpt from the 2014 commission, Ixion by Stuart MacRae
Watch a scored excerpt of the 2014 commission — Stuart MacRae's Ixion
Listen to… the 2020 McEwen Commission - David Horne's Reflecting Instruments