EFF: Fireflies, Green Seas and Burning Cities
artSpace@StMarks (Unitarian Church), Edinburgh, 25/8/26
Ailsa Aitkenhead (piano)
St Mark’s Unitarian Church on the night of 25th August was the venue for a one-hour recital by pianist, accompanist and piano teacher Ailsa Aitkenhead. presenting a programme of her own compositions at the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time. Over a collection of 15 evocative piano miniatures, a kaleidoscope of inspirations, tonal palettes, aural imagery, moods, emotions and visualisations was revealed.
‘Lullaby of the Green Sea’ started as a barcarolle, but channelled Rachmaninoff to evoke the immensity of the heaving ocean. Birdsong emulation and rippling liquid sounds added colour. There were some surprisingly strong dynamics for a lullaby, but I suppose hushed tones would hardly lull the green sea. ‘Rose Prelude’, which followed after some introductory words, was inspired by a scent in the composer’s sister’s perfume collection. A pastoral garden scene, leading to a more con moto section, was scored with lush romanticism, a quotation from Debussy’s ‘Reflets dans l’eau’ lending a hint of the exotic. ‘Death Throes Tarantella’ was a fast and virtuosic 6/8, with some bars of 8/8 “because a tarantula has 8 legs”. Really exciting, and my first sense of echoing Grieg’s delicious sonic picture-painting, A chance to hear again the impressionistic ‘Firefly Nocturne’ from the artist’s New Town Church programme of a week previously was a delight.
Three Preludes “expressing things that are difficult to put into words” followed. In the first, a wistful folksong-like melody caught perfectly what is called “grá éagmaise” in Irish, a yearning for someone who is absent, or an expression of unrequited or distant love. In the second, a resolute inward expression of tender feelings caught some of the mood of Schumann’s ‘Widmung’. Both reminded me of where, in drama, Shakespeare would use a soliloquy, and in modern films, music is used without dialogue to convey a character’s state of mind. The third prelude did this more poignantly, reminding me of filmic situation where everyday life is continuing apace, but the character’s internal emotional life is on hold. All 3 were simple, direct and achingly beautiful.
Scottish tropes rooted ‘Selkie Dance’ firmly in place. A ballad-like introduction with ‘Scotch snaps’ segued into a wild reel, with Grieg (in Trolls’ Wedding mode) in the rhythm of the left hand, the ballad returning for the coda. Super piece. ‘Waltz in B-flat Minor’ respected Chopin in its charm and Satie in its quirkiness, but I particularly loved the exotic Middle-Eastern figures that added a certain spice. The next two pieces picked up that hint. ‘Cloud Arabesque’ was an impressionistic reverie on a gathering cloudscape, not obviously related to Debussy’s ‘Nuages’, but yet similar in its soft focus. ‘Desert Bloom’ was less about the miracle of life and more about the observer entranced, almost obsessed, by a single flower (I imagined an oleander).
‘Golden Evenings’ promised and delivered radiance and contentment, with hints of Debussy’s orientalism in the melodic elements. ‘Inferno Étude’, without doubt the most technically demanding piece of the evening, was almost indescribable: “raging torrents of all-consuming sound, with loads of sustain” is the best I can do. I’ll add “fabulous” and “wow”. “Shadow is Marching” combined the spookiness of Debussy’s ‘La cathédrale engloutie’, the inexorable menacing approach of Mussorgsky’s ‘Bydlo’, and the macabre grisliness of Ravel’s ‘Gibet’ in an evocation of existential dread. Finally, ‘Hymn for Our Better Angels’, played attacca, was just like a hymn tune and dispelled the dread with sweetness, gentleness, tenderness and hope. Ailsa Aitkenhead’s music is captivatingly approachable, direct and candid, full of melody and harmony and easy to understand. Full marks from me.
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