Description
The Flannan Isle is an original work for solo soprano voice, three trumpets, organ and soprano voices. Composed by John Wallace, it pulls on the legendary mystery of the missing lighthouse men, encapsulated through the words of the poem Flannan Isle by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson.
Originally scored for soprano voice, trumpets, organ and children’s chorus, this piece is still hauntingly effective with a chorus of adult soprano voices. Indeed, even pre-recorded multi-tracked voices can offer a successful alternative if a chorus is not easily available.
John Wallace writes: “Not normally a fast writer, I wrote The Flannan Isle, a legend for soprano, three trumpets, organ and children’s chorus, on September 18 and 19, 2014 – the days of the Scottish independence referendum, the days when time stood still for people with Scottish origins. I have been fascinated by the legend of the Flannan Isle since Maxwell Davies wrote his chamber opera on the subject in 1979. The work is dedicated to my longstanding friend Sandy Crombie, who is a legend in his own right.”
Includes full score and parts for solo soprano voice (with lyrics in English), three trumpets (in both trumpet for C and trumpet for Bb), organ and soprano voices.
A recording of this work is available on our 2020 album release – The Wallace Collection On Song – performed by Julia Daramy-Williams (soprano) and Daniel de Gruchy-Lambert (trumpets and organ).
