FitkinWall follow threads of migration, loss and longing in their new show, inspired by the stories of the Highland Clearances. Ruth Wall’s explorations into Gaelic song, fiddle and pipe tunes and history of the Scottish Highlands where she grew up, are at the heart of this show. Composer Graham Fitkin has created enigmatic and mesmerising new versions of these tunes for Ruth’s three harps – the sitar-like Renaissance bray harp, the beautiful medieval Gaelic wire harp (clàrsach) and the Scottish lever harp.

The movement of people during the Highland Clearances is brought into modern-day focus: Ruth spoke with recent migrants to Scotland and their voices are incorporated in the music. FitkinWall have created something beautiful and at times disturbing. Dark, fragmented folk moods transform into soaring fast-paced music in this memorable show.

“…folk lilt often haunting, lamenting… but any notion of stasis dispelled as the duo’s treatment began to develop and migrate, melodies acquiring aura, the electronics sometimes conjuring wind and air, raw and elemental.” The Guardian