AILEEN SWEENEY THEY Brush the Skyline (2021 Award)
for soprano and french horn
Performed and recorded on 27th May 2021 at the Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
performed by Katherine Broderick and Patrick Broderick
To obtain a copy of any of the commissioned recordings, please contact the Trust at info@michaelcuddigantrust.com
In the words of Aileen Sweeney, composer
This was a new experience for me as a composer, not only having fantastic poetry to work with, but having such beautiful paintings as inspiration too. The two art forms fed into the music in their own ways. I had the paintings beside me at all times when I was writing and I was certainly influenced a lot by the colours and sense of depth within the paintings - two factors which translate really well into music. With the poetry, it was the sense of pacing and the shifting between different moods that I wanted to transfer into the music. The title They Brush the Skyline is a line taken from Luminous Tree. The imagery of trees and skylines runs through the three poems whilst the word "brush" nods to Victoria and her paintings, which were the catalyst for this whole project.
Aileen Sweeney (b. 1994) is a Scottish composer and accordionist from Glasgow. Her music is cross-genre, infused with the ornamentation, energy and colours of the Scottish folk music she grew up playing when learning the accordion. Her music is often influenced by nature and folklore as well as finding inspiration in current social and political topics she is passionate about such as climate change, equality and politics.
Aileen has worked with and been commissioned by many of the UK’s ensembles such as The London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Red Note Ensemble, The Nevis Ensemble, The Edinburgh Quartet, The Brodick Quartet, The Hebrides Ensemble and The Psappha Ensemble.
As an accordionist, she has performed with some of Scotland’s leading contemporary music ensembles such as Ensemble Thing and NOISE Opera. In 2016, she founded the folk-fusion band Eriska who launched their debut album “At the Wrong Gig’ in 2018 and are releasing their latest EP this year.
Aileen loves a natter and co-hosts the Ear to the Ground podcast, talking to Scottish/Scottish based composers about their work and promoting their music in partnership with New Music Scotland.
In 2017, Aileen graduated from The RCS with a First class BMus (hons) in performance having studied accordion and composition. During her undergraduate degree, she was awarded the Geddes-Peterson prize for composition and well as first place in the Dunbar-Gerber prize for chamber music and the Tony and Tania Webster solo recital prize. Aileen is currently studying an MMus degree in composition at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is grateful to have received scholarships from The Dewar Arts Fund, The Countess of Munster Musical Trust, The Cross Trust and The North Lanarkshire Arts Award.
“Katherine Broderick presented a thrilling Leonore, seeming to revel in the role’s cruellest vocal challenges”
Katherine Broderick soprano, is currently in the ensemble at the Badisches Staatstheater. She wins praise for her expressive range and versatility across repertoire that spans intimate lieder recitals to orchestral songs and leading Wagner roles. In 2007, she won the Kathleen Ferrier Award, and the Gold Medal at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she studied before attending the National Opera Studio. She is in great demand at international opera houses, concert halls and recital stages, as well as enjoying a busy recording schedule.
Her opera roles include Brunnhilde - Siegfried; Ortlinde, Helmwige and Woglinde - Die Walküre; Donna Anna - Don Giovanni; Adriana Lecouvreur (title role); Vitelia - Clemenza di Tito; Tatyana - Eugene Onegin; Giorgetta - Il Tabarro; Gräfin - Capriccio; Marschallin - Der Rosenkavallier; Lady Billows - Albert Herring; Miss Jessel - The Turn of the Screw and Mrs Coyle - Owen Wingrave. Roles in concert include Elsa (Lohengrin), Alceste and Ariadne, with companies such as English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Opera North and Opéra National de Montpellier, Leipzig Opera and The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
In recital, Katherine collaborates with pianists including Malcolm Martineau, Graham Johnson, Julius Drake, Simon Lepper, Eugene Asti, Joseph Middleton and James Bailleau at venues such as Wigmore Hall and St John's Smith Square and Oxford Lieder Festival. She broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3 and appears frequently with The Myrthen Ensemble.