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A/am/ams (come ashore, turn over)

voice, violin, guitar, bass guitar
45 minutes

Listen at: https://glarc.bandcamp.com/album/a-am-ams-come-ashore-turn-over 

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A/am/ams

(come ashore; turn over)

 

1. Blue sgith music

 

First speeches:

 2. Crocuses, violents, etc.

 3. Achilles’ Lyre (with the strap, the bridge of silver, and everything)

 

4. ADRIFT

 

Second speeches:

 5. The second speech of the antagonists

 6. The second speech of the protagonists 

 

7. On the beach (at the end of the war)

English by R. Elliot

Gaelic by Cass Ezeji

A/ac/aca

(thig gu tìr, tionndaidh mun chuairt)

 

1. Speur gorm ceòl

 

A’ Chiad Òraidean :
2. Cròcasan, bròg na cuthaigan, mar sin air adhart.
3. An Ladhar Aicheall (leis and crios, an drochaid airgead, is a h-uile càil)

4. AIR FALBH LEIS A’ GHAOITH

Na Dàrna Òraidean:
5. An dàrna òraid de na nàmhaidean
6. An dàrna òraid de na prìomh-neach

 

7. Air and tràigh (aig deireadh a’chogadh)

 

A/am/ams – tha ancient wanderer – passes by. A walks along e shore. A listens to e voice. Every time a rolls e over, e has a different face.

 

 

 

 

When a met e, tha sgith was blue.

 

 

Æ staggered through tha heathaze, on tha ridge of tha mountains. An ere a drochte. A lay gaspin in tha trickle of water over mossy rocks. E lay flat, eyen in tha shade of an outcrop, an e chest burnin on.

 

 

This shoreline goes on forever. Round pebbles turned to hot sand, an a black cuillin now grey, roughly pounded out on tha beach, turnin over an over in a surf... an a liftin e up, turnin, keerlin, light in tha salty sea.

 

 

Tha beach twists an curves, down an down forever.

 

 

When a flecked e, athun, tha mountains wheeled around, hot white

quartzite shit spinnin into nawhere, inta silver an iv’ry.

 

 

Dark crossin inta day, an æ perchin on concrete ruins, sippin black water, an a walkin out wi e beside tha sea, tha glas sea, tha absent sea, tha one glassy sea, higher then lower, forever.

 

Æms there passing it all by — tha sea on tha left, tha whorl on tha right. Tha sgith is an oister shell, an e is lookin aweg, but e yet sees tha orange sun is reflectin on ams face. An see – a has na shadow.

 

 

Fuckin hard to say what happened athun. E is gan awhile, an e icoman back in, salty an still on a ridge of tha sea, layin on rumours of rain. An a reels e on tha rocks, an it is a song, reelin jus there, in tha fish an blood reek an tha sharp slykees.

 

 

Annow, laid side by side, sand an wrack in æ hair – what happened here?

The music was performed in Civic House, Glasgow, and in Elgol Hall, Isle of Skye, with musicians Josie Vallely, Stevie Jones, Andrew Herrington, and Harry Gorski-Brown.

Stevie Jones performing in Elgol by LiveLoveRun.jpg

A bilingual text was developed in English and Gaelic by Rufus and Cass Ezeji respectively. 

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A/am/ams (come ashore, turn over) was commissioned by OVER / AT for their 2021 season. This was supported by Sound and Music's Composer-Curator programme and by Creative Scotland.

Initial development was supported by Magnetic North.

Photos thanks to Jordan of LoveLiveRun

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