SINGER, CLAIRE M - Fairge

"2019 repress. Following Scottish artist Claire M Singer's debut album, Solas (TO 101CD, 2016), comes the release of the beautiful and intriguing Fairge, meaning "the ocean" or "the sea" in Scottish Gaelic. Fairge is a single 21-minute piece for organ, cello, and electronics, composed, performed and produced by Claire and is very much a companion work to the title track on her debut album Solas. Commissioned by Amsterdam's oldest building and parish church Oude Kerk, Fairge premiered at the church in February 2017. Claire M Singer's performance on the Ahrend and Bunzema organ, cello, and electronics is truly captivating. The work very much encapsulates her signature style of expansive soundscapes full of intricate textures, rich overtones, and powerful swells, emotionally resonating from beginning to end. Fairgewas written specifically for the Ahered and Bunzema organ and explores the precise control of wind through the pipes using mechanical stop action. This creates a lush harmonic backdrop against the harmonics and melody of the haunting cello. Singer on the piece: "Oude Kerk were very generous in letting me have time to explore and really get to know the instrument. The work was developed over many visits sitting in the church until the very wee hours over the winter months, which was incredibly magical and inspiring. When working with mechanical stops and precisely controlling the amount of air that passes through the pipes it requires a lot of practice and exploration to learn each incremental sound the organ can make and what the quirks of the instrument can be. As every organ is unique, the piece will differ on other organs but that's what makes writing and working with the organ so fascinating. The tuning is mean-tone temperament, which I have not worked with previously. With Fairge I really wanted to show how special this relatively small organ is and the beautiful pallet of sound it can produce." Singer's work has been widely commissioned, exhibited, and performed throughout Europe and North America. This includes acoustic and electronic composition, fixed media, multi-media, installations and live electronics. Claire is also Music Director of the organ at Union Chapel and Artistic Director of the Organ Reframed festival. In June 2017, she was a recipient of the inaugural Oram Awards from the PRS Foundation and New BBC Radiophonic Workshop for her innovation in sound and music. Photography and design by Jon Wozencroft. Mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye."