Date Published: 12th August 2021
The first Seven Hills composition now recorded
Theory of the Earth, by the young Scottish composer Jay Capperauld, is the first of seven ‘hill’ inspired pieces commissioned by St Mary’s Music School’s Seven Hills Project. The work is inspired by Edinburgh’s volcano Arthur’s Seat and Alexander McCall Smith’s poem, ‘Arthur’s Seat and Geology‘ and is performed by St Mary’s Music School pupils and percussionist Tom Hunter.
Before we enjoy this online, premiere performance, there are two short films that provide an introduction to Theory of the Earth. The first is of Jay explaining more about the creative process behind his new work. The second is by the Scottish filmmaker Ryan Rutherford in which Alexander McCall Smith recites his poem Arthur’s Seat and Geology against the backdrop of the hill itself.
Sit back, enjoy the reading of the poem, the film of Arthur’s Seat and enjoy the music which together they inspired.
If you enjoyed this poem you can read all seven inspired by the hills of Edinburgh in the collection, In a Time of Distance.
This is a crouching lion, watching
As crouching lions will do, over
The territory of a circumscribed back yard;The hill and the crusty lion-heart
Of a volcano, now no more,
It lives on in memories of long-cooled
Fiery moments; it never vitrified
A city, as Vesuvius did; its belches
Frightened nobody, as there
Was nobody then to frighten;
Now we climb, innocent children,
On rocks that once glowed red,
Follow an easy route to the summit,
Close our eyes and feel the breeze
That whips round the Pentlands
Or goads us with its North Sea Taunts.
Even in retirement, though,
The crags that frown on Holyrood,
Made something happen
When James Hutton looked at them, reached
a moment of understanding,
And realised the theory of creation
Was all wrong; the earth to Mr Hutton
Seemed punished by its energy;
Twisted into shapes imposed by a molten
And unforgiving heart; here and there
In efforts to escape mountains shrugged off
The constraining mantle, displaying for us to see –
If only we would look – the history of all things
In lines of rock, layers of magma, fossils, littered
Paths of glaciers. How it humbled him
To read that past, and see how long it was.
