Character Suites Volume 8

Volume 8 turns to the world of mythical beings. Every culture has its own magical creatures and kingdoms of the supernatural, and I've always been fascinated by these characters and their stories — I felt they would translate beautifully into music. There were so many to choose from that narrowing it down was hard, but in the end, I settled on three Celtic creatures and three Nordic beings, forming two rounded suites.

Selkies are mythical creatures who shapeshift between seal and human form, simply by removing or putting on their sealskin. In human form, they're often depicted as strikingly beautiful and seductive — and countless folk tales tell of selkies tricked into marriage, their husbands hiding away their sealskin to keep them on land. But these stories never end happily: a selkie's longing for the sea never truly fades, and the moment they find their sealskin again, they vanish back into the waves.
Glas Gaibhnenn describes a special, bountiful cow that gives endless amounts of milk. The stories around this cow — said to have been stolen from Spain — are many, varied and complex, differing depending on who told them and where. For this piece, I simply focused on the cow itself and her magical powers — happy mooing to the cellists! :)
The púca is a shapeshifter who can bring good fortune or bad, helping or hindering the humans it encounters. It has the power of human speech, and delights in confusing and terrifying people — though it's also been known to offer advice and lead travellers safely away from harm. Most stories depict the púca as mischievous above all: enticed onto its back, a human is in for a wild ride! This movement, marked Furioso, rounds off the suite with high energy.

The second suite turns to Nordic folklore, and I actually had the privilege of writing it hidden away in a small cabin in the woods on the Swedish coast. Näcken, or the Nixie, is one of the more prominent figures in Nordic mythology — a male spirit who enchants humans with his violin-like playing by the water's edge. While some stories present this enchantment as harmless, most end more dramatically: luring humans into wild dances before drawing them down into the depths of the water, never to return. This movement definitely depicts the dramatic version.
The Kvarngubben, or Mill Gnome, was new to me when I discovered him in a book on Nordic mythology — and I liked him instantly, perhaps because I've met so many human versions of him over the years. As I understand it, the Mill Gnome is a bit of a grumpy fellow who just wants to get on with life, his routines and his daily tasks. He wants things done properly, and has no patience for nonsense. In the evenings, once the work is done, he wants to be left alone — and it's said that he turns to music, in particular the violin. Do your work well, take good care of the mill, and give the Mill Gnome his respect and space, and you'll have no trouble with him. But neglect the mill, or disturb the gnome, and it could have serious consequences.
I love that the Mill Gnome so firmly respects his own time off in the evenings, which is why I've included one of my favourite German words in the score markings: Kvarngubben's Feierabend! It marks the moment to stop work for the day and truly celebrate the evening — and what better way to celebrate than with music? :)
Skogsrået is a female creature of the forest. A shapeshifter, she appears as a beautiful woman — though only from the front; from behind, she always betrays a hint of the animal, be it a tail or a hollow back like a tree trunk. She's known to seduce men with her beauty and seemingly friendly nature. Alas, these men are usually led astray, and if they do find their way out of the forest again, something seems to be missing — some say the mistress of the forest has taken their soul.
Interesting fact: Jean Sibelius based his symphonic tone poem "The Wood Nymph" on this very creature.