Photo: Early notes for 'A Gathered Stillness'.
Wooldale Friends commission Quaker composition
The surround-sound recording of ‘A Gathered Stillness’ is by Quaker Alan Edward Williams, professor of collaborative composition at the University of Salford
The University of Salford has hosted the first public hearing of a musical composition that was inspired by Quaker worship.
The surround-sound recording of ‘A Gathered Stillness’ by Quaker Alan Edward Williams, professor of collaborative composition at the University of Salford, was part of a concert in the university’s New Adelphi Building. The piece was commissioned by Wooldale Meeting in West Yorkshire as part of celebrations for George Fox’s 400th anniversary, after workshops with local Quakers.
Sue Mosley, from Wooldale Meeting, who coordinated the project, told the Friend: ‘This composition came about when composer Alan Edward Williams worked with Wooldale Meeting for much of 2024. As there have been Quakers at Wooldale since the 1600s, we wanted to celebrate the 400th anniversary of George Fox’s birth in style, because we are still here, and a thriving Meeting.’
Sue Mosley went on: ‘Alan developed a musical theme, which was originally identified by the group, through a series of workshops with him and some improvising musicians. Extracts from conversations with sixteen members of the Meeting appear throughout the piece, which blends the words and music, and unusually, includes a period of silence. We feel it captures the spirit of our Meeting now: why we worship, how we feel about our history and our building, and some of the service different Friends at Wooldale are called to.’
Performed initially to an invited audience at Wooldale Meeting House in September 2024, by professional harp, cello, and oboe musicians, the free event on 1 April was the piece’s first public hearing. Sue described it as ‘a joyful opportunity to hear it again’ and said the project owes ‘a debt of gratitude’ to the University of Salford as ‘Alan and his colleagues… put in far more work than they were ever paid for’. This was especially true of Phil Brissenden, she said, who prepared all the recordings of the interviews so they were of consistent broadcast sound quality. ‘The contributions of the sixth-form choir of Ackworth School in Pontefract, the Outreach Projects Committee of Quakers in Yorkshire, and the Barnsley Trust, all played their part in creating “A Gathered Stillness”,’ added Sue.
The piece features soloists: Rachel Clegg (oboe); Lauren Scott (harp) and Svetlana Mocholova (cello). CDs will be available shortly and the recording can be downloaded from: https://tinyurl.com/gatheredstillness.
