The Seas of Kirk Swarf

Commissioned by the St Magnus Festival and first performed there in 2007, The Seas of Kirk Swarf, like many of the composer’s works, draws inspiration from the Orkney Isles where Maxwell Davies lives. Kirk Swarf is a stretch of sea off the Holms of Ire, two small uninhabited islands off Sanday, Orkney and as the name suggests, on shore is a ruined chapel. The composer explains that two kinds of sea meet and interact here at this point - the wilder sea from Westray to the west, and a calmer sea, resulting in huge waves suddenly rearing up, even on calm days, with extraordinary dramatic effect.