Ecotones/Nature Music

Ecotones is a term coined by Stevie Wishart to summarise her interest in music inspired by nature,
​especially birds and birdsong. 

Read about the Ecotones Network https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/30d9c1c59de14581b0a2c8d817b398af
and the Timber Festival June 2023 https://timberfestival.org.uk/2023-programme/ecotones-timber-timbre/

Stevie Wishart - composing with birds
"I have become fascinated with birdsong as a way to learn music and train my ears. Though very complex and nuanced, birdsong remains accessible and inclusive, whereas complex contemporary music can be much less so. ... "

Bird Pieces

The Same Blackbird, 2022
for violin, spoken voice and birdsong
The Same Blackbird contains two excerpts from Strathmore* – a scrupulous transcription of blackbird song by Stevie Wishart – and Blackbird Rhapsody, a response by poet Alice Oswald. 
Sample score : HERE 
This work was performed in Oxford on 17 July 2022 as part of the Oxford Botatic Gardens Centenary celebrations
*the name of a blackbird that Stevie studied

Gardez la Distance, 2022
for flute, clarinet, piano and pre-recorded blackbird sounds 
Commissioned by Ensemble Variances and premiered at Bristol New Music,
​4 May 2022
​Audio & Score links to follow 

Gold and Precious Silver, 2022
for orchestra
An intermezzo for J.S.Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.6
according to the respond of the Feast of St Eanswythiae
by the choir mistress of West Malling Abbey and 13 blackbird songbursts
Commissioned by Music@Malling as part of its Six Brandenburgs : Six Commissions project
​For 2 viola, 3 violin-cello, double bass, harpsichord & pre-recorded birdsong
​c.4 mins first performed at West Malling Music@Malling Festival 2022

Voicing the Dawn
A new piece for vocal consort or chorus, commissioned and premiered by Ex Cathedra

Last Dance?  A Baroque Tango, 2019
BBC Proms and Dunedin Consort Commission "The Last Dance? - a baroque tango", a new work written as an accompanying piece to Bach's Suite No.1, premiered by John Butt and the Dunedin Consort in their Bach Night as part of the 2019 BBC Proms in celebration of the centenary of Sir Henry Wood