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Claire M Singer - Saor - Breaking Free

When Claire M Singer was told about an organ in Forgue Kirk, close to the Aberdeenshire village where she was brought up, it opened up a world of possibilities for the composer who also works as music director of the organ at Union Chapel in London. Drawing inspiration from her walks in the Cairngorms, the result is Saor, the first of a planned triptych of albums released on the experimentally inclined Touch label.    Having begun her musical life as a cellist and composition student, Singer fell for the organ after experimenting with stops and pedals in a way that saw her manipulating air rather than play the instrument in a conventional fashion. Rather than producing something wilfully arid or austere, there is an emotional warmth to Singer’s work on both Saor and her previous Touch releases that began in 2016 with Solas. This reflects her response to the source of her inspiration.     “ The most natural thing for me to do when I get home is to get in the car and drive to Lochnagar a

Claire M Singer – Roaming Free

One imagines taking a walk with Claire M Singer to be a magical experience. You can hear hints of such magic on   Saor , the Aberdeenshire born composer’s forthcoming album of pipe organ based works released on the Touch   1 label, home to such environmentally inclined experimentalists as Chris Watson   2 and the late Philip Jeck   3 .     Pronounced ‘Sieur’, as in ‘monsieur’,   Sao r is inspired by wide-open space, with tracks such as ‘Càrn’, ‘Forrig’, and 'Braeriach' all named after Munros Singer has climbed during her wanderings in the Cairngorms. The album’s closing title track, meanwhile, sums up Singer’s worldview in an epic twenty-four and a half minute piece that translates from Scottish Gaelic as ‘Free’.     This feeling is confirmed at the end of the track, recorded in one take using five different organs in Orgelpark   4 , the Amsterdam based concert hall for organists containing numerous organs that span the centuries. With Singer racing between instruments to crea