Ettrick Banks (1985)

Having always admired the famous Impressionist water studies for piano - Debussy's Reflets dans l'eau - I had the idea of writing a water study for organ. This 4-minute organ piece is based on the intervals of the traditional Scottish air Ettrick Banks (not particularly audible in the finished piece) and seems to describe a more turbulent stretch of water than the French pieces mentioned above. Therefore, in homage to another piano water study, Liszt's Les jeux d'eau à la Villa d'Este, I have subtitled my piece Les chutes d'eau à la ville d'Ettrick.

Ettrick Banks was written for Michael Bonaventure, who gave me invaluable assistance and encouragement in writing for the organ.

© Judith Weir 1985