Irish flautist & Research Ensemble Player Aisling Agnew performing ‘The Kestrel Paced Round the Sun’ by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. This work for solo flute constitutes a further celebration of the Orcadian landscape which inspired the poem ‘Peat Cutting by George Mackay Brown. It was written between movements of the large-scale Symphony no.1 whose material it shares.

The first performance was given by Judith Pearce, to whom it is dedicated, at a BBC Radio 3 Invitation Concert at the University of Surrey, Guildford in 1976.

The piece consists of 3 contrasting movements, each preceded by a 3-note Recitando. 

This performance was part of the Concert & Lecture series ‘Notes from Scotland: Celebrating Maxwell Davies and MacMillan’ which took place in Edinburgh at Greyfriars Kirk & The National Museum of Scotland on the 6th December 2009.

‘Notes from Scotland’ was produced by Napier University in association with The Research Ensemble & Edinburgh Quartet.