This April we perform Scottish composer Helen Grime's kaleidoscopic Percussion Concerto. Ahead of the concerts, Helen shares how she collaborated with Edinburgh-born percussionist Colin Currie, how she connects listeners to her music, and what we can expect from the concerto's first Scottish performance.

You’ve spoken elsewhere about how much you enjoy collaborative working relationships. For you, what makes a collaboration a successful one? What do you look for in a collaborator?

It really depends on the piece, I think. Sometimes I like to work on my own, showing the piece to the performer later in the process and sometimes it comes earlier. With the percussion concerto it helped that I have known Colin Currie very well for many years. Writing for someone you know well can really influence the character of the piece. I has obviously written for percussion a lot orchestrally but not for a soloist. One of the things I was in touch with Colin about a lot before I wrote a note was what the soloist percussion set-up might be like. There are so many possibilities and instruments and I spent a lot of time deciding what the focus would be and narrowing this down. Later on when I had begun composing, I was able to send Colin passages and get practical advice on technical issues. Being able to have that back and forth is really very useful.

How do you approach the task of connecting with a listener through your work?

This is something that I think about a fair bit. Everyone has such a different experience when listening to music and will respond to it in a unique way. For every person who connects with the music there will be someone who hates it or feels nothing at all. So really all I can do is write music that I connect with and want to listen to and I hope that many of the things might also be universal in some way! For this concerto, having such an inspiring and dynamic soloist really helps, I think. Colin is able to interpret and really transmit the ideas and emotions in the work in the strongest possible way and I hope the audience will be able to connect with that special energy.

How do you approach writing for ensembles of different sizes? Is your process different?

There are different challenges to writing for ensembles of different sizes. Some of my concerns remain the same: thinking about form, pitch material, variety of texture etc. Then there are particular concerns for writing for orchestra that you might not have to think about in quite the same way as you would for a solo work for, example: balance, the technical challenge of writing for so many different instruments, combining and contrasting different instrumental combinations…the list is endless. With a concerto, the issue of balance is very important- We need to be able to hear the soloist at all times. With a percussion soloist, one needs to think of this for every instrument of combination of instruments they play. I was also conscious that I didn’t want the piece to sound like an orchestral piece with lots of percussion in it; I wanted the narrative of the piece to be led by Colin.

To what extent do you like to tell a story through your work?

My music is often inspired by something extramusical like an artwork, novel or poem. This is usually the starting point though and might affect compositional decisions and processes. Usually this becomes less important as the music that I write takes over. It’s rare for me to write a piece that attempts to stay close to a particular narrative though, it’s usually quite abstract. When I’m working with text it’s a different story though! However, I also like to create a strong line through any piece I write, playing with and thinking about inevitability and expectation. Repetition and transformation of material tell their own story in my work, I hope.

Do you see reasons to be optimistic about the future of Composition as an art form?

I’m very optimistic about the future of composition. There is such a rich and varied body of work being written now by composers from many different countries and backgrounds. Music has always been, and I think will continue to be an art form that draws people together and gives them strength. There’s much we can do as composers to add to this.

This is the first performance of the percussion concerto in Scotland and could be the first time some of our audiences are hearing the work performed. What can they expect from this piece and Colin’s performance of it?

Firstly, Colin is the most compelling and exciting advocate for this work. You will hear astonishing virtuosity from him on many different instruments. In this piece he plays vibraphone, glockenspiel, crotales and marimba with incredible speed and flair as well as drums and other smaller instruments. He often combines several complex rhythmic patterns and layers but also manages to express great tenderness and emotion. The piece is in three movements, but they are continuous. The first movement is fast with lots of interplay between Colin and the orchestra. The 2^nd slower movement introduces the drums with brooding strings alternated with ornate filigree marimba writing and woodwind, and the 3^rd movement is a virtuoso tour de force for marimba.

Colin Currie will perform Helen Grime's Percussion Concerto with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on the 7 April at The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, and 8 April at the City Halls, Glasgow.