We pay tribute to the remarkable musical and human achievements of Edinburgh-based composer Nigel Osborne with a collection of solo and ensemble works.
Adagio for Vedran Smailović – performed here by our artistic director, cellist William Conway – was written in Sarajevo in the winter of 1992–3; Osborne visited the city several times during the Bosnian war, a period recalled in the 2001 Hebrides Ensemble commission Balkan Dances and Laments.
In Sarajevo and Mostar, Osborne developed a practice of music therapy for children that he has subsequently taken toward zones in Africa and the Middle East. Music’s ability to cross boundaries – to bridge nations and continents, to bear witness and to heal – lies at the heart of this album, supplemented by soundscapes and sung interludes featuring the voice of the composer himself.
Find out more about Nigel Osborne’s work with children in war zones in this interview from the BBC World Service programme Outlook.
