Uamh an Òir (The Cave of Gold) at Bornesketig, Skye. Photo © Sean Purser
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Window to the West is John’s latest publication - the result of a fifteen-year collaboration with his colleague at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (the Gaelic College on Skye), Dr. Meg Bateman. It’s published free on the internet by Clò Ostaig Writing Window to the West was a bit like entering the Cave of Gold. Nobody, including ourselves, could really believe we would ever emerge. The Cave of Gold is a mystical place full of irretrievable treasures and defended by monsters. Even pipers get lost for ever in it. In fact the only living thing to emerge from it was a dog whose hair had turned white. Culture and Environment in the Scottish Gàidhealtachd is the subtitle of our book and that means what it says. I maintain that Meg and I swept aside all the monsters (mostly academic ones) and discovered cultural treasures beyond our wildest dreams. We’ve stolen nothing. They’re all still there in the cave, incredibly varied, but we’ve described and ordered them as best we may. Take a look here (it's a fairly large document so may take a few minutes to load). |
POETRY BOOK
John's new and selected poems, "There is No Night" (Kennedy & Boyd), is available from the Store on this site and from the publishers and on Amazon.
. . . various, and inescapable, the world John Purser makes for
us in his poems, as in his music and his scholarship, is archipelagic,
characterised by diversity and depths, bright sunlit perceptions and
profundities of insight into the nature of the earth itself . . . " (Professor Alan Riach, Introduction)
"an admirable volume of work from the poet and scholar also responsible for the ground-breaking BBC series Scotland's Music." (Lesley Duncan, The Herald, November 1, 2014)
"Steeped in the natural world . . . John Purser's There Is No Night . . . generously and penetratingly illumines the arts, religion, philosophy and the interplay of affections. Rigorously crafted and themed, these poems radiate deep insight and wisdom." (Stewart Conn, The Herald 29.11.14.)
With help from Creative Scotland and Sabhal Mor Ostaig, John has released an exciting collection of his musical works on three CDs. Here's what some of the critics have to say:
“These works are heartfelt, clear, rugged and peculiar, sometimes stark, often filmic. The influences they contain are unmistakable – a musical summation, almost, of Purser’s free-wheeling career. There are pipe pibrochs and baroque forms, modernist studies and Gaelic poetry. And, rarely far from the surface, the seas and mountains of Skye.” Kate Molleson, The Herald, Wednesday July 8th 2015.
" an hour’s worth of absolutely gorgeous music in the most seductive instrumental and vocal settings, all magically played and sung by the listed artists. (Jerry Dubins, Fanfare, July-August, 2014)
". . . both academically interesting and viscerally appealing. . . . an atavistic, neo-primitive style which is both brave and compelling.” (Roger Thomas International Record Review, April 2014.)
"I love the expressivity of John Purser's music, and the way it is clear his compositions portray exactly what he wants. His writing is always expert and idiomatic." (Colin Clarke, Fanfare, July-August 2014)
"The Flute and the Cello Sonatas, the Suite for solo violin, and Carrier Strike are . . . equal to anything written at the same time by other composers." (John France, musicwebinternational, May, 2014)
Find out more and have a listen here
“These works are heartfelt, clear, rugged and peculiar, sometimes stark, often filmic. The influences they contain are unmistakable – a musical summation, almost, of Purser’s free-wheeling career. There are pipe pibrochs and baroque forms, modernist studies and Gaelic poetry. And, rarely far from the surface, the seas and mountains of Skye.” Kate Molleson, The Herald, Wednesday July 8th 2015.
" an hour’s worth of absolutely gorgeous music in the most seductive instrumental and vocal settings, all magically played and sung by the listed artists. (Jerry Dubins, Fanfare, July-August, 2014)
". . . both academically interesting and viscerally appealing. . . . an atavistic, neo-primitive style which is both brave and compelling.” (Roger Thomas International Record Review, April 2014.)
"I love the expressivity of John Purser's music, and the way it is clear his compositions portray exactly what he wants. His writing is always expert and idiomatic." (Colin Clarke, Fanfare, July-August 2014)
"The Flute and the Cello Sonatas, the Suite for solo violin, and Carrier Strike are . . . equal to anything written at the same time by other composers." (John France, musicwebinternational, May, 2014)
Find out more and have a listen here
“elegant, witty and sometimes trenchant”
(Robin Skelton, Yeats Annual)
“scholarly but undaunting, committed and infectiously enthusiastic”
(James MacMillan, The Scotsman )
"Long regarded as an iconoclastic rogue,"
(Timothy Neat, Hamish Henderson Vol2)
(Robin Skelton, Yeats Annual)
“scholarly but undaunting, committed and infectiously enthusiastic”
(James MacMillan, The Scotsman )
"Long regarded as an iconoclastic rogue,"
(Timothy Neat, Hamish Henderson Vol2)
