The 'Scotland at Night' project started life through a collaboration between composer Tom Cunningham and best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith. It has resulted in a collection of a capella (with one exception) settings of Scottish poets by some of today’s leading composers. Tom Cunningham’s style is very much a 'say what you see' response to McCall Smith's poems. His Scotland at Night takes the form of six short pieces, each with its own characterful setting. Ceilidh for example is written as a dance which, to some, might feel slightly clichéd but is never-the-less an appropriate match for the text. Pärt’s setting of Robert Burns' My Heart’s in the Highlands sees the composer at his most minimal. The only work here to have accompaniment (on the organ), it is sung by mezzo-soprano Beth Mackay whose rich voice gives a real depth to the incredibly sparse vocal line. So Deep by Macmillan which follows this is a setting of Burns' Red, Red Rose. Macmillan uses the voices in definite layers to great effect, enhancing Burns' original melody. The underlying drone of the lower voices could perhaps be a distant reference to the bagpipe and the overall sound is entirely beautiful. The Gallant Weaver set by the same composer is equally stunning. Laudibus are on sparkling form (despite the alleged sub-zero recording conditions) and the booklet comes with handy Scots translations for those like me who are not yet fluent. This is particulary helpful in Ronald Stevenson’s A Medieval Tryptych which is based on an anonymous poem dating from 1300. Overall this is an intriguing and enjoyable collection - listen out too for real seagulls in the last track!

Reviewed by Dawn Cooke