Faith, fragility, & the passing of time: new work by Arthur Keegan alongside Messiaen for Hebrides Ensemble’s Scottish tour

Arthur Keegan (Photo: Alejandro S Garrido)

The Hebrides Ensemble has announced a new tour in February 2026. Music for Time will tour to Dumfries House, Cumnock (1 February) as part of The Cumnock Tryst’s year round programme, Fruitmarket, Edinburgh (2 February), Bun Sgoil Ghaidhlig Phort Righ, Skye (6 February) presented by SEALL & Skye Chamber Music and Adelaide Place, Glasgow (7 February).

The programme features Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, a work that has a particularly special place in Hebrides Ensemble’s history as it was part of their first-ever concert performance 35 years ago, and was amongst the Ensemble’s first recordings on Linn Records.

Alongside the Messiaen will be the premiere of a new piece by Arthur Keegan. Keegan’s new work takes Messiaen’s ideas of eternity and renewal as a starting point, creating a contemporary reflection on faith, fragility, and the passing of time. And the premiere is supported by the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Composers Programme. Keegan’s work featured on the disc The Past & I: 100 years of Thomas Hardy [see my review] charting the composer’s response to the poet as the result of a residency at the Red House in Aldeburgh.

Full details from the Hebrides Ensemble’s website.