Album of the Week – Fraser Fifield ‘The Inchcolm Antiphoner’
Written by celtic music radio on August 1, 2026
This is a striking and imaginative work bridging centuries of musical tradition.
It is inspired by a medieval manuscript associated with the monastic history of Inchcolm, an island in the Firth of Forth.
Fraser Fifield has taken the fragments of Scotland’s oldest known musical manuscript written around 1340 as liturgical services for the feasts of Saint Columba and Corpus Christi.
These were written before the discovery of musical harmony and, while this album evokes the atmosphere of ancient sacred music, it is also unmistakably contemporary.
Fraser has added harmony to the music and used four saxophones to substitute for the voices. But he has managed to retain the medieval textures of chant and ritual to produce a work of stillness, contemplation, and quiet beauty.
Fraser will be discussing his music with Hugh Taylor on the Album of the Week show today at midday.
They will be exploring the project’s origins, the influence of the Inchcolm manuscript and the musical ideas that shaped the album’s distinctive sound.
Fraser will be talking about his compositional process, the difficulties he encountered and his approach to blending the traditional and contemporary elements to produce the ‘The Inchcolm Antiphoner’ in its final form.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK SHOW – Fraser Fifield in conversation with Hugh Taylor – midday – Saturday, August 1st, 2026.
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