Out of the Depths was composed in July 2022, immediately prior to a residency at Marchmont Estate when I wrote my suite for solo ‘cello, Letters from the Owl House. Composed in memoriam of my dear cousin, cellist Mhairi Tessier-Thomson in whose footsteps I so often walked, this elegy is one of my most personal works. Infused with many girlhood memories of her life which had been cut tragically short in 2004, the music in its poignant beauty, is nevertheless uplifting in its expression and expansive in its lyricism.

Emerging from the depths of the 'cello and climbing upwards into the light, a long, expressive melodic line unfolds, soaring high and tenderly. Following a more playful middle section, the opening material returns, before a door opens into the mediant key, bringing a sense of heavenly peace to close.