Tam Lin

A half-hour rock opera on “Tam Lin,” a 16th-century ballad from the Scottish Borders. The story follows Jenny, who defies her social role to pursue an unconventional love and then rescue him from the hidden world. In the climactic rescue scene, Jenny must hold on to Tam Lin as he is transformed into a series of animals; in this I hear a story about love through life’s many changes (reminding me also of Eusa in Riddley Walker, who is condemned to walk through Aul the Chaynjis). I wrote the music with Fiona Gillespie, scored for voices, guitar and baroque guitar, cello, gamba, early winds, harp, and percussion — performed by the early-music band Makaris.

It was performed at 1 Rivington in New York in 2020. We released it as an album on Long Echo Records.