Video a la carta: Beamish' Awuya

Performed by the outstanding young harpist, Anne Denholm, the piece was commissioned by Glasgow University for Professor Keith Vickerman, to celebrate his groundbreaking research in the field of African Sleeping Sickness. Awuya is inspired by the changing forms of deadly trypanosomes, by Central African drums and harp, and by a lullaby from a tribe decimated by sleeping sickness in the 1940s. The original words of the lullaby, sung to a little girl called Awuya, are hauntingly reminiscent of the symptoms of the disease.

If you want to find out more about the composer of this piece, read our interview with Sally Beamish.