Scottish composer Iain Hamilton travels to Hamilton this week for a very special occasion.

He will attend the Bermuda Philharmonic Society's performance of the work -- The Bermudas -- which he wrote in 1957. Appropriately, it will form the main work in this Sunday's City of Hamilton Bi-Centennial Concert in the Anglican Cathedral.

Strangely, Hamilton's work, inspired by the story of Bermuda's discovery and settlement, has never before surfaced on the Island. It was Philharmonic director Mr. Graham Garton who unearthed the five-section Cantata, which was originally commissioned by the BBC.

Describing the work as a kind of sea-symphony for orchestra, choir and solo baritone, Mr. Garton says it was written in the idiom of the 1950s: "It is quite unlike anything we have done before -- and a very challenging piece for the choir!'' The opening of the work traces Bermuda's location in the Atlantic, with descriptions taken from old sea-charts and maps. This is followed by the storm of 1609, which determined the Island's fate when the Sea Venture was shipwrecked just off St. George's. The third section uses the words of passenger Mr. Sylvester Jourdain, whose vivid account of the great adventure was to become famous when he finally returned to England. The familiar words of Andrew Marvell's poem "Where the remote Bermudas ride'' forms the setting for the final section of the work.

For Mr. Garton, there is another connection with Iain Hamilton: Forty-four-years ago, works by both of them appeared in the same programme in a chamber concert at the Royal Academy of Music. Their paths have never crossed since.

"It's quite a daunting piece to do,'' admits Mr. Garton, adding, "but I'm glad we are doing it, as I feel it has opened people's eyes to something different from ordinary, conventional music.'' Noting that the piece is "a real challenge'' for the choir, he feels, nevertheless, that "they will be a better choir for having done it''. He sums up The Bermudas as being a melodic, sometimes humorous piece of music. It is "a little different from what we are used to''. But Mr. Garton is confident that Sunday's audience will take this notable tribute to their island in their stride.

Mr. Garton is thrilled with Peter Nash, who has taken on the solo role. "It's as if he was tailor-made for the part. I am very, very pleased with him. He has a beautifully melodic part to sing, and he has learned it very well indeed.'' Composer Iain Hamilton was studying to be an engineer until he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where he went on to earn their highest honour, the Dove Prize, and was subsequently made a Fellow. For 20 years, he lived in the US, and was professor of music at Duke University. A fairly prolific composer, his orchestral, opera and choral works have been regularly performed throughout his career, including performances at New York's Carnegie Hall, the Edinburgh Festival and at the annual BBC Promenade Concerts. His work is regularly broadcast on the BBC's Radio Three. CDs have been issued on his Third String Quartet and two piano works, Le jardin de Monet and Palinodes. John Pritchard recently conducted Hamilton's Aurora for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, a work that the Royal Scottish National Orchestra subsequently performed on a tour of Britain, which ended at the Barbican Hall in London.

Graham Garton has carefully planned this special concert. Besides The Bermudas, he also wanted to select music written in 1793, and came up with Haydn's Symphony No. 99 in E flat. The year in which Hamilton became a capital (1815) is commemorated with Weber's Horn Concerto, composed in the same year.

The soloist will be guest artist Susan Panny, who is a well-known performer with the New York Chamber Symphony, the Mostly Mozart Festival, New York City Ballet and the New York Pops.

He says that Beethoven's overture, The Consecration of the House, was chosen for its festive approach. Also on the programme is Mr. Garton's own composition, the short but dramatic Choral Fanfare, Quo Fata Ferunt, which is already known to Bermuda audiences, having received three performances already by the Society.

The Bi-Centennial Concert, with the Bermuda Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir led by Suzanne Dunkerley, takes place on Sunday, November 7 at 8 p.m. in the Anglican Cathedral. Tickets are $18 ($10 for sudents and senior citizens), available from The Harbourmaster, Meyer Travel, Opus 1 and members of the Philharmonic.

HAMILTON FOR HAMILTON -- Scottish composer Iain Hamilton will be present for the Bermuda Philharmonic Society's performance of his work, The Bermudas, this coming Sunday in the Cathedral.