earlyclarsach

An Tarbh Breac Dearg

2012-01-09T18:52:00.008Z

An tarbh breac dearg, an tarbh a mharbh mi,
An tarbh breac dearg, an tarbh a mharbh mi,
An tarbh breac dearg, an tarbh a mharbh mi,
Tarbh buidhe, buidhe, buidhe,
Tarbh buidhe, buidhe, a mharbh mi.
The speckled red bull, the bull that killed me,
Yellow bull, that killed me
From J.L Campbell, Songs Remembered in Exile, Aberdeen 1990, p.92

I have recently been working on this pibroch or ceòl mór, which I first heard on Allan MacDonald's CD, Dastirum. I had been on the look out for it anyway, since I have a gradual project to learn up versions of the various tunes associated with the Morar harper, piper and fiddler, Raghnall MacAilein Òig (1662 - 1741), whose name is unfortunately Anglicised as Ronald MacDonald.

I have been playing A Ghlas Mheur in concerts for a wee while now and am very pleased with how it is turning out. I have only just started learning An Tarbh Breac Dearg, and it is changing every time I play it - already I am thinking of different sonorities for the ‘away’ sections, and wondering how best to return to the ground between variations.

I am very struck by how both A Ghlas Mheur and An Tarbh Breac Dearg are so obsessively focussed on three note binary sequences. They remind me very much of the medieval Welsh harp music notated in the Robert ap Huw manuscript, and I wonder how much that is because of Raghnall being trained in the old clarsach traditions as well as being a piper and fiddler. Certainly these compositions seem of a different taste to other bagpipe pibroch I am familiar with.

The other thing I am not yet clear about is the actual subject matter. Early piping sources call this tune An t-Arm Breac Dearg, the red tartan army. The song refers to the bull, and the association with Raghnall gives us bull stories to link it with, but I do wonder if they are both later accretion onto an originally martial composition.

Notation

2012-01-01T19:00:00.004Z

"Nisi enim ab homine memoria teneantur soni, pereunt, quia scribi non possunt"
for unless sounds are held in the memory by man they perish, because they cannot be written down

Isidore of Seville, Etymologies, III, XV.

This quote has often been held up as evidence for the start of musical notation; because (so it seems), once notation is invented in the form of neumes and the musical staff, sounds can be written down.

This is of course a false, or at least very naive view. Notation only writes down certain lexical or semantical parts of the musical sound. I think Isidore was perhaps contrasting the world of sound, with the world of language - language is by its nature organised in semantic or lexical units, which can be assigned graphic symbols and so utterances can be preserved in writing.

But the world of sound is a sensory continuum. For the past century or so, sound has been able to be written down by the use of mechanical transponders, i.e. microphones; the written sound is in the form of a waveform etched onto wax or shellac or vinyl, or more recently chopped up and represented digitally. But even a stereo recording only captures the sound world at two specific points - sound is a 3-D phenomena filling a room or a space, and so far no way has been invented to my knowledge of writing down the totality of sound phenomena in any enclosed space.

I was, I now realise, very lucky to have been brought up in a living indigenous music tradition that to this day does not use conventional staff notation at all. I have seen fragments of performances transcribed into staff notation, but never for the use of practitioners - it is simply irrelevant, not done. The musicians do use a couple of different geometric and numerical tablatures, but these are not used in performance, only for composition, teaching, memorisation and record-keeping. The performance is entirely free from any written notation.

Wooden Road

2011-12-19T18:32:00.002Z

Further to my previous post on the wooden road in Dundee, I was walking along the other half of Whitehall Place or Whitehall Crescent, Dundee, DD1 4AY, (the Western section between Union Street and Whitehall Street) on Saturday. I looked behind me into the sun, and I saw that the surface of the tarmac clearly showed the outlines of the wooden blocks underneath. The North-Eastern section I photographed before has been completely relaid with the wood blocks removed and replaced with new tarmac. But the Western section still obviously has its wood blocks in place.

Ian MacKenzie Memorial Calendar

2011-12-15T09:23:00.004Z

The 2012 calendar of beautiful photographs by Ian MacKenzie is now available for sale. You can order direct at www.zenbends.com - all profits are going to the memorial fund. The photos for this year are a super selection of portraits, connected with Ian's work with the School of Scottish Studies.

At the National Museum of Scotland this afternoon

2011-12-03T21:33:00.004Z

Photo: Ealasaid Gilfillan

Carver

2011-11-28T16:47:00.002Z

For last Thursday's poetry event in the Netherbow, Henry Marsh asked me, did I have any Carver in my repertory? I had to admit I did not. One of his poems, about Mary, Queen of Scots at Fotheringhay, mentions Carver:

That endless fleeting night, elusive
as the scent of flowers, she'd touched
on moments of serenity, drifted in Carver's
silver labyrinth - O good Jesus...
O sweet Jesus...

(The Guidman's Daughter, p.92)

While I had no intention of even looking at Carver's notorious 19 part mass, I did find a section of his 5 part mass, Fera Pessima, described by D. James Ross (Musick Fyne, p. 46) as being reminiscent of piobaireachd. While I can disagree with the comparison, I found this an acceptable fragment for reducing onto the harp, and so I played it after Henry read the Fotheringhay poem at the Storytelling Centre.

Here's a recording I made of it today, while it is still up and running:

www.simonchadwick.net/music/carver.mp3

Harp music in the National Museum of Scotland

2011-11-26T17:30:00.001Z

I am playing two special events in the gallery beside the Queen Mary harp in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers St. Edinburgh, as part of the 26 Treasures series. The Queen Mary harp is treasure no. 8, and Sara Sheridan is the writer who has been assigned this treasure.

On Saturday 3rd December 2011, I am playing at the launch event, in the gallery beside the Queen Mary harp, four 20 minute performances at 12.30, 1.30, 2.30 & 3.30pm.

And on Wednesday 14th December 2011, at 10.30am, I am working with Sara Sheridan to present a childrens’ storytelling event about the Queen Mary harp.

Upstairs in John Knox House last night

2011-11-25T09:43:00.003Z

Photo thanks to Karen Loomis

Salve Splendor

2011-11-14T16:25:00.008Z

In my Dundee class, we have been working on the Magnificat antiphon, Salve Splendor, from the 14th century Inchcolm Antiphoner, a manuscript of chant from the island of Inchcolm in the Firth of Forth.

Here are some recordings I have put together illustrating different approaches to this lovely little song.

First off, singing it straight off the manuscript page. Click here for the facsimile at Edinburgh University Library

And here are the words:

Salve splendor et pa-
Hail, glorious one and protector

-trone, iubar que iusticie. Orthodoxe doctor bone pastor et vas gratie. O Columba Columbine,
light of justice,correct teacher & good, shepherd and vessel of grace. O Columba, dove-like,

felicis memorie tue fac nos sine fine, coheredes glorie.
happy memories of you, give us without end, co-heir of glory.

And here is the recording:
Salve_Splendor_sung.mp3

Next, playing the song version though on the harp:
Salve_Splendor_harp.mp3

And finally, jazzing it up with some twiddles and drones:
Salve_Splendor_drone.mp3

John Knox and Mary, Queen of Scots

2011-10-31T11:03:00.002Z

Here's the flyer for an event I am doing in November, at the John Knox House and the Scottish Storytelling Centre, with the poet Henry Marsh. It should be an interesting evening.

2011-10-29T18:10:00.000+01:00

Above: At Dunollie. Below: At Acharacle.

Concerts on the West Coast

2011-10-23T20:28:00.004+01:00

At the end of this week I am performing a couple of concerts in the West Highlands, presenting my new programme of Old Gaelic Laments as premiered (in slightly trimmed form) in Dundee yesterday.

On Thursday night, I will be at Dunollie, just outside of Oban. The seat of Clan MacDougall, Dunollie has been the scene of recent restoration and my event is to be an exclusive evening in the 1745 house. Fore more info about the house and the recent restoriation work there, please see www.dunollie.org

On Friday I'll be further north, in Acharacle on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. This is one of the most beautiful parts of the Highlands and I'll be performing in the community hall.

Both events start at 7.30pm. Full details are on my forthcoming events page.

Dundee Wighton concert photo

2011-10-22T23:59:00.000+01:00

Dundee Wighton concert

2011-10-19T11:30:00.002+01:00

On Saturday, October 22nd, the Friends of Wighton's monthly cappuccino concert will be performed by historical harp specialist, Simon Chadwick.

In the bright and atmospheric surrounds of Dundee Central Library's Wighton Heritage Centre, the event starts at 10.30am with complimentary coffee and newspapers. Then from 11 to 12 Simon will perform a selection of rare and beautiful old harp tunes, using a very special replica of the famous medieval Scottish Queen Mary harp.

Simon is the regular tutor of the Friends of Wighton harp class, held every Saturday afternoon in the Wighton Centre. He has done a large amount of research with the collection of old Scottish music books housed in the centre, and his music brings back to life Scottish music from centuries past.

The Wighton Collection of Scottish music books was brought together by collector Andrew Wighton, a Dundee merchant, in the early 19th century. After his death, it was given to the city and is now housed in display cabinets in the specially built study and performance centre at the top of the Wellgate library.

Saturday 22nd October, 10.30 for 11 am
Friends of Wighton Cappuccino Concert
Old Gaelic Laments
in the Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library, DD1 1DB
Admission £5
Followed at 2.00pm by Simon’s regular harp class. All welcome, admission £5 (£2.50 under 25s)

More details:
07792 336804
http://www.friendsofwighton.com

Schoenberg on harmony

2011-10-14T15:03:00.003+01:00

...the composer should never invent a melody without being conscious of its harmony.

Fundamentals of Musical Composition Faber & Faber, 1967, p.3

Chords, harmonies, and other types of music

2011-10-09T20:22:00.006+01:00

I'm currently working on a fragment of one of Robert Carver's 16th century masses, for a music and poetry event in Edinburgh on 24th November. This lush polyphony has led me to think about and read up on counterpoint, harmony, and chords. I have long considered the dominance that chordal harmony has held over peoples understanding of music; for example, Amy Murray's account of her discussion with an eminent composer on her proposed presentation of the Gaelic songs she had collected out West from unaccompanied singers. In response to his enquiry as to what accompaniment she would use for the songs, she replied:
"none, I think"
"That's a mistake" said he. "My ear, as I listen, supplies the harmony. But you won't find them making much of an effect generally unless you give them some sort of a background". (Father Allan's Island, p.128)

Of course, he was the one who was out of line, because the old Gaelic singers on Eriskay would not have ever used harmony with these songs, and none of their forebearers in the tradition either. But he, I imagine, was unable to imagine music without "common practice" functional harmony - his ear, he tells us, supplies it, regardless of its appropriateness.

I think that there is a case to be made - perhaps a manifesto to be composed - for a music theory and a music aesthetic of non-chordal, non-harmonic music. It could be a modern equivalent of the work of the Florentine Camerata; Galilei's Dialogue gives us a useful model of the application of historical research into lost musical traditions informing new developments in performance and composition.

I imagine the first challenge might be nomenclature. The early baroque innovators developed the style that came to be called monody. Perhaps we are more fussy nowadays about terminological exactitude. But this can help define the bounds of what is and is not under consideration.

I would think that the main concern of such a manifesto would be to organise and promote the appreciation of unaccompanied monophony, heterophony, and drone music. It would especially be interested in unaccompanied music - the art of a single performer, which has become somewhat transgressive nowadays, with the ever increasing pressure for collaborations. But not exclusively; heterophony is intrinsically communal music, such as Gaelic psalm singing, or the kind of instrumental performance you might hear at a pub session. And the inclusion of drone music allows us to consider consonant and dissonant intervals.

As a manifesto, our text would of course have to include a critique of the old order - of common practice, chordal harmony, and of counterpoint. It would advance moral and ethical issues and arguments in favour of change.

James Taylor of Elgin’s Strathspeys & Reels

2011-10-03T12:59:00.014+01:00

I found in an old Edinburgh bookshop, an early 19th century bound album of printed and manuscript music. It is a companion volume to one I already own, being in the same distinctive quarter leather binding and with the same name inscribed inside the front cover: Miss Mc. Arthur

This second volume has very little Scottish music in it, unlike the first volume. But one thing caught my eye; this nice collection of Scottish tunes published by James Taylor, Teacher of Music, Elgin.

The title page:

The dedication, to Lady Dunbar of Northfield:

Page 1: Lady Dunbar of Northfield's Favourite; Lady Cumming of Altyre's Strathspey; James B Dunbar's Strathspey. All composed by Sir Archibald Dunbar, Bart, of Northfield.

Page 2: Mrs Hay of Westertown's Strathspey; Lady Dick Lauder's Strathspey; Miss Cumming Bruce, a Strathspey, all composed by the same.

Page 3: Miss Grant of Grant's Strathspey; Mrs Warden of Parkhill, a strathspey; Miss Dunbar's Strathspey, all composed as above.

Page 4: Miss Margaret Dunbar's Strathspey; Mrs Cumming Bruce's Strathspey; Lady Dunbar of Boath's Strathspey, composed as above.

Page 5: Lieut. Dunbar (22nd Regt) Reel; Northfield House, Duffus, a Strathspey; Lady Penuel Grant's Strathspey, all composed by James Taylor

Page 6: Miss E Grant, Lossymouth's Reel; Mrs Brodie of Brodie's Strathspey; Mr Brodie of Brodie's Reel, all by JT.

Page 7: Mrs Gordon of Abergeldie's Strathspey; Mrs Dr Gordon, Elgin, a Reel; Mrs Skinner of Drumin's Strathspey; all by JT.

Page 8: Miss Catherine Stewart of Desky's Reel; Miss Brander of Springfield, a Strathspey; A Lament for Mrs Tulloch, Kirkmichael; all by JT

Page 9: Miss Coull of Ashgrove, a Strathspey, by JT; Mrs Foljambe, Elgin, a Strathspey, by JT; Sir Archd. Dunbar Bart. of Northfield's Strathspey, by a Lady.

Page 10: Miss Catherine Forsyth's Reel, by a Lady; Mr Marshall's Strathspey Edinburgh, by R McDonald; Mr Marshall's Reel Edinr. by R McD

Page 11: Mrs McLeod of Delvey's Strathspey, by R McD; Miss McLeod of Delvey's Strathspey, by R McD; The Elgin Academy, a Strathspey, by an Old Pupil

Page 12: Leiut. Dunbar 22nd Regiments Waltz, by a Lady; A Set of Scots Quadrilles

Page 13:

page 14:

Page 15: The Surly Gallope, by a Young Lady; Mrs G Forbes, Ashgrove, a Strathspey, by a Lady

Page 16: The Earl of Fife's Birth Day, a Strathspey by JT; The Pearl, a Strathspey by JT.

If you click on a page image you will be able to view it much larger. Let me know if you play or perform any of these tunes.

Wooden road

2011-10-02T11:21:00.006+01:00

Last Saturday I was walking along Whitehall Crescent, Dundee, and I noticed that the street was completely coned and barricaded off, except for the pavements. The tarmac was up, and the entire street under the tarmac was made of wooden blocks stood on end, like parquet flooring. There was a flat concrete base layer, then a later of wooden blocks perhaps 8 inches tall, and perhaps 8 by 5, arranged brick-fashion. Some were looking a bit fibrous and rotten, some were looking rock-solid. Some had been dug out and left in a big pile. Where the tarmac layer was still on it was only about one inch thick, laid directly on top of the wood.

Unfortuntely I didn't have my camera to record this scene. Yesterday, I took my camera in. Unfortunately all of the wood blocks had been removed, and half of the road was already tarmacked over on top of the concrete base layer. But I was able to photograph one lone block, and an area of blocks which survived in a corner, buried under rubble. Also the general view shows the impression of the wooden blocks on the concrete.

Karen Loomis sent me the following links which give a history of wood-block road making. I was amazed to find one surviving in the centre of Dundee, still in use though hidden. I thought it was a shame that it is no more, that it has been taken up.

Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society

Sydney Streets

Classic Cars Forum

Aldhelm and Sherbourne

2011-09-18T13:19:00.007+01:00

I have just received a new book, Aldhelm and Sherbourne - essays to celebrate the founding of the bishopric edited by Katherine Barker and Nicholas Brooks, published by Oxbow Books last year. I ordered this book of conference papers because it includes an audio CD of a performance of one of Aldhelm's Latin lyrics, the Carmen rythmicum, as performed by a "Finnish rune-singer" accompanied with kantele.

Aldhem was a late 7th -early 8th century Anglo Saxon Christian priest in the south-west of England, and the book is an erudite and scholarly series of papers discussing various aspects of his life and work, and especially his connection to the ecclesiastical centre at Sherbourne which he founded in 705.

The preface and introduction are quite personal and intimate, and you get the impression that the organisers and scholars in this field are all close friends. The papers vary a lot, from historical and geographical surveys of the region, to detailed linguistic analyses. Barbara Yorke's survey of Aldhelm's Irish and British connections is especially interesting as a broad overview of cultural connections at this time. David Howlett's numerological layout of the Latin life of Aldhelm is baffling in its application of number and letter counting and lack of explanation or discussion, and Katherine Barker's discussion of Aldhelm as composer and author of the Carmen rythmicum is rather too ready to identify Latin musical terms with modern instrument categories (e.g. I would be suspicious of translating Aldhelm's psalterium with "psaltery" without comment), but is a very thought provoking discussion of musical learning and practice in early medieval times.

The audio CD, with a single 35 minute track, is not a live recording of the conference performance, but a later studio version. The two performers are described as Masters students at Sibelius Institute and I found the performance style to be quite modern, much cleaner and more 'professional' sounding than the archive recordings of traditional Finnish singers I have heard. The text is in lines of 8 syllables, and the singers use the same even-spaced 8 syllable metre that is used for Kalevala singing, where each syllable is of equal length except for extended final syllables. To my mind this is less successful for the Latin verse, since my understanding of Latin meter is that it is strongly based on the alternation of feet containing long and short syllables. I also hear no trace of the Carmen's distinctive three syllable line ending, with the third from last stressed, and the second from last short (described here). The kantele is sometimes strummed, sometimes plucked, and complements the voices well, though some sections seemed a little too contrapunctal for my taste.

But, it is still a very interesting project, and the inclusion of the CD makes it almost unique and highly recommended. Also, the way that the book provides not only a complete Latin text of the song but also a number of different translations by different scholars really allows for a rich appreciation of this material.

Tristan's Lament

2011-09-15T19:58:00.002+01:00

This is Lamento di Tristano as played at last Tuesday's concert of heroic music. A fitting elegy for a fine harper, lover and hero.

I'm also experimenting with a new audio recording setup - hope you like the sound.

Old Gaelic Laments: concerts in October

2011-09-12T15:07:00.002+01:00

Historical harp specialist Simon Chadwick is performing a series of concerts of old Gaelic laments around Scotland in October.

Performed on a unique and beautiful decorated replica of a medieval West Highland clarsach, the concerts will uncover unusual and little known treasures of old Scottish music.

The concerts focus on laments, composed by the old Gaelic harpers to commemorate famous people or to express sorrow and longing. From grand, formal memorial pieces for bishops and noblemen, to complex and subtle bagpipe-style variation sets, to personal expressions of loss, the music ranges across the emotions including anger, grief and love.

The clarsach used for Simon's concerts is an important art object in its own right. Commissioned in 2006, it is the most accurate and detailed replica yet made, of the "Queen Mary harp", a medieval West Highland clarsach now considered a national treasure and preserved and displayed in Edinburgh in the National Museum of Scotland. The replica harp copies every last detail of the medieval original, including the fantastically intricate designs of mythical beasts, interlace and plants, which are carved, inked and painted onto the wooden parts of the harp.

Simon Chadwick is based in the medieval university town of St Andrews, and specialises in the medieval and Renaissance harp music of Scotland and Ireland. His music is based on years of studying the old music, techniques and idioms preserved in old books and manuscripts.

As well as performing concerts with the replica harp, Simon teaches regular classes in Dundee and Edinburgh, and is Assistant Director of the main international summer school for historical Gaelic harp music, held every August in Kilkenny, Ireland. Previous concerts presented by Simon include gallery recitals in the National Museum of Scotland beside the original Queen Mary harp and a regular series of medieval concerts for Historic Scotland, in the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral and Arbroath Abbey.

Simon has written two method books for historical harp music, and has also released a CD featuring the Queen Mary harp and music connected to it, "Clarsach na Banrighe". He is currently working on his next CD which is focussed on the old Gaelic laments.

For more information including photos, bio, and sample tracks, please visit http://www.simonchadwick.net/

Saturday 22nd October, 10.30am - Wighton Centre, Dundee
Thursday 27th October, 7.30pm - Dunollie Castle, near Oban
Friday 28th October, 7.30pm - Shielbridge Hall, Acharacle

Cathedral concert

2011-09-07T10:08:00.002+01:00

Yesterday's performance in St Andrews Cathedral ruins.

Heroic music at the Cathedral

2011-09-01T12:08:00.004+01:00

On Tuesday is the last in my summer series of cathedral concerts for this year. I'll be repeating a programme from last year, of music connected to the heroic legends of Britain and Ireland. The centrepiece of the concert will be a performance of one of the medieval Gaelic lays - the story of Caoilte and the giant with five heads, which I have learned from a 1965 field recording of Kate MacDonald. There are a large number of such recordings of these medieval heroic songs being performed, and I have catalogued a number of them on my website at www.earlygaelicharp.info/lay. As well as lays from the Fenian cycle, as this one is, there are also lays dealing with characters from the Ulster cycle, the Historical cycle, and also from the Arthurian cycle.

All of these lays that survived down to the mid 20th century (I believe only one, Am Bron Binn, is still current in living tradition) survive only as unaccompanied solo song. This is of course very valuable for the study of early Gaelic music because we get a medieval text, a reciting melody, and a performance style. But for a harp concert I wanted to find instrumental music on a similar theme, and not just play instrumental adaptions of the vocal reciting melodies.

So for Tuesday's concert I cast my net as wide as I can to try and find an interesting selection of genuinely instrumental music which somehow connects to this heroic theme. Come along to the cathedral at 12.45 and see what you think!

Viewing early harps

2011-08-26T09:24:00.002+01:00

Staff and students from Scoil na gCláirseach 2011, viewing the Downhill harp in Dublin.

Tonkori

2011-08-11T14:26:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I was in Edinburgh for lessons. I also managed tea at the Scottish Malt Whisky Society, and a look round the newly refurbished Royal Museum.

In the new museum there is a small gallery of musical instruments, and I was delighted to see a tonkori on display. I have never seen one before, but some years ago a friend in Japan sent me a copy of Oki, Tonkori. This very interesting string music, on an instrument with only 5 or so notes, has to my ear many parallels with the indigenous European string arts such as lyre, jouhikko, kantele, and harp. I think the musical patterns are suprisingly reminiscent of the music in Robert ap Huw's manuscript.

Harlaw - 5th session

2011-07-30T22:07:00.003+01:00

For the 5th and final session on the Battle of Harlaw, we sung through "Harrow's March" from the Campbell Canntaireachd manuscript:

Hio tra dre o hiharin
Hio tra dre o hihambam
Hio tra dre o hinto hinto
Hin da hio a hiharin
(repeat)

Che dari o hiharin
Che dari che o din hihambam
Hio tra dre o hihambam

Che dari ha dre
Hio tra dre him bari
Che ha hio dre o hiharin

Click here for the manuscript facsimile
Click here for my Harlaw page

Trumpet

2011-07-28T15:41:00.004+01:00

Here is the trumpet so far. It does not yet have the ball mounted on the bell yard, nor a proper mouthpiece. I have been working on the exercises in Harper's book.

Makars Court Stone Unveiling

2011-07-23T18:31:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I was at Makars Court in Edinburgh for the unveiling of the stone dedicated to Lachlan Mòr MacMhuirich, the famous Gaelic poet. This photo (thanks to Karen Loomis) shows me playing the harp to accompany Malcolm Maclean reading Lachlan Mòr's Brosnachadh or incitement to Clan Donald before the Battle of Harlaw, July 1411. Seated behind are Elizabeth Grubb, Lady Provost of Edinburgh; Alan Currie (hidden); Councillor Deirdre Brock, Convener of the Culture and Leisure Committee, Edinburgh City Council; Dr. Donald William Stewart, University of Edinburgh; Robert Currie, President of the Clan Currie Society, and George Grubb, Lord Provost of Edinburgh.

Harlaw: 3rd session

2011-07-18T19:50:00.003+01:00

For the third in my series of Saturday afternoon music workshops in Dundee's Wighton Centre, we looked at the ceòl mór or pìobaireachd of "the Battle of Harlaw". This is a complex and disputed area of study, with many scholars not noticing the connections and relationships between various source notations, or being misled by variant titles or historical claims. We looked at and sung through five different versions, starting with the ballad text in the Scots Musical Museum, and then looking at Danial Dow’s 1796 fiddle pibroch variation set, the lute version from the Rowallan manuscript (c.1620), the version published by Stenhouse in the 19th century copied by him from a now lost “manuscript... of considerable antiquity” and finally looking at a standard pìobaireachd setting, “The Desperate Battle of the Birds”.

Links to these items will be found on my Harlaw web page. Next week we will consider the English masque tune, as well as revisiting the Gaelic Brosnachadh. 2pm in the Wighton Centre, DD1 1DB.

Lachlan Mór MacMhuirich and the Battle of Harlaw

2011-07-08T14:16:00.007+01:00

On Friday, July 22nd, and Saturday July 23rd, I am taking part in interesting and important events in Edinburgh, organised by the Clan Currie Society.

On Friday 22nd, at 11am, a stone will be unveiled in the Makar's Court, outside the Writers Museum just off Edinburgh's Royal Mile. The court is paved with stone slabs, each commemorating an important Scottish writer, and the latest stone is for Lachlan Mór MacMhuirich, and will be engraved with the first two lines of his famous brosnachadh, or incitement to Clan Donald before the battle of Harlaw in July 1411:
A Chlanna Cuinn, cuimhnichibh
Cruas an am na h-iorghaile

On Saturday 23rd, starting at 10am, in the Royal Scots Club on Abercrombie Place, Edinburgh, there will be a symposium on Lachlan Mór MacMhuirich and the Battle of Harlaw, with a good selection of speakers.

You can find out more details on the Clan Currie event website.

See also my Harlaw music pages.

Website troubles

2011-07-06T08:15:00.003+01:00

I apologise for the problems that have been plaguing my websites the past few days. There were some serious troubles at the company that hosts the pages. I have temporarily taken the websites offline while they are checked over, but I hope that they will be back to normal later today. Please let me know if you see anything unusual, suspicious or odd at all.

Cathedral recital

2011-07-04T17:39:00.003+01:00

The next Cathedral recital is tomorrow, Tuesday 5th July, at 12.45pm

Medieval battle music in the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral.

The programme will be centred around the grand formal ceremonial tune, 'The Battle of Harlaw', celebrating the bloody fighting in Aberdeenshire six hundred years ago this month, in July 1411. Other highlights of the programme will be 'Hei Tuti Teti', reputedly Robert the Bruce's march, and later used by Robert Burns for his song 'Scots Wha Hae'. I will also recite some verses from the Gododdin, "Scotland's oldest poem", which describes the defeat of the men of Edinburgh in a battle in around 600AD - over one thousand four hundred years ago.

This event is part of my summer series of medieval harp concerts in the cathedral. Performed in the Priors House, a medieval vaulted chamber set within the ruins of the Cathedral in St Andrews, this series brings to life different aspects of ancient and historical Scottish music.

The last concert, in June, focussed on medieval church music and included pieces from the 'St Andrews Music Book' - a medieval manuscript compiled and written in St Andrews in the 13th century, which is now preserved in a library in Germany. For August, I will play grand Gaelic laments, weeping for the fallen and commemorating great chieftains and warriors. But this next recital on 5th July will draw together tunes from very disparate sources to paint a picture of the ceremonial and martial music of court and castle in medieval Scotland.

The harp I use is a unique replica of the clarsach of Mary Queen of Scots. The 500-year-old original is preserved in a glass case in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. I commissioned my replica from Irish harp maker Davy Patton in 2006-7. With its amazing soundbox carved out of a single huge willow log, and its intricate carved and painted decoration, the replica harp is a precious medieval art object that fits very well into the ancient ambience of the cathedral.

Admission is free. Tickets can be reserved in advance by calling the Cathedral visitor centre on 01334 472563.

Harlaw: 1st session

2011-07-03T11:07:00.005+01:00

Yesterday was the first in my series of Saturday afternoon workshops on the music associated with the Battle of Harlaw. In the pleasant and airy surroundings of the Wighton Centre in Dundee, a mixed group of singers and instrumentalists came together to explore the traditions. In this first session, we started with an overview of the battle, looking at a map of the area north-east of Aberdeen, and discussing 15th century Scottish politics.

Then, using the tombstone of Gilbert de Greenlaw as an example, we discussed the military technology of the time, and the nature of the fighting and preparations. Everyone was interested to handle the replica 15th century arms and armour!

Finally, we studied the Scots ballad. Working from Child's version, and listening to Jeannie Robertson, we discussed the tune, as well as the subtext behind the story, and sung and played through the entire ballad.

Next week, we will be considering the story from the other side, looking at the Gaelic incitement to battle, or brosnachadh. Saturday 9th July, 2pm, Wighton Centre, Dundee. See you there!

Battle of Harlaw, 1411

2011-06-28T09:31:00.002+01:00

I have made a new page about the Battle of Harlaw, to draw together the events I am presenting next month for the 600th anniversary of the battle, and some of the resources that I will be using for them.

Medieval musicians

2011-06-27T09:57:00.007+01:00

"Medieval musicians were virtuosos of the diatonic, sensitized to the subtle differences of weight and role of the various scale degrees and the intervals between them..."

Peter Lefferts, in the Cambridge Companion to Medieval Music

I was very interested to read Lefferts' comment here. He is discussing plainchant, and the way in which the melodies of chants - single unaccompanied voices - curl around certain notes, certain repeated formulae, and how they start and end on certain pitches. It reminded me of a thing I have considered for a long time - the idea of the different notes of an ordinary scale having a hierarchy, so that a single note has a certain taste or flavour. Each note of a scale - each degree, as Leffert puts it, has a certain relationship with its surrounding notes - the intervals between them.

Blind and partially sighted

2011-06-23T16:51:00.005+01:00

Today I presented a lunchtime talk for the Museum of the University of St Andrews, in their medieval gallery. The talk was to present and describe and demonstrate the replica Queen Mary harp. The medieval gallery of the museum holds some very interesting early treasures of the university, including its three exquisite silver-gilt 15th century maces. However these were not in their display case today, as they are being paraded up and down the streets of St Andrews during the Graduation processions.

Before the talk proper, there was a special session for blind and partially sighted people. The museum staff had prepared a special "audio description" of the harp, and embossed line drawings of it, and the blind and partially sighted attendees also had lots of opportunity to touch and feel the carving and decoration on the harp.

For the talk itself I concentrated on the ceremonial music of the old harp traditions. I tried to tie the discussion in with the objects on display; "Gosteg yr Halen" from the Robert ap Huw manuscript went with a 16th century silver salt cellar; I read a translation from George Buchanan's history of Scotland, a first edition of which is on display in the gallery; and we compared both the decoration on the harp as well as the structure of the music with a carved Pictish cross slab that stands in the museum.

Finally, to tie in with the 600th anniversary of the founding of the University, in 1411, I played a piece of music for another 600th anniversary: "the Battle of Harlaw", which commemorates and describes this famous and bloody battle which was fought in Aberdeenshire in July 1411.

Early Music VSI

2011-06-17T22:03:00.006+01:00

This small slim paperback of 130 pages is part of Oxford University Press's "Very Short Introduction" series. I have been collecting these for many years, and I have found them to be highly variable. Some are just a little dull; some are rather biased, postmodern, or narrow; but some are just brilliant. This newly published work by Thomas Forest Kelly, published this month, is one of the brilliant ones. I would highly recommend it and to that end I have already listed it for sale in my Emporium:
http://www.earlygaelicharp.info/emporium/books/kelly.htm

It is a superb pocket size introduction to the idea of "early music". The first chapter considers the basic ideas, investigating peoples constant urge to look to the past for their art. Three subsequent chapters comprise the heart of the book, dealing respectively with the history of mainstream Western music in the medieval, Renaissance and baroque periods. These three chapters so easily and concisely explain the styles and types of music in each different historical time, that they are highly recommended as the best overview and introduction to this difficult subject. This is followed by one chapter discussing performance practice and ideas of authenticity, and a final chapter (which reads more like an appendix) listing notable individuals and organisations involved with early music during the 20th century in Europe and America.

I have long been searching for an accessible overview history of western music, and this one finally fits the bill. Coincidentally, Cambridge University Press have recently published a "Companion to Medieval Music" which is not very short, and naturally not concerned with Renaissance or baroque music.
http://www.earlygaelicharp.info/emporium/books/cc.htm

Both of these titles will be included in July's Emporium update - but you get a sneak preview here first!

The Music of the Spheres

2011-06-13T09:50:00.002+01:00

I surveyed the scene in a stupor. But finally I recovered enough to ask: ‘What is this sound, so strong and so sweet, which fills my ears?’
‘That’, he replied, ‘is the music of the spheres’

Cicero, The Dream of Scipio

Instruments, repertory, or interpretation?

2011-06-13T09:35:00.003+01:00

Reviewing the whole idea of "early music" I was struck by how different areas of it focus on different things. I'm especially aware of a focus on instruments which comes in the historical harp field. I suppose that harps in general are quite rare instruments in modern Western culture, so a replica or reconstruction of a historical harp is all the more curious as a physical object. Many times at events people come up to me and want to know how old it is, and what wood it is made from. I doubt that jazz pianists get asked that very often!

The second area of focus is then repertory - given a carefully reconstructed and exhaustively described and explained instrument, what do we play? The search for historical repertory is an interesting activity to observe. There is a constant tension between the familiar and the exotic. People know certain old tunes and there is a temptation to overplay them. On the other hand, part of the attraction of reviving old music is the novelty, the thrill of discovering something new and exotic. Some old repertories sound very alien, and I often have people come up after an event to comment on how the music sounds oriental.

But I think that the most important aspect of our work ought to be expression and interpretation. The whole point of music is surely a communication between people, and so it is by definition happening right now, totally in the present. If it speaks of the past, all well and good; many conversations today reference history as a symbol or authority, with great rhetorical and symbolic weight. But the past is only that, a reference; the communication is entirely now between living breathing people, and so the expression and the communication have to be the most important thing.

Name that tune!

2011-06-10T19:36:00.003+01:00

A prize for a convincing suggestion...

Hint: it may not be up the right way.

Cathedral music in St Andrews

2011-06-01T19:45:00.003+01:00

I am kicking off my summer series of medieval harp concerts in St Andrews Cathedral, with a programme of medieval church music from the 12th century.

The concert is on Tuesday 7th June, at 12.45pm, in the Priors House, a medieval vaulted chamber in the cathedral grounds in St Andrews.

Celebrating 850 years since building work commenced on the cathedral in 1161, this concert features a programme of sacred music from that time, from St Andrews, Inchcolm and further afield. As well as playing the Scottish monastic plainchant on my beautiful decorated replica of the Queen Mary harp, I will demonstrate other unusual medieval Scottish instruments during the half-hour concert.

The St Andrews Cathedral concert series will continue on the first Tuesday of each month through to September, with a different theme each month. To follow June's sacred airs, July will bring ferocious medieval battle music, while August's recital will present formal elegies and laments.

Further information is available at http://www.simonchadwick.net/cathedral/
This event is organised by Historic Scotland. Admission is free, but ticketed; tickets can be obtained from the Cathedral visitor centre, tel 01334 472563.

Installation of new bells in St Andrews

2011-05-18T17:36:00.005+01:00

Here is a curious little film produced by the University. It starts with footage of the bells being lifted into the tower in the autumn of 2010, and an interview with the main donor who paid for them. Then there is footage of the religious ceremony which marked their installation. Finally, from 7:00 is footage of the bells being rung.

http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/UniversityChapels/550/storyofthebells/

Books

2011-05-15T16:13:00.000+01:00

Ealasaid has written about the book sale yesterday: here.

Symbolism of musical instruments

2011-05-13T22:52:00.001+01:00

Nowadays music is considered somewhat neutral, as a pure art or as entertainment, but in the past it was much more embedded in wider life, with functional and symbolic significance.

One big reason for that was that before the rise of recordings, all musical acts were necessarily done in real time by a live human performer. This meant that the music was done for something, for someone, and not (as often now) just happening as background noise.

Because of this intentionality of performance, all aspects of music had purpose and meaning. I was particularly thinking of the significance of musical instruments recently. I think that certain instruments still do retain these symbolisms and resonances, but in a less clearly articulated way.

Patrick Byrne radio documentary

2011-04-26T18:50:00.001+01:00

Here's the direct link to the podcast download of the radio documentary that I was interviewed for, and which was broadcast yesterday. Especially worth listening to Ann Heymann's super performances of three of Byrne's tunes.

Musique mécanique

2011-04-26T10:15:00.002+01:00

In 1930, the French periodical Revue Musicale devoted an entire issue to ‘musique mécanique’ - mechanical music. They were, of course, not interested in fairground organs, orchestrions, reproducing pianos, or music-boxes, though that’s what you’ll find if you google for musique mécanique now.

In 1930 the exciting new mechanical music was recorded music, but also broadcast music - both were seen as ‘mechanical’ because the sound came out of a machine, not out of the mouth or instrument of a performer. Of course, this kind of musique mécanique does start with the musical performance of a musician. But nowadays, emphasis is placed on the type of mechanisation. A reproducing piano, for example, captures the performer’s key-presses onto paper tape as a series of start and stop instructions that can be read back by a suitably equipped piano to produce the originally intended sound by striking the appropriate strings at the appropriate time. By contrast, recording or broadcast technologies captured the sound waves produced by the musician’s instrument or voice, and turned them into mechanical or electrical impulses, to be scored on a shellac disc or transmitted by radio waves; they are read back by being used to excite a membrane in a loudspeaker or gramophone, to approximately recreate the pattern of sound waves heard at source.

When looking for music online, we are used to making a big distinction between audio recordings and MIDI files. A MIDI file is the digital equivalent of the reproducing piano’s paper tape; an audio recording is the digital equivalent of a gramophone record. I suppose a live stream is the digital equivalent of a radio broadcast.

But I like the distinction drawn implicitly by the Revue Musicale. All of this is mechanical; we are listening, not to an instrument manipulated by a person, but to a paper cone manipulated by an electrically-controlled magnet.

Music is fundamentally about communication, and the most interesting music is live, person-to-person, in an intimate venue. Even better if there is sharing or discussion between people rather than a one-way communication between a ‘musician’ and ‘listeners’. I am thinking more and more that audio recording is best considered alongside notation, written description, and other memory aids - a way to help us to make better music, live, face to face, with each other.

Quarter peal

2011-04-19T20:52:00.000+01:00

http://www.campanophile.com/view.aspx?116542

School visit, Baldragon Academy, Dundee

2011-04-16T09:44:00.002+01:00

Baldragon Academy in Dundee has posted on its website, photos of my visit to the school last month. I spent an hour with the Higher Music pupils talking about the old native idioms in music, and demonstrating some old Irish and Scottish repertory on the harp. I think they found the concepts and styles very thought-provoking!

Edinburgh Harp Festival

2011-04-13T21:15:00.005+01:00

We are just back from the Edinburgh Harp Festival. It is hard work, running the Emporium stall all day each day, but we managed to talk to some interesting people.

Gestures book

2011-04-01T17:40:00.008+01:00

Today I sent out an announcement of the availability of my new book, "Gestures". You can find out more here: www.earlygaelicharp.info/gestures

I considered many different options for publishing this book, including approaching another publisher, though I prefer to publish in house through earlygaelicharp.info. Normally, one would use a commercial printing company to make and bind the books, but a conventional printers needs a run of 1000 to make economic sense - the setup costs are high in relation to the cost per unit. I was not sure this made sense for such a niche specialist publication.

I also considered using a print-on-demand company. These will print and bind one copy at a time for you - Lulu is perhaps the best known, though there are others who focus more on the needs of small publishers. However a big problem with these is the cost of shipping the printed books from the company; what you gain in flexibility of being able to order small numbers, you lose in the economy of scale for delivery.

In the end I have decided to keep this book entirely in-house, and it is being published as a hand-made book. Below you will see a photo of the first batch being assembled in my workshop. The big advantage of this method is that it gives me complete control over the design of the binding - in this case it is traditionally hand-sewn to make sure that the book will easily open completely flat - an important consideration for a music book, that will be placed on a music stand.

Anyway, I enjoy bookbinding as much as book design and writing!

Patrick Byrne radio interview

2011-02-28T21:17:00.003Z

Today I did a short radio interview with the Drogheda local radio station LMFM. They are making a programme about Patrick Byrne and were looking for some background information on the early Irish harp tradition. I will let you know when the programme is aired!

Cathedral recitals 2011

2011-02-27T14:16:00.003Z

Historic Scotland have confirmed the dates for the summer 2011 cathedral recitals, in the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral in Fife, Scotland.

The dates are 7th June, 5th July, 2nd August, 6th September. That's the first Tuesday of every month, at 12.45pm.

For more details please see http://www.simonchadwick.net/cathedral/

Rory Dall Morison

2011-02-15T18:09:00.002Z

I have long been interested in the music of Rory Dall O'Kane, the early 17th century harper-composer from Norther Ireland who lived and worked in Scotland, composing tunes for the Perthshire and Central Scottish gentry and nobility in the 1620s and 1630s. I included a number of his tunes on my CD including Port Atholl, Port Gordon, Da Mihi Manum and Lude's Supper.

However I have long felt that I should also be interested in the music of Rory Dall Morison, the late 17th century harper and poet to Iain Breac MacLeod at Dunvegan Castle on Skye in the 1680s. Unfortunately, the harp tunes often ascribed to him (such as Rory Dall's Sister's Lament, or the Fiddler's Contempt) appear in manuscripts written before his birth (in 1656), and so it seems that the 'Rory Dall' tunes all belong to O'Kane.

What Morison did do without a doubt was compose songs, and perform them with harp accompaniment. William Matheson's book The Blind Harper is a great edition and translation of these songs.

I have just found on Tobar an Dualchais, a lovely field recording from 1953, of Calum Johnston singing Rory Dall Morison's song to Iain Breac. Rory Dall laments that Iain is away down South, and that he misses him greatly - it has almost romantic overtones, with Rory pining for Iain like a lover. You can listen to this performance here: http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/fullrecord/7364/1

I'm hoping to work up a version of this. Maybe down the line I will post a Youtube of it...

Fiddle

2011-01-28T10:12:00.005Z

My fiddle has a most enigmatic label inside!

Kim Janet Spence.
Aged 11 years.
Bought. Acton London W.3
July 1967

I wonder who she was, and where the violin came from.

Bands, collaborations and sharing platforms

2011-01-08T14:19:00.002Z

One question I'm often asked is whether I play with an orchestra, or, if the questioner is more aware of music scenes and genres, if I play with a group or band. I find it interesting that there seems a lot of subtle expectation or even social pressure on musicians to join forces, the modern symphony orchestra with choir I suppose being the ultimate manifestation of this. In classical music, performers are rarely truly solo - pianists and organists being the only ones to regularly perform unaccompanied.

In Scottish and Irish music I see it a lot as well, though to a lesser extent - groups are rarely more than 4 or 5 strong, much smaller than a symphony orchestra. But it's fairly uncommon to find recordings or professional performances of unaccompanied singers or fiddle players. I think the more high profile and professional the gig, the more expectation there is of having other people performing at the same time.

Harp string labels

2010-12-09T16:33:00.008Z

Recently I wrote a new page on earlygaelicharp.info, about possible inscriptions on the Queen Mary harp. As part of this I reviewed my photographs of the labels glued on the harp labelling some of the strings, and then I had the idea of photoshopping and cleaning up the photos, scaling them, printing them out and glueing them onto my replica in the appropriate positions.

For those of you with a Queen Mary replica who want to join in the fun, here is the image I ended up with. Print it out at 486dpi onto good old fashioned white or off-white laid paper, cut out along the black edges, and stick on using flour and water paste. The numbers go on the right hand side* of the string band (so they are visible for a left orientation player), and they are upside-down when the harp is in playing position, so the player can read the letters. They go in order, counting from the treble: 1 [illegible], 8 [c], 9 [b], 11 [G], 15 [C], 22 [C].

Any problems or questions let me know! If you send in a photo of your harp with the labels stuck on, I will feature it here!

*Right and left hand side of the harp are described as from the viewpoint of the player, not of an onlooker

Ian MacKenzie Memorial Concert

2010-12-07T09:44:00.002Z

On Saturday 12th December I'll be in Edinburgh for the first Ian MacKenzie Memorial Concert. I was honoured to be asked to play at Ian's funeral in Kintail almost a year ago. The concert looks to have a very interesting lineup and should be worth attending, not least for the promised homebaking and the exhibition of Ian's super photographs.

The concert is at 7.15 pm, at the Columcille Centre, Edinburgh, 2 Newbattle Terrace, Morningside, Edinburgh EH10 4RT

Full details on http://www.zenbends.com/

Unicorns

2010-11-11T16:48:00.006Z

Yesterday I was listening to In Our Time and they were discussing unicorns. The discussion of how unicorns were depicted in medieval art was very interesting and made me think of the unicorn on the forepillar of the Queen Mary harp, carved perhaps in South Argyll, Scotland, in the 15th century. That one is slightly unusual in that it has a short, thick, snout-mounted horn rather than the usual long twisted forehead-mounted one, but most strange of all is that it is stuffing a fish into the mouth of a Lindworm (wingless bipedal dragon). It is also not clear what the projection above its eye might be - a forelock or mane, or an eyebrow, or a rudimentary second horn?

The illustration here shows the Queen Mary harp unicorn as copied by David Patton on my replica of the harp.

Music of Patrick Byrne, 'The Last Irish Harper'

2010-11-05T22:40:00.005Z

An event of interest coming up at James J. Hill House, 240 Summit Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55102 USA:

Music of Patrick Byrne, 'The Last Irish Harper'

Date: Nov. 20, 2010
Time: 7 p.m.

The bright, ringing sound of metal strings distinguish the ancient Irish harp from its other string relatives. Using historical techniques on a period replica, Ann and Charlie Heymann will perform the repertoire of Patrick Byrne -- an Irish harper whose death in the mid-19th century brought a thousand-year-old tradition to a close. Byrne's younger brother, Christopher, emigrated and settled in Faribault; Liam O'Neill of "Irish On Grand" will narrate and read excerpts of a letter between the brothers. Participants can meet the performers at a post-concert reception. Tours of the Hill House will also be available. Reservations recommended.

Video lessons

2010-11-03T09:59:00.005Z

The latest Wire Branch Newsletter has an article about video lessons, with me as one of the four teachers interviewed. It's a very interesting article, by Sam Tyler, which has some useful things to say about learning the harp through one-to-one lessons over the Skype videoconferencing system. Sam describes in turn the four tutors she interviewed, with comments and quotes about their very different approaches and working methods.

For more info please visit my Video Lessons page.

For November only: I am offering FREE trial video lessons! Just mention "Wire Branch" in your enquiry to simon@simonchadwick.net

The same issue also has a great article by Karen Loomis about her recent work on the Lamont and Queen Mary harps, illustrated with two 3-D X-ray reconstruction images, one of each harp.

A ghostly apparition

2010-10-31T19:45:00.002Z

A rainbow in St Andrews

2010-10-01T18:57:00.001+01:00

Provand's Lordship concert in Glasgow

2010-09-08T19:33:00.001+01:00

On Sunday, 12th September, at 2pm, Provand's Lordship in Glasgow will host a concert of medieval and Renaissance Scottish harp music.

The concert is a unique opportunity to discover the music of the old Highland castles and great houses from hundreds of years ago. The early Gaelic harp, with metal wire strings sounded using long fingernails, was an important part of Scottish music and culture for centuries, until it died out in the 18th century.

Provand's Lordship is Glasgow's oldest house, built in 1471, one of only four medieval buildings to survive in the city. This is just the kind of domestic setting in which this music would have originally been heard hundreds of years ago. The house is now displayed as a museum, with period interiors and a medieval garden.

The recital will be performed by historical harp specialist, Simon Chadwick, using a beautiful replica of the medieval clarsach of Mary, Queen of Scots. The 500-year-old original, preserved in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, is too rare and fragile to string and play, so Simon commissioned his replica from a sculptor in Ireland. Decorated with woodburning, carving and paint, and strung with wires of brass, silver and gold, the replica harp is a stunning medieval art object.

The programme will feature historical Scottish harp music, brought back to life from books and manuscripts. As well as stirring battle marches, and salutes for the great Highland families, Simon's speciality is the grand Gaelic laments, which would be composed by a harper on the death of his patron.

Simon has been studying the old Scottish and Irish harp traditions for over 10 years, and bases his work on the oldest sources of music and playing techniques, preserved in manuscripts and antique printed books. He teaches his discoveries to students in St Andrews, Dundee, and Edinburgh, as well as further afield using the internet. He has just returned from Ireland where last month he helped run the annual summer school for early Gaelic harp, and he has also just this week completed his fourth season of performances in the Cathedral ruins in St Andrews. His CD, "Clàrsach na Bànrighe", features Scottish music from the 13th to the 18th century, performed on the replica Queen Mary harp.

Event details:
Sunday, 12th September
Concert starts 2pm, and runs for 30-40 mins
Admission free
Provand's Lordship, 3 Castle Street, Glasgow G4 0RB

September's Cathedral recital

2010-08-31T08:58:00.004+01:00

Tristan being sent into exile, from a medieval German woodcut

On Tuesday 7th September at 12.45pm, early harp specialist Simon Chadwick will be playing historical Scottish and Irish music in the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral.

Using his decorated replica of the medieval Scottish 'Queen Mary' harp with gold and silver wire strings, Simon will play a selection of music associated with ancient Scottish, Irish and British heroes.

Starting with a medieval composition said to have been performed before King Arthur and his Knights as they sat at the Round Table, the programme will look at the medieval Gaelic legends of Fionn and Oisean, before finishing with a heartbreaking lament for the forlorn Cornish lover, Tristan.

This event is the last in Simon's summer series of medieval harp concerts in the cathedral. Performed in the Priors House, a medieval vaulted chamber set within the ruins of the Cathedral in St Andrews, this series brings to life different aspects of ancient and historical Scottish music, from the medieval church, to stirring battle marches, to weeping Gaelic laments.

The harp Simon uses is a unique replica of the clarsach of Mary Queen of Scots. The 500-year-old original is preserved in a glass case in the National Museum in Edinburgh, as featured on the BBC's "Reporting Scotland" last month, with Simon providing musical accompaniment! Simon commissioned his replica from Irish harp maker Davy Patton in 2006-7. With its amazing soundbox carved out of a single huge willow log, and its intricate carved and painted decoration, the replica harp is a precious medieval art object that fits very well into the ancient ambience of the cathedral.

Admission is free. Tickets can be reserved in advance by calling the Cathedral visitor centre on 01334 472563.

A preview of this event will be performed in the Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library, Dundee, DD1 1DB, Wednesday 1st September, 1.15pm.

Video demonstrations of Indian Classical music

2010-07-30T17:20:00.003+01:00

http://itunes.open.ac.uk/r/nu8D5

The music of North India is mesmerising, and shrouded in tradition and culture. There, raga is the art of life - it is the music of the mind. The tracks in this album focus on three instruments - the tabla, the alap and the voice - all central to the existence of Raga. Each instrument is broken down into the individual sounds that make up the intricate compositions. Performances on all three complete this introduction to the fascinating sound of Raga. This material is drawn from the Open University course AA317, Words and music.

Thanks to Stuart at footstompin for this link. If you really want to know what alap means, try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alap - needless to say it is not an instrument, despite the confusion of the OU caption writer.

I was most fascinated by the vocables used to describe the different tabla gestures, and also the connection explained by the player of the guitar-shaped instrument between string music and vocal music.

The Battle of Strathcarron, AD642

2010-07-23T19:12:00.003+01:00

This stanza is preserved in the Book of Aneirin, as part of The Gododdin, a cycle of early medieval poetry from Edinburgh and the South of Scotland. This stanza is actually quite seperate from the rest of the poem, and is about a battle that was fought near Glasgow in the year 642. The poem is in the Old Welsh language of the Strathclyde Britons, who were the victors. Domnall Brecc was leader of the South Argyll Gaels, and he was killed by Eugein, grandson of Neithon, king of Strathclyde. This is a highly experimental performance and I apologise for my poor pronunciation and erratic lyre playing.

tambourine

2010-07-17T21:22:00.003+01:00

St Andrews Cathedral Recital

2010-07-04T11:22:00.000+01:00

On Tuesday 6th July at 12.45pm, historical harp specialist Simon Chadwick will be playing medieval battle music in the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral.

Using his decorated replica of the medieval Scottish 'Queen Mary' harp with gold and silver wire strings, Simon will play Scottish music from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century.

The programme will include 'The Battle of Harlaw', celebrating the bloody fighting in Aberdeenshire in 1411, and 'Hei Tuti Teti', reputedly Robert the Bruce's march, and later used by Robert Burns for his song 'Scots Wha Hae'.

This event is part of Simon's summer series of medieval harp concerts in the cathedral. Performed in the Priors House, a medieval vaulted chamber set within the ruins of the Cathedral in St Andrews, this series brings to life different aspects of ancient and historical Scottish music.

The last concert, in June, focussed on medieval church music and included pieces from the 'St Andrews Music Book' - a medieval manuscript compiled and written in St Andrews in the 13th century, which is now preserved in a library in Germany. For August, Simon will play grand Gaelic laments, weeping for the fallen and commemorating great cheiftains and warriors. But this next recital on 6th July will draw together tunes from very disparate sources to paint a picture of the ceremonial and martial music of court and castle in medieval Scotland.

The harp Simon uses is a unique replica of the clarsach of Mary Queen of Scots. The 500-year-old original is preserved in a glass case in the National Museum in Edinburgh, as featured on the BBC's "Reporting Scotland" last week, with Simon providing musical accompaniment! Simon commissioned his replica from Irish harp maker Davy Patton in 2006-7. With its amazing soundbox carved out of a single huge willow log, and its intricate carved and painted decoration, the replica harp is a precious medieval art object that fits very well into the ancient ambience of the cathedral.

Admission is free. Tickets can be reserved in advance by calling the Cathedral visitor centre on 01334 472563.

Sweet like strawberries

2010-07-03T13:33:00.002+01:00

Just been eating fresh local strawberries from the farmers market, while listening to Bill Taylor's performance of Caniad Tro Tant from his new CD, Musica. A nice idea of his in the liner notes!

Grace notes and ornaments

2010-06-25T14:05:00.009+01:00

One question that regularly comes up is how one deals with grace notes and ornaments. In the Gaelic harp tradition we have the system of left hand gestures published by Edward Bunting in 1840 (online edition), and in the Welsh harp tradition we have the ‘alphabet to learn the pricking’ on p.35 of the Robert ap Huw manuscript (online facsimile). These describe series of notes that are played as a single fluid connected motion, and which are often treated as ‘grace notes’ preceeding a ‘principal note’.

Two questions immediately arise; how quickly to play them, and whether the accent and stress should lie at the start of the sequence, with the principal note displaced, or whether the ‘grace notes’ should be played before the beat.

Arnold Dolmetsch, in his book The Interpretation of Music of the 17th and 18th centuries, gives copious quotations and discussion from historical treatises, on different kinds of ornamentation. Here is an extract from page 96:
And this from p.98-99:

In his book piobaireachd, Seamus MacNeill explains the piping grace notes:

The time taken in playing gracenotes is not counted when reckoning note values in a bar. They are supposed to take time from the note immediately following.

To my mind and ear, these clusters of notes have a consonantal, rhetorical function, creating a crunch of dissonance on the beat or pulse which resolves a moment later into the sustaining melody note. Playing these auxiliary notes before the beat completely removes this dissonant, consonantal sound, and replaces it with an effectively un-ornamented music filled with dance-like upbeats.

James Macpherson's "Ossian" set to music

2010-06-16T13:20:00.008+01:00

This is one of 9 extracts from James MacPherson's romantic fantasy confection, set to music and published in the late 18th century in London by James Oswald. The texts are generally agreed to be completely new creations, loosely based on material taken from the old Gaelic Fenian lays. I was wondering if the tunes have any connection with the old lay tunes but I don't think so. It is not yet clear to me where these tunes do come from though, and what their nearest musical comparisons are.

X:25
T:Number 1
N:The following Airs have been handed down since the Time of OSSIAN. The Musick taken from Mr. Mc.Pherson's singing by Mr. Oswald.
Z:transcribed by Simon Chadwick from James Oswald, The Pocket Companion for the Guittar (Wighton 32001)
L:1/8
M:3/4
Q:220
K:C
c A|G2 z A c d|(d2e2) (ag)|e2 d c d e| g4 (c'b)|
w:It is Night, I am a-lo-ne fo-r-lorn on the hill of storms, - the
a4g2|e3d (cd)|e2a2zg|c'4b2|(ag) e2 (d>c)|
w:wind is heard in the - moun-tain, The Torr-ent shre-ks down - the
c4g2|(g2a2)b2|c'3b a g|(g2a2) g2|e2d2e2|
w:Rock, no Hut - re-cieves me from the rain, - for-lorn on the
{ga}b4 ag|g4 ga|_b4d' c'|a4 c'/2a/2g|e4z2|
w:Hill of - Winds; rise - Moon, from be-hind thy - - clouds
d2c2d2|(e2c'a) (ge)|(e2d) c c d|({d}e2)z2g a|
w:stars of the Night - - ap- - pear - Lend me some light, to the
_b3 b a g|g2a2c' a|c'a c'a (ge)|(e2d2)c2|
w:place where my love rests - from the toil - of - the - chace, - his
c4z2|d2c2(de)|({e}g4) ab|c'b c'b ag| e2 a2zg|
w:Bow near him un- - strung - his dogs - pan- - ting a-round him, but
g2g g a b|c'4a g|e2e d c e|d4c2|
w:here I must sit a-lone by the Rock of the mos-sy Stream, the
c2 c c (d>e)|g4 a2|(_b2a2)g>a|c'4 a>g|e3d (e/2d/2c)|[c4G4E4]:|
w:stream & the - wind roar nor can - I - hear - the Voice of - my - Love.

Do things to this ABC notation using the Convert-O-Matic

Lewis Game pieces

2010-06-11T11:54:00.004+01:00

On Tuesday I visited the perhaps misleadingly titled "Lewis Chessmen" exhibition in Edinburgh. This gaming-piece here is particularly interesting - the curators suggest it is a locally-made replacement piece. The decoration on the chair back matches that on the Queen Mary harp and on other 15th century West Highland sculpture. It's British Museum 1831,1101.82

Early Gaelic Harp Emporium - June update

2010-06-01T18:03:00.003+01:00

New this month, the Emporium is pleased to be carrying an unusual title, a book that was published in 1992 — I have got hold of some of the last copies left. Linda Gowan's technical study Am Bròn Binn documents the survival of a medieval ballad into the 20th century living tradition.

There are a number of Gaelic ballads which survived late enough to be recorded by collectors. Few have been published or studied though, which makes this book all the more valuable. Click here to see some videos of recent performances of the ballad ‘Am bròn binn’ by the tradition bearers.

If you are interested to find out more about this kind of music, I would recommend Breandán Ó Madagáin’s book Caointe agus Seanceolta Eile which includes an audio CD of him singing the various kinds of old Irish music.

These traditions were of course common to Ireland and Scotland, but they seem to have mostly died out earlier in Ireland.

Other items new for June are two rare and hard to find items. I have perhaps the last new, shrink-wrapped copies ever of Bill Taylor's long-out-of-print CD Two Worlds of Welsh harp Music. Very limited numbers.

Also I have Seamus MacNeill's useful book Piobaireachd, a great overview of the Scottish Highland piping traditions.

Domestic pleasure with John Lorne Campbell & Margaret Fay Shaw

2010-05-30T19:50:00.004+01:00

Here are three charming little recordings from the big house on Canna:

http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/61497/1

http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/61499/2

http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/61501/3

Tobar an Dualchais

2010-05-28T15:31:00.003+01:00

I have been browsing Tobar an Dualchais - an impressive selection of songs, anecdotes and other material newly online.

My favourite so far is the stallion driver

Medieval sacred music in St Andrews Cathedral

2010-05-26T10:07:00.003+01:00

On Tuesday 1st June at 12.45pm, historical harp specialist Simon Chadwick will be playing medieval sacred music in the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral.

Using his decorated replica of the medieval Scottish 'Queen Mary' harp with gold and silver wire strings, Simon will play music from medieval manuscripts from Fife and beyond.

The programme will include repertory from the 'St Andrews Music Book' - a medieval manuscript compiled and written in St Andrews in the 13th century, which is now preserved in a library in Germany, as well as tunes from the priory on the Isle of Inchcolm in the Firth of Forth.

This event is part of Simon's summer series of medieval harp concerts in the cathedral. Performed in the Priors House, a medieval vaulted chamber set within the ruins of the Cathedral in St Andrews, the concerts are every month until September.

Also featuring examples of religious music from Ireland and Wales, this series brings to life different aspects of ancient and historical Scottish music.

The harp Simon uses is a unique replica of the clarsach of Mary Queen of Scots. The 500-year-old original is preserved in a glass case in the National Museum in Edinburgh. Simon commissioned his replica from Irish harp maker Davy Patton in 2006-7. With its amazing soundbox carved out of a single huge willow log, and its intricate carved and painted decoration, the replica harp is a precious medieval art object that fits very well into the ancient ambience of the cathedral.

Admission is free. Tickets can be reserved in advance by calling the Cathedral visitor centre on 01334 472563.

More information at www.simonchadwick.net/cathedral

2010-05-19T22:13:00.003+01:00

A set of three variants of this famous tune. Composed by Irish harper Miles O'Reilly, it was taken to Scotland by Thomas Connellan. Celebrating (or lamenting) the defeat of the Jacobites in Ireland in 1691-2, the first section (King James March to Irland) is from a Scottish viol manuscript of 1693. The middle section (Lochaber, or Limerick's Lamentation) and the third section (the Wild Geese, or Ireland's lamentation) are from Edward Bunting's field notebook, c. 1800 (ms33(1)), noted down from the performance of Partick Quin in South Armagh.

The Fife Traditional Singing Weekend

2010-05-17T22:05:00.001+01:00

On Sunday I was at the Fife Traditional Singing Weekend, in a fine, airy windowed building in the Fife countryside by Collessie. It was very interesting to see and hear so many different traditional singers, many from the East of Scotland but a number from further afield. So many different styles of vocal delivery, and types of song.

There was little really ancient, to connect with my work here (in a direct form anyway), but I have a lot to think about and it was great to see people like Sheila Stewart there.

My favourite moment was an anecdote from Phyllis Martin, of visiting an old lady in Galloway to collect songs. The lady said "I'll get some tea", and came back with a tray with 2 cups of tea and a large sponge cake, cut neatly in 2 down the middle. Phyllis said, she asked if they should have a knife. The lady replied, no, this half is for you, and this half is for me.

It was also a lovely day, sunny and quite warm.

News

2010-05-17T21:50:00.001+01:00

This new section of the website will be for more informal news and opinions.