by BILL LIVINGSTONE. Piping Today #100, 2020. The ability to compose music, any music, for the bagpipe or otherwise is a peculiar talent and very difficult to describe or define. We know what the results of the effort are, but not much is known about the process itself. Everyone has […]
By MARK MacKENZIE Graham Adams’ recent article on Bagpipe.news brought back to me my own memories of Andrew Pitkeathly. As Graham mentioned in his piece, I stayed in Scotland for 12 months from November 1989 to November 1990 and received tuition from Andrew during that time. Graham was my first […]
1963-1964 By Jeannie Campbell MBE For 1963 five tunes were set for the Open Piobaireachd and competitors were required to choose four. The tunes were Salute on the Birth of Rory Mòr MacLeod, The Old Woman’s Lullaby, The Sister’s Lament, The Park Piobaireachd (No. 1) and Nameless (from Colin Campbell’s […]
1958-1959 By Jeannie Campbell MBE The ten tunes set for the Open competition in 1958 were The Battle of the Pass of Crieff, Lament for Donald Bàn MacCrimmon, Donald Gruamach’s March, The Earl of Antrim’s Lament, Lady Margaret MacDonald’s Salute, Scarce of Fishing, Colin Roy MacKenzie’s Lament, The Park Piobaireachd, […]
1956-57 By Jeannie Campbell MBE In 1956 the tunes for the Open competition were Nameless (Book 8), The End of the Little Bridge, The Daughter’s Lament, Craigellachie, Lament for the Duke of Hamilton, The Red Speckled Bull, The Stewarts’ White Banner and Lament for The Harp Tree, from which four […]
1949-1950 By Jeannie Campbell MBE In 1949, competitors for the Open Piobaireachd had to offer four tunes, The End of the Great Bridge, Lament for MacDonald’s Tutor, Scarce of Fishing and The Vaunting. For the Gold Medal no tunes were listed but for the Northern Meeting Gold Medal the requirement […]
The next member of the Competition League for Amateur Solo Pipers (CLASP) to be profiled is Gill Cairns, who is currently domiciled in Malta. • Where are you from and how did you get into piping?I’m originally from Inverness, Scotland. I’ve lived around the world, most recently in Singapore, Madrid […]
By Fergus Muirhead That John Wilson would end up playing the pipes was never in doubt. His father William was a piper in the 8th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. His uncle, Archie, Pipe Major of the 8th Battalion, was killed, like a lot of his colleagues, leading the battalion […]
The Duncan Johnstone Memorial Piping Competition has taken place at the National Piping Centre for over 20 years. It is held in memory of the famous Glasgow piper dubbed the King of Jigs. As Angus J. MacLellan wrote in Duncan’s obituary that appeared in the January 1999 Piping Times, Duncan […]
By Mark Stewart and Stuart Letford. In the decades ahead we will reflect on the last few years as being one of the most creative periods in modern bagpipe composition, albeit music that’s suited mainly to pipe bands and folk ensembles. Whether some of this new music will be played […]
