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Highlan' Laddie
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Highlan' Laddie whenever bagpipes appear on the more popular television shows it is usually for the characters to say how much they hate bagpipes. which is odd because i actually don't know that many people who would say that they hated bagpipes; sure, it's not their favourite instrument but it is one of those things that people find objectionable. a few years back we were in Sydney on Anzac Day. the ceremony had completed and the bands which formed the parade were beginning to drift away- except for the pipes and drums bands. these paraded into a nearby street which was bounded by a couple of skyscrapers that had an oddly acoustic effect that would multiply the sound we were about to experience. although not professional, they were certainly capable players and in the next half hour or so we were treated to Pipes, Drums and Pipes and Drums in a myriad of tunes. it was the most magical experience of live music i have ever had; nothing could match the sound of massed pipes playing Highlan' Laddie and Scotland the Brave; especially given the echoing nature of the venue that seemed to catch and enhance and return the music. to me there is something special about the pipes; i don't think there is any instrument that can reach such heights of joyousness and yet delve the depths of sorrow. it is certainly as a sad instrument that we encounter it most; Scotty playing Amazing Grace at the end of Star Trek II; the piper playing in the memorial scene in Dead Poets Society. even in the ceremonial where they are featured it tends to be the sad events that make us turn to the pipes- the last post is devastatingly sad when played on the pipes- far more so than the bugle or the trumpet. i don't think that the Edinburgh Military Tattoo would be quite the event it is without the Pipes. though the days when the bands of some twenty battalions playing en masse are long gone we can feel something of it in the massed bands during the march out. and just as the Pipes are a special instrument it seems that they also make for a special man to play them. every Scottish Regiment has its examples of men playing the pipes in situations and conditions that would leave most of us simply breathless. most blessed seem to be the Gordon Highlanders; every conflict seems to throw up a mad Gordon's Piper who will play the regimental march to inspire his fellow soldiers to incredible feats of daring. the piper at Dargai- shot through both knees he propped himself up on some rocks and continued to play as the Gordon's surged forward to take an objective that had already defied 5 other battalions. one of the most powerful, and saddening, word images that come to us from the Battle of the Somme in 1916 is the description of some of the Pal's Battalions going over the top on the first day led by their pipers. my only real complaint about the pipes, especially in a modern context, is the belief that in order to keep the instrument relevent to a younger audience it is necessary to set modern music to the pipes. Gregorian Chant suffers from a similar mistaken application. true enough, some of these tunes can be masterpieces in their own right; though not really a modern piece in the strictest sense, Amazing Grace seems to be so much more powerful on the pipes than other instrument; Abide With Me works just as well. but there seems to be this blind belief that any song is suitable for any instrument or form, and the bagpipes and Gregorian Chant seem to suffer most from this view. but just as Gregorian styled chants work so well for Enigma on some of their tunes, so the bagpipes can be similarly effective as an instrument in their own right. would AC/DC's "it's a long way to the top." be half the tune it is without the bagpipes? or Wings and "Mull of Kintyre"?(it's funny- when i began this i could think of a half dozen songs that featured the pipes but AC/DC and Wings are the only ones i can remember.) one thing i have noticed about modern music is that there seems to be less discernment about the choice of song to complement the instruments played or even the voice of the singer. The Peter Gabriel/ Kate Bush song "Don't Give Up" requires a capable and nuanced voice to get the most out of it; the people who usually attempt a cover often fail to communicate these nuances because they are having to 'stretch' with their voices and the whole thing collapses into a whinge. by contrast the Hunters and Collectors' masterpiece "Throw Your Arms Around Me." seems to be a very forgiving sort of song that lends itself to be sung by almost anyone who can sing. in the original it always struck me as a 'we'll probably meet again' type song, but Paul McDermott's version has a 'love departing forever' type of feel; and yet the same singer and song, but with two more voices to enrich the harmony, as part of the Doug Anthony Allstars, makes it something else entirely- 'this could be it but lets hope it is not'. similarly, as much as i love the bagpipes, i also think that the song played needs to match the reach of the instrument- to try and take it much beyond that is simply asking too much of it. the real shame is that it means that most<b> bagpipe </font></b>recordings tend to be the same songs over and over again. i doubt that there is a<b> bagpipe </font></b>CD that does not feature Amazing Grace- or Scotland the Brave. and while i like both tunes, Highlan' Laddie remains my favourite. In truth is there no beauty? I am not in love; but i am open to persuasion. |
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