MacLennan Scottish GroupMusic
The Music of the MacLennan Scottish Group
The musicians of the MacLennan Scottish Group have
always been an integral part of the group. From its inception the Group
has had a small musical group of pipes and drums, led for many years by
Pipe Major Bryan Bredin. From time to time, other musicians have played
for the Group, at demonstrations, at the MacLennan Festival and at
festivals abroad, but the pipers and drummers have been a constant
presence.
The Scottish bagpipes are perhaps the most dramatic and warlike example
of an instrument which occurs in most countries across Europe, from
Estonia to Ireland, from Scotland to Bulgaria. The Scottish pipes have
traditionally been a military instrument, and pipe bands follow a
military style in performance. The music ranges from traditional tunes
through to modern tunes.
Scottish dance music includes reels and jigs, rapid tunes whose tempo
is also found in many other countries. Unique to Scotland, however, is
the Strathspey tempo, a slower tempo featuring the Scotch snap which
has occasionally been drawn on by classical musicians, such as Malcolm
Arnold in his Four Scottish Dances. Hornpipes and
marches also feature in the repertoire, along with slow airs and
laments.
Piping for dancing is a particular skill, since it is, of course,
necessary to maintain an even tempo, and to ensure that the tunes match
the dances in terms of numbers of bars. The best military pipers do not
always make the best dance pipers, since an understanding of the
progress of a dance, and the ability to increase the tempo for some
steps, and slow it down for other steps, all help to improve the
partnership between pipers and dancers. Originally, many of the dances
performed to the pipes would have been Highland dances, solo dances
such as the Highland Fling and the Sword Dance (Gillie Chalium)
performed by men.
The accordion and the fiddle are two other instruments to which
Scottish dancing is traditionally performed, and these produce a much
more gentle sound, appropriate both for country dancing and for some
Step dancing.
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