Jump to content

Pibroch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Rtc872 (talk | contribs) at 10:04, 6 May 2009 (changed "shortened to pibroch" to "anglicised to pibroch"). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Pìobaireachd (IPA: [ˈpʰiːbərɒχk]) is a classical music genre native to the Scottish Highlands and performed on the Great Highland Bagpipe. It is also sometimes played on the Scottish fiddle and the clarsach as part of a recent revival. In Scottish Gaelic, the word literally means "pipering" or "act of piping," and is sometimes anglicised to "pibroch." The word is derived from the Gaelic pìobaire which simply means piper, and so the term pìobaireachd has gradually evolved to refer to traditional pipe music. Traditionally, many pipers prefer the Scottish Gaelic name Ceòl Mòr which is Scots Gaelic meaning Big Music, to distinguish it from other kinds of pipe music which are called Ceòl Beag or Little Music.

History

The origins of piobaireachd are obscure. The musical form appears to have been well developed by the time of Patrick Mor MacCrimmon (ca. 1595-1670), one of the hereditary pipers to the Chief of MacLeods of Dunvegan on the isle of Skye. Despite repeated claims that the bagpipe and/or its music was banned after the 1745 rebellion, no evidence for this exists. In 1792, the first known piobaireachd competition was held in Falkirk at the annual Tryst. Over the course of the 19th century, with the opening up of communications within the Highlands (in particular the railways), a competing circuit emerged, with the two most pre-eminent competitions being held at Inverness and Oban, the former descended directly from the first competition at Falkirk.

Most piobaireachd are traditional tunes that were written prior to 1745, and in many cases the composer is unknown. However piobaireachd continues to be written by composers up to the present day.

In 1903, the The Piobaireachd Society was founded with the aim of recording the corpus of existing piobaireachd tunes, collating the various versions, and publishing an authoritative edition. Those normative PS tunes settings have been the basis on which ceol mor competitors at the various Highland Games have been judged ever since, the piping judges themselves being appointed by the PS.

In recent decades some pipers and researchers have questioned the editing of the tunes that went in the PS books, claiming the style chosen favoured one piping tradition at the expense of others, while others suggested that some tunes had been twisted out of their original shape to make them conform unnecessarily to one of the recognised tune structures.

Structure

Piobaireachd was developed on and for the Great Highland Bagpipe (possibly drawing on earlier clarsach forms.[1]), and as a result relies on the features and limitations of that instrument. Piobaireachd is properly expressed by minute and often subtle variations in the length of notes, so much so that piobaireachd is nearly impossible to transcribe accurately to the written score. (See Seumas MacNeill's Preface in Angus MacKay's book referenced below). Many written forms of piobaireachd do exist (Angus MacKay's, A Collection of Ancient Piobaireachd, Binneas is Boreraig, The Kilberry Book of Ceol Mor and The Piobaireachd Society Collection, not to mention a number of manuscripts that have been scanned and are freely available online.[2]) but they serve mainly as a rough guide for the piper; the proper expression of the rhythms and tempos of the tune must be learned from a teacher. See the article on Canntaireachd. Piobaireachd does not follow a strict metre, and though it does have a rhythmic flow or pulse; it does not follow a strict beat or tempo though it does have pacing.

In musical structure, piobaireachd is a theme with variations. The theme is usually a very simple melody, though few if any piobaireachd contain the theme in its simplest form. The theme is first stated in a slow movement called the ground or in Gaelic the ùrlar. This is usually a fairly stylised version of the theme, and usually includes numerous added embellishments and connecting notes. The subsequent variations can number from one up to about twenty, although there are a few fragmentary tunes for which only a ground is known. In most cases the variations following the ground involve the use of a number of different musical embellishments, usually starting very simply and progressing through successively more complex movements before returning again to the ground. For example, variations after the urlar or ground usually includes a siubhal (pronounced shoo-all and meaning a passing or traversing) or dithis (pronounced jee-esh and meaning two or a pair) or both. The siubhal comprises theme notes each coupled with a single note of higher or lower pitch that usually precedes the theme note. The theme note is held and its paired single note cut. The timing given to the theme notes is of critical importance in displaying the virtuosity of the master piper. If the theme and single note are repeated or played in pairs, it is referred to as a doubling, otherwise a siubhal singling. The dithis is similar. The theme note is accented and followed by a cut note of lower pitch, usually alternating, for example, between an A and a G. If the coupled pairs are played in a repeating pattern, it too is called a dithis doubling. Following the siubhal or dithis variation are other more complex embellishments. The Gaelic names of these type movements are: Lemluath (Lem-lua), Taorluath (Tor-lua), and Crunluath (Cren-lua). In almost all piobaireachd in which these later movements are found, the variations are played first as a singling and then as a doubling and with a slightly increased tempo. However not all piobaireachds will include all or even any of these movements but instead use variations that are deemed to be irregular.

In addition the theme will usually use one of several internal structures for the ordering of its musical phrases. These are usually classified as follows:

  • Primary - The theme or ground is composed of two two-bar phrases, A and B, played in the following order:
    • AAB
    • ABB
    • AB
  • Secondary - The theme or ground is composed of four phrases, with A and B being one-bar phrases and C and D being two-bar phrases, and played in the following order:
    • ABCD
    • CBAD
    • CD
  • Tertiary - A relative of Primary Piobaireachd, with three two-bar phrases, A, B, and C, played in the following order:
    • AB
    • ABB
    • AB
    • C
  • Irregular - The theme or ground does not fit into any of the above structures.

Few piobaireachd are pure examples of any of these structures though most can be fit into one of the first three with a slight modification of one or two of the phrases in one or more lines.

There is evidence from early treatises (e.g. Joseph MacDonald) that the structure was originally counted in 4, so a Primary form would be AABA BBAB

Subjects

The subjects of piobaireachd music are quite varied but share the common theme of commemorating a specific event. The categories of piobaireachd include: Laments, Salutes, Gatherings, Rowing. In general, the categories of piobaireachd do not have distinctive or consistent musical patterns that are characteristic of the category. However piobaireachd was written for specific events, personages or situations.

Laments are mourning tunes often written for a deceased person of note. Laments were commonly written as a result of families being displaced from their homeland, a practice that was very common after the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745.

Salutes are tunes that acknowledge a person, event or location. Salutes were often written upon the birth of children or after a visitation to a prominent figure such as a clan chief. Many Salutes have been written to commemorate famous pipers.

Gatherings were tunes written specifically for a clan. These tunes were used to call a clan together by their chief. The tune structure is usually simple so that it could be recognized easily by clan members.

Rowing piobaireachd were more rhythmic tunes used to encourage rowers while crossing the sea.

Piobaireachd tunes often have intriguing names such as "Too Long in This Condition", "The Piper's Warning to His Master", "Scarce of Fishing", "The Unjust Incarceration," and "The Big Spree".

See also

References

  1. ^ See Barnaby Brown in his introduction to Allan MacDonald's "Dastirum" (ISBN 978-0-9546729-1-1).
  2. ^ See Ross's Music Page for instance or the page of PipeTunes.ca.
  • Campbell, Archibald (1948). The Kilberry Book of Ceol Mor. Edinburgh: Printaway Ltd.
  • Cannon, Roderick D. (ed.) (1994). Joseph MacDonald's Compleat Theory of the Scots Highland Pipe (c. 1760). Glasgow: The Piobaireachd Society. ISBN 1-898405-41-7. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  • Cannon, Roderick D. (1995). The Highland Bagpipe and Its Music. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0-85976-416-8.
  • Collinson, Francis (1975). The Bagpipe: The History of a Musical Instrument. London: Routledge & Kenan Paul. ISBN 0-7100-7913-3.
  • Donaldson, William (2000). The Highland Pipe and Scottish Society 1750-1950. East Linton: Tuckwell Press. ISBN 1-86232-075-6.
  • MacNeill, Seumas (1948, 1976). Classical Music of the Highland Bagpipe. Glasgow: BBC, then College of Piping. isbn=563 07487 6. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Missing pipe in: |id= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  • MacNeill, Seumas. Angus MacKay (ed.). A Collection of Ancient Piobaireachd (1838 ed.). Yorkshire: EP Publishing Limited. p. 183. ISBN 0 85409 821 6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |origmonth= ignored (help)

And for a completely different approach to the conservation and preservation of piobaireachd, a book which casts doubts on the work of the Piobaireachd Society in the early days of the XXth century:

  • Campsie, Alistair Keith (1980). The MacCrimmon Legend. The Madness of Angus Mackay. Edinburgh: Cannongate. ISBN 0 90393 766 2.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pibroch&oldid=288239514"