Emotion and the Classical Music of the Scottish Highland Bagpipes

Daniel Milosavljevic

• Musical origins• Associated with emergence of SHB• Widespread across Scottish Highlands• Threatened by Highland Clearances• Role of military piping• Globalisation processes• Pibroch today

• Predominantly elitist subculture• Difficult to access• Ignored & marginalised by most pipers• Non-functional in wider community• Performances predominantly

competitive• Evaluation of performances interpretive• Largely ignored by researchers

• Hundreds of individual tunes• Theme and variations structure• Pieces begin musically complex• Pieces conclude technically complex• No beat, a series of pulses• Highly expressive, highly interpretive• Pieces range from 10 – 25 minutes

• Relate to expressive & musical qualities Battle Gathering Salute March Lament Others

• Tune titles often indicate connection• Some have little musical programme• Others have explicit musical programme• Stories often include themes of...

Military victory or hardship Tragedy & grief Honour & salutation Incredible feats & heroic deeds

• Short examples of theme & variations from

The Bells of Perth

A Flame of Wrath for Patrick Caogach

The Desperate Battle of the Birds

His Father’s Lament for Donald MacKenzie

• Pibroch is interpretive• Highly individualised performances• Ability to express & interpret a piece• Authority, credibility & authenticity• Expression versus competitive success• Emotive output not usually motivation• More to performance than just musical

output

• Attendance implies enthusiasm• Basic pibroch understanding necessary• Access to tune title and story also

necessary• Interpretation of performance governed by

Styles of performances Styles of bagpiping Role of individuals Role of bagpipe culture

• Pre 19th century pibroch orally transmitted• 19th century notation and collection methods• Notation backbone of culture today• Collectors, editors and romanticisation• Many titles and stories historically inaccurate• A by-product of notation during 19th century• Reason for focus on musicality at elite level

• In spite of this...• Emotional connection highly necessary

for... Pibroch enthusiasts Pibroch beginners Intermediate pibroch performers Pibroch elite Pibroch subculture

• Emotion makes pibroch more accessible