Category: Reviews

Classical Pipe Music in the Heart of the City of London

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If last year’s inaugural London Recital established the formula, this year proved it was no one-off. Black tie, fine wine, Raasay whisky and, most importantly, first-class piping: the second edition of The London Recital delivered another memorable night of ceòl mòr and ceòl beag in the City of London. Photos, a highlights video, and full recordings of the two piobaireachd can be found at www.thelondonrecital.com. But for those who weren’t there, let…

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Review: ‘A Guide to the Judging of Piping’

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This attractive book is structured as follows: firstly a short Foreword by Robert Wallace; then ‘A Code of Practice at a Glance’; ‘A Guide to the Judging of Piping’ by Dugald Graham-Campbell, who was born in 1921, and Malcolm McRae’s comments on that work, ‘A Review of the Guide’. Then we have, James Campbell’s ‘A Different Approach to the Judging Problem’, Colin MacLellan’s ‘A New Approach to a Judging Problem‘,…

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Arthur Remembered/ Springbank Results

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On a beautiful autumn afternoon the people of Kilchrenan and Dalavich on Lochaweside gathered yesterday to remember Arthur Gillies, one of Argyll’s finest pipers, writes Alastair MacGregor. Locals were joined by visitors from as far away as Connecticut and Colorado. The event was organised by Stella Leitch, the daughter-in-law of Jock Leitch, another Kilchrenan piper and the man who started Arthur on the chanter. This special day comprised an exhibition…

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Perfect Conditions for Pibroch by the Sea

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The annual Piobaireachd Masterclass was held at Cancale, Brittany, on Saturday, 12 September. Seventeen participants of a variety of ages and expertise attended for a full day’s instruction, held on the day preceding the ‘Piobaireachd by the Sea’ recital. By Bill Wotherspoon I was joined by Patrick Molard who took the morning session and ably assisted me with translation in the afternoon. We took it in turns to explain the…

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Northern Meeting Revisited – Part 2

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For this article we have a review of the 2026 Clasp competition by adjudicator Dr Jack Taylor MBE. For some inexplicable reason the BBC chose not to record this world class event, opting instead for the light music. Their microphones missed some outstanding piping, none better than the performance by the winner, Callum Beaumont. Fortunately Callum had friends around who did the recording job for him and they have kindly…

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