Category: Reviews

Editor’s Notebook: Hogmanay/ Stuart Liddell/ Queen’s Comment/ Grading/ Royal Bagpipe

Posted on      by      5 Comments

I hope everyone had a good New Year. The Hogmanay celebrations augured well for piping. Television channels BBC Alba and BBC2 had the pipes welcoming in the midnight bells (the latter featuring the Scots Guards P&D) and Buckingham Palace even put out a video showing Paul Burns, Sovereign’s Piper, piping down the steps at Buckingham Palace playing Auld Lang Syne (best to finish on high A with that setting Paul!)…

More Editor’s Notebook: Hogmanay/ Stuart Liddell/ Queen’s Comment/ Grading/ Royal Bagpipe

2022 – A Year of Rebirth for Piping and Pipe Bands

Posted on      by      2 Comments

It was the year when we finally shook off the fear and loathing of the pandemic and the brutal authoritarianism of lockdown, now thoroughly discredited. Piping came back with a bang – but only just in time. We lost many potentially good young players, and bands and societies have all suffered a fall off in interest (and on the writing front the ever-popular MacStig is no more). By the Editor…

More 2022 – A Year of Rebirth for Piping and Pipe Bands

Rare Light Music Recording of P/M Iain Morrison at the Argyllshire Gathering

Posted on      by      3 Comments

Following last week’s features on Iain Morrison, we are very grateful to Patrick Molard in Brittany for forwarding this recording from the 1971 Argyllshire Gathering, writes the Editor. It is of Iain Murdo playing in the Former Winners’ March Strathspey and Reel. Whilst it is not Iain at his best (he seems nervous and there a few slips) it is indicative of his style of playing and the brilliance with…

More Rare Light Music Recording of P/M Iain Morrison at the Argyllshire Gathering

Readers Respond to Competition 2/4 March Report: Judges Don’t Select New Music

Posted on      by      Leave a comment

A selection of the responses to yesterday’s article by Dale Brown on the paucity of modern 2/4 march compositions on the competition boards…. Vincent Janowski: There might be a touch of light coming into your cave, but, again, your post and this list of great tunes ignores the obvious: at one point, most of these tunes were considered ‘modern’. Without today’s easy access to printed books and scores, it must…

More Readers Respond to Competition 2/4 March Report: Judges Don’t Select New Music

Statistics Prove the Lack of Modern 2/4 Marches in Today’s Competition Repertoire

Posted on      by      2 Comments

In February this year I wrote the opinion piece on Piping Press about 2/4 march competitions had become stagnant in the music being played – same ol’ same ol’.  We lit a fuse under some people.  It was Vincent who thought I had been living in a cave for the past 30 years. (He was from New Jersey, that explains his attitude!)  Others took offence saying that there was an…

More Statistics Prove the Lack of Modern 2/4 Marches in Today’s Competition Repertoire