New Letters: Trophy Traced/Piobaireachd Comment

The power of pipingpress.com! Within days of mentioning the missing Braemar trophy in the PP Editor’s Blog (12/12/14), it has been traced and will be forwarded to the 2014 recipient. It proves yet again the marketing strength of the internet, and in particular this online magazine. If you are a manufacturer or retailer of piping and pipe band supplies make sure you join our growing band of advertisers who are already reaping the…

James Campbell, Kilberry: Letters – Part 1

Today, in an important series exclusive to pipingpress.com, we have the first excerpt from articles by piobaireachd scholar and senior adjudicator, Norman Matheson, Aberdeen. They are based on correspondence he had with ceol mor authority James Campbell, Kilberry, between 1997 and 2003. They concern piobaireachd playing in general, and in particular the production of the ‘Masters of Piobaireachd’ CD recordings of the playing of RU Brown and RB Nicol, Balmoral, and contain…

James Campbell, Piobaireachd Expert and Gentleman

The final excerpt of Jonathan Gillespie’s lecture on his tutor James Campbell of Kilberry is published today. In it Jonathan discusses some of James’s favourite tunes and names the performers. He also records James’s uneasiness with placing too much reliance on old manuscripts and allowing them to dictate the way tunes should be played in the modern era. He highlights the importance of James’s writings, in particular his ‘Elusive Appoggiatura’…