Seventh Set Tunes Series begins on pipes|drums

October 3, 2006

The seventh Set Tunes Series by Dr. William Donaldson of Aberdeen, Scotland, has started, bringing in-depth analysis of 14 piobaireachds to pipes|drums readers.

Entitled ” Piobaireachd in time: technology and transmission,” Donaldson will again provide detailed research on the various histories and settings of most of the pieces of ceol mor set by the Piobaireachd Society for this year’s major gatherings.

“The notion of pipers being at the forefront of the ‘cheap music’ movement is one that hasn’t been stated,” Donaldson says. “It’s one to which we may return especially given that there is going to be quite a bit of Scottish brouhaha to celebrate the Scottish history of the book, since 2007 is the 500th anniversary of the first Scottish printing and publishing house, Walter Chepman and Androw Myllar of Edinburgh.”

As with the previous five Series, the 2007 version will be free to all pipes|drums readers.

The tunes in the 2007 Series are:

Clasp
“The Red Speckled Bull”
“Good Health To You, Donald”
“Lament for the Duke of Hamilton”
“The Bells of Perth”

Gold Medal
“Lady Margaret MacDonald’s Salute”
“Lachlan MacNeill Campbell of Kintarbert’s Fancy”
“The Prince’s Salute” (an updated analysis)
“Lord Lovat’s Lament”
“MacNeill of Barra’s March”

Silver Medal
“The MacGregors’ Salute”
“Castle Menzies”
“Lament for the Viscount of Dundee”
“The Groat”
“Lament for MacSwan of Roaig”

A number of the tunes set this year were set in 2001, and were previously covered by Dr. Donaldson. They are available in the pipes|drums archive:

“Scarce of Fishing”
“Lament for the Duke of Hamilton”
“The Prince’s Salute”
“The Battle of Waternish”

“William Donaldson’s work on the Set Tunes Series over the past seven years has been a pioneering effort, and pipes|drums is grateful that he continues to share his knowledge freely to any interested readers,” says Andrew Berthoff, editor of pipes|drums.

The new series will be found in the “Music” section of pipes|drums.

William Donaldson is one of the world’s foremost authorities on Scottish music and is the author of the seminal work, The Highland Pipe & Scottish Society. He receieved more than eight years of ongoing instruction from Robert Bell Nicol, and is a lecturer with Scotland’s Open University.

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