Ready, get set, stay: piob requirements for big 2021 events unchanged

The Piobaireachd Society has decided that, if the big competitions return in 2021, the piobaireachds that were prescribed for the 2020 events at the Argyllshire Gathering at Oban and the Northern Meeting at Inverness will carry over.

Actually, it’s only a list of “Set Tunes” for those competing in the Clasp at Inverness and the Senior Piobaireachd at Oban that apply.

Contestants in the Highland Society of London Gold Medal and the Silver Medal – competitions held at both events – will have a “free” year in which they can submit whatever works of ceol mor they like.

Gold Medal players submit whatever eight tunes, and Silver Medal players submit six, each performing one as chosen on the day.

The Senior list, from which players submit six and perform one chosen by the judges, is an inventory of 10 long tests of technique, musicality and outright endurance.

• “Lament for Donald Ban MacCrimmon” (Piobaireachd Society CollectionBook 2, Kilberry Collection of Ceol Mor)
• “Lament for King George III” (PS Book 14)
• “Lament for the Harp Tree” (PS Book 12, Kilberry)
• “Lament for the Laird of Anapool” (PS Book 9)
• “Lament for MacLeod of Colbeck” (PS Book 10)
• “Lament for Patrick Og MacCrimmon” (PS Book 3) – played with Donald MacDonald’s additional variation (singling and doubling), as in Piobaireachd Society Book 3.
• “Mrs. MacLeod of Talisker’s Salute” (PS Book 11)
• “Nameless – Cherede Darievea” (PS Book 8, Kilberry)
• “The Sound of the Waves Against the Castle of Duntroon” (PS Book 6, Kilberry)
• “The Unjust Incarceration” (PS Book 2) – played with the “optional” third line, as recorded in Piobaireachd Society Book 2.

Various events around the world, such as the Piobaireachd Society Gold Medal (Canada) competitions at Maxville, Ontario, often use the Piobaireachd Society requirements.

Almost the entire in-person competition season has been cancelled worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown situation.

The Piobaireachd Society has for more than a century created lists of piobaireachds for the two annual competitions as a way to standardize the events, make judging easier and more equitable, and promote the playing of more ceol mor.

You can find a wonderful compendium of the known published settings of more than 150 piobaireachds in pipes|drums’ exclusive Set Tunes section by Dr. William Donaldson.

Related

Piobaireachd Society issues 2020 requirements
March 30, 2019

Classics dominate 2019 Set Tunes
April 2, 2018

Balanced approach to 2018 Set Tunes
April 3, 2017