The stage was set out wide over the first few rows to accommodate the
full orchestra of the Scottish Opera on the concert hall stage - and I knew we
were in for a treat! The concert was one of the sell out shows of Celtic Connections.
Armstrong is an award-winning Scottish film composer who has written
music for films such as Romeo and Juliet (1996), The Great Gatsby (2013),
Moulin Rouge and many more.
The songs from Armstrong’s latest album, It’s Nearly Tomorrow, were performed by some top class singers - Jerry
Burns, James Grant, Clio Gould, Katie O'Halloran, Alison Lawrance, Ryan Joseph
Burns, Alastair Ogilvy and Lucia Fontaine.
The Songs
included -
Weather
Storm, This Love (The Space Between)
O Verona, Balcony
Scene (Romeo and Juliet)
One Day
I'll Fly Away, Nature Boy (Moulin Rouge)
Infinite
hope, Louisville, Lets' Go To Town (The Great Gatsby)
The grand piano for Armstrong to play was however on the other side of
the stage on the left of the stage and I wished he might have stood on
occasions to introduce his music so those of us on the other side of the
concert hall might be able to see him better.Otherwise my seat was great and near the front of the stage and the full
rich sound of the Scottish opera orchestra wafted over us, to add to the full
on drama.
Behind the orchestra scenes from the movies he has scored were shown,
while movie-like coloured spotlights hovered over the orchestra.
I particularly enjoyed Jerry Burns subtle performance of Dust, with her ethereal, haunting voice and The Love Theme from Far From the Maddening Crowd, and
the very poignant and gripping finale of the Balcony scene from Romeo and
Juliet.
Every year at Celtic I am astonished by the musical talent today in
Scotland and beyond. Armstrong who graduated from the London school of music
and is from Glasgow, is a wonderful example. He then served his musical apprenticeship at Glasgow's
Tron theatre. The concert proved exhilarating, poignant and joyful.
Armstrong
sees no difference in credibility between popular and classical formsof
music and he has collaborated with pop bands such as Massive Attack and as well as writing compositions for the SNO (Scottish National Orchestra).
Film music has brought the full orchestra back into the mainstream and
into peoples lives.
We
were treated to an outstanding Celtic Connections Opening Concert - 'Nae Regrets'
Highly
innovative. Multi-talented, multi-layered orchestra. Put a smile on my face.
Martyn
Bennett's 2003 GRIT was given its live premier with a colourful score by
composer Greg Lawson and the concert proved one of the best events I've
been to at Celtic Connections music festival.
Bennett
was a Scottish musician and composer and the concert marked the tenth
anniversary of his untimely death at the age of thirty-three - poignantly he
wrote the album while he was dying of cancer. The album offers a musical
journey - producing pounding bass rhythms, hesitant strings, gradual and also unexpected crescendos, brass epic grandeur, haunting Gaelic voices, thematic stirring
pipes and also humour. The Grit album is about pushing the boundaries and limitations.
The orchestra of over 80 musicians on the Glasgow concert hall stage tonight consisted of mostly younger folk, jazz and classical musicians. I expect they enjoyed playing a new piece that felt contemporary yet drawing strongly on past traditions. Conductor Greg appeared overcome as he reached the summit tonight, after years in the planning and he commented that he needed a crash helmet as it felt like his head might explode!
I The first half was of songs from the Grit album and performed by a cast of accomplished Scottish singers - Quebec quartet LeVent Du Nord began with strong harmonies; followed by Fiona Hunter who sang Berry fields of Blair and Young Emslie with Mike Vass on guitar; Rab Noakes sang MacPherson's Rant and To Each and Everyone of You. Gaelic singer Isabel Ann Martin sang beautifully accompanied by Donald Shaw on piano.
II For the second half the full orchestra played the entire GRIT album. Even the word Grit produces earthy, real connotations. Lawson commented that folk music draws strongly on solid music roots, butike a river needs to play and experiment with those traditions in order not to stay stagnant and to be brought into the modern age.
On Blackbird male choral voices were brought into the modern age with dancing African drumbeats, resonating textures and bass beats. On the track Why there were soothing strings and clarinet along with Karen Matheson haunting voice. The Wedding track was heart breaking with hesitant, sad, subdued strings when a song breaks the stillness with happier times and then with a dynamic sax melody.
Bennet's
music shifted on its axis taking sound into new orbits - ground breaking and
energizing. For anyone who thinks folk music is backward looking this concert was
highly innovative with jazz, rock elements, classical, Gaelic songs, MORE! I have never seen an orchestra bobbing up and
down and enjoying themselves so much - especially all those eight double bass
players!
Only
a few concerts put a smile on your face but this one did!
Bennett
- ‘Try and find those things that make us Scottish. They are not necessarily
tartan, but are no less colorful. They are in the sound of the kick drum, the
bass line, the distortion, the punk guitar, the break-beat. Try and see the old
ways in new surroundings.‘
'This
album was a chance for me to present a truthful picture, yet face my own
reflection in the great mirror of all cultures.’ http://www.martynbennett.com
In
the studio, he traversed and transcended boundaries, of multiple levels, from
that of image – as ‘the dreadlocked piper’ – to those of genre, art-form and
audience.
PS Renowned traditional
Scottish folk singer Dick Gaughan decided to withdraw from the concert as it
was being filmed by the BBC and due to his feeling strongly that the BBC bias
during the referendum was intolerable for him.He is performing his own concert during Celtic – 'Scots music
has never sounded like this before. No music has ever sounded like this before’
Mojo
GRIT Track listing
1.'Move' – 4.10 Minutes
2.'Blackbird' – 6.10 Minutes
3.'Chanter' – 4.10 Minutes
4.'Nae Regrets' – 3.50
Minutes
5.'Liberation' – 4.20 Minutes
6.'Why' – 4.30 Minutes
7.'Ale House' – 3.50 Minutes
8.'Wedding' – 5.45 Minutes
9.'Rant' – 4.31 Minutes
10.'Storyteller' – 9.39
Minutes
Filmed
by the BBC the concert will be shown 22nd January 9pm -
I went to see The Lion
King musicalbyElton John & Tim Rice) recently, which was very good and
great effects and all.I was asked what
my favourite ever musical is. I answered Westside Story (composed by Leonard Bernstein) which I do love for its energy and songs. But later I
thought my top musical may be Cabaret
(composed byJohn Kander)I saw the film of the Cabaret
musical in 1972.
I grew up
playing musicals on piano – from The
Mikado, South Pacific to the Sound of
Music – which I loved to sing.Most
of these musicals were composed byRichard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.
Gilbert and Sullivanwrote
some of the best musicals which were great fun to play and which I saw on stage
several times.
In more recent times the biggest stage musicals have been composed by Andrew
Lloyd Webber, and I saw The Phantom of the Opera in Edinburgh’s playhouse which was a top rate
musical with wonderful songs.
Leonard Bernstein was an American composer, conductor, author, music
lecturer, and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in
the United States of America
to receive worldwide acclaim. According to The New York Times, he was "one
of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history."
Richard Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900
songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He is best known for his songwriting
partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. His compositions have had a significant impact
on popular music down to the present day, and have an enduring broad appeal.
Rodgers was the first person to win the top show business awards in television,
recording, movies and Broadway—an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony – an
EGOT. Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the theatrical partnership of the librettistW. S.
Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur
Sullivan (1842–1900). The two men collaborated on fourteen comic
operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S.
Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado
are among the best known.Gilbert, who
wrote the words, created fanciful "topsy-turvy" worlds for these
operas where each absurdity is taken to its logical conclusion—fairies rub
elbows with British lords, flirting is a capital offence, gondoliers ascend to
the monarchy, and pirates turn out to be noblemen who have gone wrong.
Sullivan, six years Gilbert's junior, composed the music, contributing
memorable melodies that could convey both humour and pathos. Andrew Lloyd Webber, is a British composer and impresario
of musical theatre.Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West
End and on Broadway. He has
composed 13 musicals and he has won 7 Tony Awards,
3 Grammy
Awards, an Academy Award, 14 Ivor Novello Awards, 7 Olivier Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006.Several
of his songs have been widely recorded and were hits outside of their parent
musicals, notably "The Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera,
"I Don't Know How to Love Him"
from Jesus Christ Superstar, "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" and
"You Must Love Me" from Evita,
"Any Dream Will Do" from Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat and "Memory" from Cats
Dick Gaughan is a Scottish traditional folk singer and guitarist, a songwriter, composer and record producer. He sings of Scottish heroes and of stories of our lost past and long forgotten voices. Gaughan has been playing the circuits both at home and abroad for many years now. He is a legend among folk circles and also one of the most down-to-earth and likeable artists without pretensions of any kind.
I arrived early at the venue and met Gaughan and he seemed to know me from his last visit here. He spoke of playing with Emmylou Harris and what a nice person she was.
Gaughan sang Burn's Now Westlin Winds, his favourite songs of all time; a traditional song re-interpreted by Gaughan Both Sides The Tweed; What You Do With What You've Got, the best opening song (Si Kahn); Thomas Muir of Huntershill; Why Old Men Cry; No God and Precious Few Heroes (Brian MacNeill); Song For Ireland; Huntershill. He also played a powerful guitar instrumental and a song by the Scottish poet Hamish Henderson.
He wondered on No God and Precious Few Heroes (Brian MacNeill) whether we have forgotten the protest voices of the 60s and sang - 'Whatever happened to ' We Shall Overcome' and 'What Are We Fighting For'. On Why Old Men Cry he told of how he had felt connected to his paternal grandfather while visiting the first World War graveyards in Germany. His grandfather had died when he was half Gaughan's age from mustard gas poisoning and he connected this to the faces he remembered well as a child. Now, he said, he understood the sadness in the eyes of old miners. There is an urgency and force about Gaughan's music as if he feels strongly he has important messages to get off his chest in his music. Gaughan searches below the surface of songs. He plays open chords on guitar and his playing is melodic and strongly emotive. His voice has a poignant edge and is both harsh and deep in tone and it hits home hard. The words of his songs ring true and with his opening song 'What You Do With What You've Got (which he said he would keep as his opening song until he found a better one) he sang -
Its' not just what you're born with, but what you do with what you've got.
What's the use of two strong legs, if you only run away.
And what use is the finest voice if you've nothing good to say?
What's the use of two good ears, if you don't hear those you love.
Words & Music : Si Kahn
He sang not of resolutions but of holding on to your vision. Gaughan was warmly received and seemed to enjoy the gig. I felt that his substance, refreshing honesty and questioning words must have impacted on the younger members of the audience. On the older ones too!
LYRICS
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Now Westlin Winds (Written by Robert Burns as sung by Dick Gaughan)
Now westlin winds and slaughtering guns
Bring autumn's pleasant weather
The moorcock springs on whirring wings
Among the blooming heather
Now waving grain, wild o'er the plain
Delights the weary farmer
And the moon shines bright as I rove at night
To muse upon my charmer
The partridge loves the fruitful fells
The plover loves the mountain
The woodcock haunts the lonely dells
The soaring hern the fountain
Through lofty groves the cushat roves
The path of man to shun it
The hazel bush o'erhangs the thrush
The spreading thorn the linnet
Thus every kind their pleasure find
The savage and the tender
Some social join and leagues combine
Some solitary wander
Avaunt! Away! the cruel sway,
Tyrannic man's dominion
The sportsman's joy, the murdering cry
The fluttering, gory pinion
But Peggy dear the evening's clear
Thick flies the skimming swallow
The sky is blue, the fields in view
All fading green and yellow
Come let us stray our gladsome way
And view the charms of nature
The rustling corn, the fruited thorn
And every happy creature
We'll gently walk and sweetly talk
Till the silent moon shines clearly
I'll grasp thy waist and, fondly pressed,
Swear how I love thee dearly
Not vernal showers to budding flowers
Not autumn to the farmer
So dear can be as thou to me
My fair, my lovely charmer
What You Do With What You've Got ( Music and Words by Si Kahn as sung by Dick Gaughan)
You must know someone like him
He was tall and strong and lean
With a body like a greyhound
And a mind so sharp and keen
But his heart, just like a laurel,
Grew twisted round itself
Till almost every thing he did
Caused pain to someone else
It's not just what you're born with
It's what you choose to bear
It's not how big your share is
But how much you can share
And it's not the fights you dreamed of
But those you really fought
It's not what you've been given
It's what you do with what you've got
Now what's the good of two strong legs
If you only run away?
And what use is the finest voice
If you've nothing good to say?
And what good is strength and muscle
If you only push and shove?
And what's the use of two good ears
If you can't hear those you love?
Between those who use their neighbours
And those who use a cane
Between those in constant power
And those in constant pain
Between those who run to evil
And those who cannot run
Tell me which ones are the cripples
And which ones touch the sun?
Gaughan was born in Glasgow and was raised in Leith Edinburgh. His mother was a Highland Scot, his father a generation away from Ireland. From childhood, he was immersed in Scots and Irish musical traditions by both sides of his family. Gaughan is a national treasure. He is a world weary traveller of stories and music.
Twenty-two-year old Blake performed his electronic dubstep piano tunes at the Oran Mor venue to an upbeat young crowd.
Blake had an easy warm charm which gave him a relaxed fun rapport as he looked over to the packed crowd.
He sang songs from his debut album released in February 2011 and performed his single 'Limit To Your Love' - a song by Canadian singer songwriter Feist, which had disquieting pauses and thudding sub-bass. Another song echoed the refrain 'I'm Falling...' His music created disjointed tempos with unexpected twists; sometimes mournful and haunting, other times pensive and warm.
His songs are edgy melodramatic songs that leave emotional questioning spaces. He has a powerful voice that is an assured instrument - that cracks and reached deep places yet soothes and soars. It is hard to categorise his multi-layered music. Perhaps post-modern and minimalist in the style of The XX - his sound is totally now and of the moment. Blake has been receiving strong industry backing and good reviews.
He is a British electronic composer from LondonUK. He is described as the 'most experimental and original' artist to make the annual hotly tipped list. In 2011 he was announced as the runner-up in the BBC's Sound of 2011 annual poll. His self-titled debut album was released in the UK in February 2011. Blake was supported by Cloud Boats.
I highly recommend watching this program on BBC iPlayer.
Martin had 36 no 1's with the Beatles in the 60s..
(In my other life I am a record producer!) He says that The Beatles didn't sound so great at first either... :
A very well made docmentary and such an interesting character! I especially liked his comment that when the Beatles first arrived in the studio! 'Their music was rubbish - but importantly they made you feel good and they had charisma.'
Also his reference to Degas' quote about his art "It's not what you see, it's about what we make others see", in comparing this with what he hoped to achieve in sound. He hoped to 'paint' in the studio rather than to simply make a copy.
The program was followed by The Beatles 'A Hard Days Night', so many memories......! P Keightley
George Martin is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"—a title that he owes to his work as producer of all but one of 'The Beatles' original albums. He is considered one of the greatest record producers of all time, with 23 number one hits, an unmatched achievement. George Martin, recognised as one of music's most versatile and imaginative talents, entered the music industry in 1950 after studying at the Guildhall School of Music and playing the oboe professionally in London. He began recording classical music specialising in the Baroque period. His later experience with jazz and pop led to his appointment as Head of the Parlophone in the EMI Group in 1955.
As a producer he has been responsible for bringing a host of artists into recording studios particularly in the humorous field with brilliant performers such as Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Flanders and Swann and the 'Beyond the Fringe' team - Jonathan Miller, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett. He has also worked with jazz artists Cleo Laine, John Dankworth, Humphrey Lyttelton and Stan Getz.
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