I’m enjoying a series on BBC Scotland just now. It’s called Scotland’s Music with Phil Cunningham. Phil’s an amazing contemporary Scottish traditional musician and each part of this short series examines the relationship between some aspect of Scotland and Scottish music. This week’s episode (Part 4) was entitled ‘Heaven and Earth’ and explored what Phil called the soul of Scottish music. I loved this and understood with every fibre of my being. I liked the way he showed such diverse ‘spiritual’ inspirations for Scottish music, from superstitions and beliefs in magical creatures like selkies, to Christian traditions both Protestant and Catholic, to the ‘spiritual’ inspiration of the land itself. It’s this last that means most to Phil, and it’s this last that means most to me, but to range over such a diversity of sources for inspiration to produce music that connects the individual to something much greater, be it Life, or God, or the Natural World is quite unusual.
Take a look at the BBC site dedicated to this series. In particular take a look at episode 4, ‘Heaven and Earth’ and play the video entitled ‘Soraidh Leis An Ait’ which is played by all the musicians appearing in this part. If you’ve any Scottish blood in you, I swear this will touch your soul! And even if you’re not Scottish, Tommy Smith playing his sax in the Hamilton Mausoleum is enchantingly beautiful.
Heroes Not Zombies 
Did they put any of Martyn Bennett’s works in this series? I know he did some work with the BBC, I’m fond of his rendition of MacCrimmon’s Lament which was in the BBC’s Trans Atlantic sessions. (Yes, I’m of Scottish heritage, from both Mom and Dad. Mom’s Mother was a Davis, Dad’s Mother was a Weaver, and he also has Lockridge on his side as well. The Mr. is what we fondly term “Viking Scot” of Danish and Scottish heritage, his name is one most Americans call Irish by mistake, due to a very famous Irish American family with that name.)
http://www.martynbennett.com/media_videoClips_01.html
No Kat they didn’t
Thanks for the link
There’s a Lockridge in your ancestry?? Amazing!
*smile* I own Martyn Bennet’s Bothy Culture, and hope to maybe be able to get his self-titled first album this Winter with luck. (If you go to the Music Scotland store site, and look up his first album you can hear soundclips. I *LOVE* the flute piece, I think it is titled “Erin”?)
He was a Bard, and I mourned when I heard of his passing. He was about a year older than I. If I had to choose a theme song for myself, I’d be hard pressed to pick between Martyn Bennet’s Tongues of Kali, Ud the Doudouk, or his 4 Notes from Bothy Culture. Did you listen to the MacCrimmon’s Lament? It fits in with your recent posts, because they blend in the sound of a rushing mountain brook into his piping.
[…] 16, 2007 by bobleckridge I have so enjoyed the series on Scotland’s Music with Phil Cunningham on BBC. The final part in the series is called Home and Away and traces some of Scottish […]