A WORK of “absolute genius” is to be included in a project aimed at putting Scottish culture at the heart of a renewed independence campaign.
Ironically, the composition is possibly better known outside Scotland and was recently performed in front of a sell-out crowd in Hofheim near Frankfurt.
Written by acclaimed piper Allan MacDonald with the orchestration by renowned cellist Neil Johnstone, The Bruce 700 is now set to become more widely heard as part of the new Songs for Scotland 2 album.
A crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo is raising money for the project that will not only fund the album but go towards creating an Alasdair Gray Scholarship Trust to support young musicians. There are also plans to stage a musical event at Oran Mor beneath Gray’s own ceiling murals.
Project sponsors include The National, Scotland’s only pro-independence daily newspaper, and Gray himself, who has provided both the artwork for the album cover of Native Musicians: Songs for Scotland 2 and contributed a group of signed, limited-edition, silkscreen prints as perks for supporters.
The Bruce 700 was commissioned by Stirling Council to mark the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 2014. It was first performed at Stirling’s Albert Halls, where it provoked an emotional response from the audience.
“There were a lot of tears – I think because there was such a massive buzz before the independence referendum and I think the content of the piece brought out these emotions in people,” said MacDonald.
“There were certain sensitivities regarding me writing something so clearly pro-independence, but it looks outward to what Scotland could be in the world. Of course it does celebrate Bruce, who was really a warmonger but – like it or not – he is an icon connected with independence.
“I also tried to convey Scotland as a model of what should be in the world. I know from travelling around the world what an amazing image Scotland has, and we should embrace that.
“It was a lot to put over in 45 minutes but I tried to embrace the spirit of the subject matter, and put a little footnote to the effect that we are in the real world and we have to move ahead with more control over our destinies.”
There were logistical difficulties for the musicians working together, as MacDonald lives in Edinburgh and Johnstone on Lewis.
“Allan sent me about eight or nine tunes about three months before the first performance in 2014 and told me what orchestration he wanted – a full string section, Stirling Youth Pipe Band, two harps, a drum kit, percussion and four singers, Alan being one of them,” said Johnstone. “I added a choir at the end and an overture to introduce the music that follows and then put in links between the pieces. I sent him my ideas as an MP3 and then we would Skype every Sunday, singing down the phone, and that is how it progressed.
“It went very well and we were asked to play it at Celtic Connections the following January. That was recorded live and I took all the stems of the recordings and mixed it for about a year to make a CD. We launched it in Hofheim in February, as one of the pipers has a bagpipe school there and Allan is closely associated with it.”
However, while The Bruce 700 has gone down well in Germany it is less well known in Scotland.
“The problem is that we are musicians, not promoters, so we find making people aware of it quite difficult,” said Johnstone.
With six minutes of the piece set to be included on the new Songs for Scotland 2, it is hoped the work will become more widely known.
For more information visit the Songs For Scotland 2 website at www.songsforscotland2.eu, or visit their crowdfunding page on Indiegogo: igg.me/at/s4s2.
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