SFU Generations Concert: Andrew MacNeil of Colonsay by William Barrie

This is an arrangement of a pibroch/piobaireachd composed by William Barrie (1910 - 2004). The arrangement is by Matt Welch who also conducts this performance by Simon University University Pipe Band in their pre-Worlds concert in Glasgow in 2023. The arrangement is an update of the one performed by the band on its 2001 Down Under recording from the Sydney Opera House. The original piobaireachd is published in William and James Barrie's A Lifetime of Compositions (2001). The arrangement includes canntaireachd (singing/chanting) based on the ancient method of teaching and learning piobaireachd before the introduction of staff notation for piping around 1800. A piobaireachd is an extended musical form based on a theme or pattern of notes which is extended by a series of repetitions and variations incorporating increasingly complex grace notes and embellishments. It sometimes reminds me of the increasingly complex singing of the male capercaillie. In this arrangement the singing alternates with solo and group bagpipes, with solo side drum and bass drum and an electronic drone throughout.