Gaelic Psalm Singing October 2020

 

GEELONG MUSIC GROUP October 2020 Gaelic Psalm Singing

 

One of the world’s most unusual song forms can be heard in a handful of churches on the north-western edges of Britain.   It begins with a "precentor" (a leader) singing the opening lines of a psalm to a church congregation, who then respond. Each person decorates the tune in their own way, then everyone returns, together, to the same note.   This is Gaelic psalm singing. Once practised in Free Presbyterian churches across Scotland, it is now mainly confined to the Outer Hebridean island of Lewis and Harris.   1. "Gaelic Psalm Singing." Introduction. includes interview with precentor Callum Martin. 2. Back Free Church congregation (20-21 October 2003) "Gaelic psalms." Isle of Lewis. The congregation follows a series of 'precentors'. (Vision: footage of the congregation, interspersed with very atmospheric footage of their islands.)   Gaelic psalm singing originated in 1659, when Presbyterian ministers first translated psalms into Gaelic, defying the Scottish episcopal church. A 1616 act of the Scottish privy council had stated that the speaking of Gaelic was the “chief cause of the barbaritie and incivilitie of the people”; it set up English-language, church-supervised schools to each in several movements: Armstrong's and Martin's psalm-inspired "Ballantyne"; and "The Martyrdom Variations", based on an old psalm tune. Ten singers, including members of Martin’s congregation, were recorded in Dundee’s Caird Hall in 2018; the Scottish Ensemble string orchestra responded to the singers' melody lines.   4.Craig Armstrong, Calum Martin, Cecilia Weston and the Scottish Ensemble (2020) "Ballantyne (Movement 4 Ballantyne 2)" The Edge of the Sea. BMG Rights Management. A string instrumental including a drone. Think bagpipes! (Vision: album cover art.) 5. Craig Armstrong, Calum Martin, Cecilia Weston & the Scottish Ensemble (2020) "Ballantyne (Movement 8 Ballantyne 4)" The Edge of the Sea. BMG Rights Management.   6. Craig Armstrong, Calum Martin, Cecilia Weston and the Scottish Ensemble (2020) "Martyrdom (Movement 3)" The Edge of the Sea. BMG Rights Management. String instrumental. (Vision: album cover art.)   Much of the music on The Edge of the Sea lacks a clear, distinct melody, which I think evokes Barrington Pheloung's music for the "Inspector Morse" and "Lewis" TV series.   7. Barrington Pheloung "Sad Echoes." Inspector Morse. Vol. 2.   Craig Armstrong is/was a composer of 'classical' and film scores and a jazz pianist. His earlier solo album The Space Between Us hints at his role in the collaboration with Martin - especially the use of a drone tone.

drive Gaelic out.   Gaelic psalms are sung to melodies from the 16th-century English psalter, but in the ancient Scottish and Irish Gaelic tradition of Sean-nós - a highly decorated a capella style of singing allowing solo performers free expression. Sean-nós makes Gaelic psalm singing unique in British religious music.   3. Back Free Church congregation (date?) "Salm 22" (Psalm 22 in Gaelic) Isle of Lewis. A precentor sings a phrase and the congregation responds. (Vision: B/W photos of the island.   In every other style, individuals aim to unite their voices as blocks of sound, blending sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. Gaelic psalm singing entails less discipline and more individuality.   BBC Radio 3 presenter Jennifer Lucy Allan reissued two albums on Arc Light Editions of psalm songs in 2018; she had been introduced to it by a friend whose grandmother sang in one of the congregations. (Arc Light Editions' web site is inaccessible.)   The Edge of the Sea LP aims to preserve this music. It is a collaboration between Calum Martin, a precentor on Lewis & Harris and Craig Armstrong, a Scottish composer of 'classical' and film scores and a jazz pianist. Each man's grandparents sang these songs.   The Edge of the Sea consists of two pieces, 8. Craig Armstrong (1998) "Weather Storm" The Space Between Us. Virgin Records. Piano motif with gushing strings - and a drone in the background.   9. Massive Attack (1994) "Weather Storm". Protection. Virgin Records.     (Source: Jude Rogers. "'A vertical connection to God': the euphoria of Gaelic psalm singing." Guardian. 27 August 2020.)