Evening star., 1937-03-20

WAS short one, and little 1dea Cou
character of their instruments and the
music which comprises their very
special repertoire. To most ears the
sound Of the bagpipes is an alien
sound, yet to those to whom it signi-
fles national music, 1t is sweet be-
yond compare. For in the drone of
the pipes are interviewer the joys and
sorrows Of a people who find solace
from the stern realities of life in the
music of their native country, and
who, side by side with their sturdy
acquiescence with destiny, deeply
cherish the beauties of music.
For most other peoples, music is an
acquired taste, but for the Scotsman
it is part of the pattern of his life
And being so closely allied to the great
things that matter most, it takes on
the rugged character that nature has
assisted in forming in the Scottish
temperament. To the natives, the
pipes are inexpressibly dear, and they
are proud Of their artists on this in
strument and accord them every
honor. The Scots claim that it takes
seven years to become proficient as a
player and seven generations to make
real piper. 1t is the ambition of
every musician to attain this end and
to encourage them in striving for the
goal, every form OF contest or prize is
offered to spur them on.
T may seem to the uninitiated that
there is a sameness in the inter-
pretive possibilities of the pipes that
should simplify the achievement. but
this is by no means the case. Some
what resembling Hindu music in that
the musician is taught a foundation
on which to develop his individual
musicianship, the real piper is dis
tinguished by his personality and the
imagination which ne brings to his
performance. He is musician who
gives free rein to the poetry and senti-
ment OF his nature, who speaks of
heroic deeds or of simple tenderness
With all the artistry of his being.
Ihis very personal angle of bagpipe
playing accounts for the fact that
most OF its great music is improvised
and only within comparatively recent
years has been collected in a form
available to all. Yet it has recorded
In music the noble accomplishment of
Its national heroes and the events
which contributed to it's remarkable
national history. 1t is music that
speaks Of the wildness of the moors
and the freedom Of the Highlands and
the undaunted spirit of the people.
The very highest form of bagpipe
music Is the pibroch, which consists
of number of variations on a certain
theme. 1t is in the pibroch that a
piper demonstrates his right to rank
as great artist, for not only is an
extraordinary technical skill necessary
for the speed and intricacies of the
variations, but often the composition
of pibroch is a spontaneous affair
inspired by some touching or outstand-
ing event. The wild and warlike char
acter of the pibroch sometimes gives
way to the more sorrowful cadences of
n funeral dirge, and here the depths
of tragedy are reached in a manner
to stir the very soul of the listener.
THE chief charm and also the chief
difficulty of pipe playing is the
Introduction of grace notes as embel-
lishments in short space of time. An
artist piper will think nothing of in
terpolating II notes within the space
of beats, while lesser number is
commonly heard from the unskilled.
These musical ornaments are called
"warblers," from their resemblance to
bird notes, and allow of the only ex-
pansion to be given to the rather lin
tied scale of the pipes. The compass
of the instrument is but nine notes,
from G on the staff line to the A above,
with fraction of additional tone be-
tween F and F sharp Other idiosyn-
crasies Of pitch make the interval
between the higher G and A about
three quarters of tone and reduce
the sharp to a little under pitch by
a slight flatting These modulations
give character to series of notes
which form no true diatonic scale.
While the bagpipes are identified
today only with Scottish music, with
only an occasional hearing of its
cousins, the French cornemuse and
the Swiss Alpine horn, it is in reality
OF great antiquity. Nero is reported
10 have been a performer on the pipes
and ancient coins of his reign bear the