The Pipes Of Scotland

Allan MacDonald, a skilled piper, singer and lecturer talks to Peter Browne about the music of Scotland and his own musical career.

Allan McDonald was raised in the Scottish Gaelic speaking community of Glenuig. He sings and plays pipes and has studied Scottish music for many years and is regarded as an expert in this field, particularly with regard to the piping lament music known as 'piobroch'.

He has explored the extent to which modern styles of piobroch playing differ from early 18th century performance style. This he did by re-uniting pibroch notation with the Gaelic language rhythms in song, thereby placing the tunes in the socio-linguistic context in which they belong. His work is contained in an M.litt thesis completed at the school of Scottish Studies.

In this programme he talks to Peter Browne about Scottish music and his own deep involvement with it.

Listen to the show.