Amongst the high-octane
progressive rock music and challenging avant-garde scores for which David
Bedford (1937-2011) is highly regarded, there are several works which would have
an immediate appeal to a wide cross-section of the listening public who may not
be moved by dissonance, complexity and noise.
I recently discovered a very
short piano piece by Bedford in an album of then-contemporary music. Sunset
over Stac Pollaidh, completed in November 1997, is the fifteenth number in
a remarkable album of diverse miniatures by 30 composers. Spectrum 2 was
compiled by the pianist and music teacher Thalia Myers. It was published by The
Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in 1999. The rationale behind this volume was to
present several ‘musically serious but un-virtuosic’ piano pieces which
reflected ‘the wide spectrum of compositional trends in new music today.’
Remember, that these words were written 21 years ago. Looking at this album
today provides a good conspectus of contemporary music from that period.
Despite being less-demanding on pianistic technique than may be imagined – the
pieces range from Grade 1 to Grade 6 – each work is inherently satisfying and
can be played by amateur and professional pianists alike, both young and less
so. Added value in this volume are the brief biographies of each composer. These names include Alun Hoddinott, Richard
Rodney Bennett, Edward McGuire, Edwin Roxburgh and John Tavener.
Where is Stac Pollaidh? The
geographical answer is that it in the North West Highlands of Scotland. More
precisely it is located some miles north of Ullapool in Inverpolly Forest in Wester
Ross. The mountain is 613m (2011ft) high.
The view from the summit (on a
clear day!) is stunningly impressive. To the west, virtually the entire Outer
Hebrides are visible: North and South Uist, Harris and Lewis. Towards the south
the Cuillin range is seen as well as most of the hills of North Skye. To the
far north is the isle of North Rona.
David Bedford has provided a
short ‘programme note’ appended to the score. He writes, ‘Stac Pollaidh
(pronounced ‘Polly’) is a mountain in the North West Highlands of Scotland. The
surrounding landscape is such that if you climb the mountain (it is a steep
walk, fairly strenuous but very rewarding) the view from the top at sunset
gives an atmosphere of peace and calm.’ Clearly, this statement suggests that
Bedford had visited this mountain on at least one occasion. So, the piece
becomes like a diary entry. I wonder if any photographs have survived in the family
archives?
Sunset over Stac Pollaidh is a
mere 24 bars long. It is signed to be played ‘fairly slow.’ A good metronome
setting would be
= 48. Bedford has also written some interpretive
notes: ‘Try to play softly and calmly and choose a comfortable speed. The left
hand should be slightly less smooth than the right hand – almost like a soft
drum. The grace notes (known as graces in bagpipe music) should be played as
quickly as possible before the beat.’
Typically, a bagpipe melody is
continuous without a break. In order to give some space between the notes and
to give some character to the ‘chant’, it is usual to introduce ‘graces.’
Bagpipe
grace notes differ from those played on the piano. In this medium there are
several different types of ‘graces’ with one, two, three or even four elements
interspersed between the main melody. In
Sunset
over Stac Pollaidh, David Bedford uses all these with the addition of a single
‘five’ and a ‘six’ grace. Typically, they are used to embellish a relatively
straight forward melody. Keyboardists would call it ‘ornamentation.’
Although Bedford has suggested
the left-hand part be played like a soft drum, it could also represent the
bagpipe’s drone. In other words, the F in the bass is reiterated throughout.
Although there is no key signature, the F major open ‘triad’ (F - C, but not
the A) tends to predominate. But note that the ‘B’ is natural and not flat as
would be the case in the tonal scale of F major.
The formal structure of the
piece could not be more straightforward – A. A1. A2. So, in effect it is a small
theme with two variations. The melody does not change between the three 8-bar
sections. The first variation is
decorated with ‘graces’ of various numbers whilst in the second variation, the
melody is thickened into simple triads in root position, with the melody being
the fifth of the triad. In this last variation the tune the chords are played
an octave up and the bass and octave below.
Stac Pollaidh is
played quietly from end to end. There is no climax. The last eight bars are
played ‘PPP’ with the music dying away to the end of the piece.
This is a beautiful little miniature
that ‘reflects [Bedford’s] concert music style’ whilst being immediately accessible
to listener and performer.
In 1999 NMC released a 2-CD set featuring
music from Spectrum and Spectrum 2. The soloist was Thalia Myers.
David Bedford’s Stac Pollaidh is the 20th track on
Disc 2. It has been uploaded to YouTube (after the advert).
In the same year, Bedford
published a short piece for solo bassoon with the confusingly similar title Dreams
of Stac Pollaidh. This work was commissioned by the British bassoonist,
Laurence Perkins. In 2013 it was released on the CD ‘As Far as the Eye Can See’
played by Perkins. Maybe more about that later.
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