Hail Caledonia: Scotland in Music

This is a wonderful conspectus of music that evokes or celebrates Scotland. The eagle eyed reader will note that the composers are not all Scottish: several of them hail from England and one was born in Hamburg. So the entire product is Nationalist, Unionist and European! 

I understand that many of these pieces were issued on REL/RIVER RECORDS RECD 563 and RECD 564. I am unable to confirm that these are the same recordings, as these provided no dates. They were reviewed on MusicWeb International in 2010.

The CD opens with The Black Bear Salute, which is “reputedly the fastest regimental march in the British Army.” Alas the liner notes do not tell which regiment. It is, I believe, the 1^st Battalion of the Black Watch. It is played here in Iain Sutherland’s sumptuous arrangement for bagpipes and full orchestra.

William Wallace and his striking monument in Stirlingshire is the subject of Robert Docker’s Abbey Craig. A well-known Scottish anthem is deployed here: Scots Wha Hae. It is a well-wrought little number that fairly bounces along. The listener is struck by the inspired and imaginative orchestration of this bit of tartanry.

Furth of the border for Ernest Tomlinson’s gay Cumberland Square dance. It uses the Scottish tunes My Love She's but a Lassie Yet and the Cock o' the North. It has been noted that both tunes work well in counterpoint as heard in the conclusion of this sparkling little dance.

Eric Coates’s Springtime in Angus is one of the finest “light” tone poems ever written by a British composer. It hails from the Three Elizabeths Suite dating from 1944 which honours Elizabeth I, Elizabeth the Queen Mother and our present Monarch (then Princess Elizabeth). It does exactly what it says on the tin, conjuring a dreamy mood of the countryside in and around Glamis Castle in County Angus. Although no local tunes are introduced, Coates makes many “subtle allusions” to Scottish music. It is one of my Desert Island Discs.

Little need be said about Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No.3 “Scottish.” It has held its place in the repertoire of orchestras since its premiere on 3 March 1842 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. The second movement, the lively Scherzo, nods towards Scottish folk music with a characteristic use of the pentatonic (black notes on the piano) scale and the “Scotch Snap.”

I never watched/followed the 1980s TV series Take the High Road which was a Scottish soap opera set in the fictional village of Glendarroch. Arthur Blake’s eponymous theme-tune ticks all the boxes for “encapsulating…the character and style of contemporaneous rural Scottish life.

I was disappointed that Sutherland’s cut-down version of Hamish MacCunn’s (not McCunn as in the liner notes) glorious Land of the Mountain and the Flood was given here. Normally lasting for nearly ten minutes, this arrangement lasts just under four. This is based on the second subject of the overture, which was required for the theme to Sutherland’s Law, which ran on the BBC from 1973 to 1976. 

Robert Docker’s evocative Faery Dance Reel was published in 1958. Apparently, it is not based on any original tune, but is a brilliant pastiche of all that is best in Scottish music.

The liner notes give little information about Iain Sutherland’s Three Scottish Castles Suite. There are three movements. Stirling Castle: Gateway to the Highlands is a big, splashy number complete with piano obligato. There is nothing particularly Caledonian about this. A great big tune, which could be straight out of a 1940s film score, welcomes the listener into the secure fastness of the Highlands. The brass section and the solo violin are used to pronounced effect. Much more a product of the country is the misty and wistful evocation of Dunvegan Castle on the beautiful Isle of Skye. It is a perfectly contrived little tone poem, which would bring a tear to the eye of any Scot. One is reminded of the Canadian exile’s boat song: “Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland/And we in dreams behold the Hebrides!” The finale, Edinburgh Castle: Princes Street, majors on the main shopping street in the Capital’s Princes Street. On one side of the road are shops (sadly Jenners is now gone) and on the other, the Gardens give way to an imposing vista of the Castle. Very much like an Eric Coates march, it creates a sense of bustle and hurry, which is perhaps more concerned with retail therapy than history. That said, the trio is martial and sends a patriotic tingle down the spine.

If Alexander Mackenzie’s (not McKenzie as in the track listing) Benedictus (1888) had been composed by Elgar, it would have been a pot-boiler with many recordings and a secure place in the concert hall and radio station schedules. The main tune is delivered by the first and second violins with the other instruments being used with subtlety and effect. This beguiling theme makes this work both deeply moving and memorable: it is heart-breaking in its impact. It was originally the third movement of Six Pieces for violin and piano, called Benedicite (Bless You). Mackenzie arranged it for small orchestra in the same year.

Granville Bantock was born in London. He did have Scottish connections: his father, George, was an eminent Scottish surgeon and gynaecologist. Granville had many passions, including Orientalism, Classical mythology and, of course, Scotland. Witness his Celtic and Hebridean Symphonies. Bantock was friendly with the folklorist and song collector Marjory Kennedy-Fraser. He collaborated with her in his major opera, The Seal Woman, as well as several choral settings. He mined Kennedy-Fraser’s publications for melodies. Vincent Budd, (The Hebridean Connection, MusicWeb International) has stated that the song “Kishmul's Galley…[was] gathered from the singing of Mary Macdonald, [and] is a rendering of the waulking song attributed to Nic Iain Fhinn of Mingulay and refers to the MacNeil of Barra's galley.” A waulking song was one sung by local women as they treated rough cloth. Bantock’s “arrangement” of this tune features impressive orchestration. Kishmul’s Galley is the second of Two Heroic Ballads.

Ever since first hearing Malcom Arnold’s Scottish Dances (1957), I have felt that this Northamptonshire composer has outdone many of his Caledonian colleagues in evoking much that is typically seen to be Scottish. The suite opens with a bright Strathspey with a coarse swagger. This is followed by a tipsy Reel. The highlight is the beautiful Song of the Hebrides that creates a musical portrayal of a landscape and mood that no Scot can forget. Finally, all the stops are pulled out for the rumbustious Highland Fling, the consummation of a ceilidh in Glasgow or Glenfinnan. Sutherland gives a superb account of this delightful set of Dances.

I am not sure about Iain Sutherland’s reworking of The Corries’ song Flower of Scotland. This arrangement of Scotland’s de facto national anthem was made for the opening of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in 1990. It is given an over the top makeover for large orchestra and choir. I find it quite insipid, compared to the original. 

I have never liked Amazing Grace, whether in the Church of Scotland Hymnal, the Royal Scots Dragon Guards and their bagpipes, Aretha Franklin or Rod Stewart. That said, this sentimental arrangement by Iain Sutherland functions well here and was clearly popular with the audience.

The final work on this compilation are two extracts from Ian Whyte’s ballet score, Donald of the Burthens. This was premiered at Sadler’s Wells during December 1951. Despite the superlative music, it has not stood the test of time. The score certainly does not seem to have percolated into Scottish orchestras’ repertoire. The remarkable conclusion to this extract is in the final Reel o’ Tulloch when the full orchestra is suddenly interrupted by the Devil [appearing] playing the bagpipes in a most frenetic manner. It is a rare example of a perfect fusion of Scottish folk music and classical finesse. Surely the entire score is due for a revival. And let us not forget Ian Whyte’s two Symphonies and Violin Concerto.

The liner notes by Robert Matthew-Walker are readable, entertaining and typically informative. An important omission is that the dates of nearly all these pieces – arrangements and originals - have been omitted. This is an essential part of any classical CD’s packaging. I have provided them where possible.  Interestingly, each work in the booklet’s track listing is prefaced by a line or two of poetry or prose. Often, it sums up the work’s ethos in a few words. The CD cover features Kilchurn Castle, Loch Awe in Argyll and Bute.

In the round, this is a splendid evocation of the Scottish character, landscape and art. It is a cornucopia of great music evoking both the Highlands and the Lowlands. Superbly performed, well recorded and appropriately annotated it makes a great programme.

Track Listing:
Hail Caledonia: Scotland in Music
Trad. Arr. Iain SUTHERLAND (b.1936)
The Black Bear Salute
Robert DOCKER (1918-92)
Abbey Craig
Ernest TOMLINSON (1924-2015)
Cumberland Square (1960)
Eric COATES (1886-1957)
Springtime in Angus (1944)
Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-47)
Symphony No.3 “Scottish” – Scherzo (1842)
Arthur BLAKE (1925-94)
Take the High Road Theme (1980)
Hamish MACCUNN (1868-1916), arr Iain SUTHERLAND
Land of the Mountain and the Flood (Sutherland’s Law Theme) (1886)
Robert DOCKER
Faery Dance Reel (1958)
Iain SUTHERLAND
Three Scottish Castles
Alexander MACKENZIE (1847-1935)
Benedictus (1888)
Granville BANTOCK (1868-1946)
Kishmul’s Galley (1944)
Malcom ARNOLD (1921-2006)
Four Scottish Dances (1957)
Roy WILLIAMSON (1936-90), arr. Iain SUTHERLAND
Flower of Scotland, (1967/1990?)
Trad. Arr. Iain SUTHERLAND
Amazing Grace
Ian WHYTE (1901-60)
Devil’s Finale & Reel o’ Tulloch from Donald of the Burthens (1951)
David Wotherspoon (pipes), Iain McDonald (pipes) City of Glasgow Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Glasgow Pipe Bands, City of Glasgow Chorus/Iain Sutherland
Rec. 1995-96, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
SOMM RECORDINGS SOMM Ariadne 5014