Na Píobairí Uilleann

Chairman, NPU

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8 4 20 20120927 20 THE UILLEANN PIPES IN CONTEMPORARY CONCERT MUSIC Part 4 – The Chanter in the Chamber Dr. Dave Flynn C HAMBER MUSIC is the term classical mu- sicians give to non-orchestral works. Aside from Roger Doyle’s Ceol Sidhe (1973) the pipes did not get utilised in classical chamber music until the 1990s. The 1990s saw a burst in activity regarding the use of the uilleann pipes in new compositions. In addition to Doyle’s Under the Green Time and Tradarr, large scale works including Paul Hayes’ (b.1951) The Wounds of Art (1990), Deirdre Gribbin’s (b.1967) His Eyes (1993) and Stephen Gardner’s (b.1958) Crécht Mór (1996) contain parts for the uilleann pipes. In the Hayes and Gardner pieces the pipes are not used extensively. Gribbin’s His Eyes contains an extensive part for the uilleann pipes which is quite removed from the instrument’s usual use in traditional music. In her programme notes Gribbin described the effect the pipes had on the composition. The limitations of the uilleann pipes governed to a large extent the structure of the piece. The instrument has a range of less than two octaves, it is not chromatic and outside the white notes only Eb and F# are possible. It is not possible to adjust dynamic levels. It is only loud. Gribbin’s understanding of the pipes differs from my own understanding of the technical possibilities of the instrument. The most obvi- ous discrepancy is the fact that the note C- sharp is technically possible with relative ease on the pipes, whereas Gribbin understands that only E-flat and F-sharp are possible outside of the notes C D E F G A B. Technicalities aside, the pipes are utilised in an unusual way in this piece. The first major dif- ference between the use of the pipes in this work and their usual use occurs in the opening bars whereby the piper sounds a number of fragmentary phrases, rather than any continu- ous stream of melody or strong rhythmic pat- tern. It is unidiomatic for a piper to regularly start and stop as Gribbin asks and for that reason alone this is quite a challenging part. Gribbin also makes considerable indications as to where the piper should use rolls and crans. Since pipers also tend to spontaneously add ornaments, it would be challenging for a piper, with no back- ground in classical music and sight-reading, to perform this piece. Neil Martin’s training as a classical cellist and composer was therefore of undoubted benefit in helping him perform the pipes part in the premiere of the piece. Gribbin specifies the use of a C chanter. This is the only example I have found, other than Shaun Davey’s The Brendan Voyage and The Pilgrim, where a composer asks for a chanter other than the concert D. 1 Gribbin also places the piper ‘off-stage’, this would be an extremely rare ex- perience for any piper! The harmonic language of the piece is also quite unusual for a piper to adapt to. It is the most atonal, dissonant work of

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2012-09-21T00:00:00

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