Some thoughts on Piobaireachd

Here is some piobaireachd to start your week. For those who were at the DoJo last Tuesday, you would have heard me play through the Red Speckled Bull, a piobaireachd allegedly composed about the British Army.

Here is Angus MacColl’s Clasp-winning performance of the Red Speckled Bull from 1998.

Angus MacColl, Northern Meeting 1998

The Red Speckled Bull:

The Red Speckled Bull – Angus MacColl

The Clasp is a piobaireachd competition that happens in September each year in Inverness. Bascially, you have to win a Gold Medal (which also occurs at Inverness on the same day… as well as at Oban the previous month) in order to be allowed to play at this contest. Resultingly, the Clasp is considered by most to be the highest prize attainable in the whole world of piobaireachd competition!

A thought on piobaireachd…..

To paraphrase was Donald said last Tuesday evening:

“For those who have ever meditated or prayed, or even for those who have ever looked out at a peaceful natural landscape — you already understand piobaireachd. Well-played piobaireachd gives us a scene, and it’s just a matter of letting it all soak in. It’s not really supposed to be exiting or fascinating or complicated — Piobaireachd just is....”