Bardic Trio
****
The Bardic Trio – Scots tenor Jamie MacDougall, Welsh harpist Sharon Griffiths and Scots guitarist Matthew McAllister – combine classical sophistication with a penchant for Celtic tradition. So while the songs here by Scots bard Robert Burns, Irish poet Thomas Moore and others rooted in Welsh and Orcadian tradition echo the latter, many are presented in arrangements by such serious composers as Eddie McGuire and Alasdair Nicolson, and also in instrumental form by Griffiths and McAllister themselves. McGuire’s settings of Burns – from the sultry Winter is Past and deliciously ephemeral Ae Fond Kiss, to the exotically-charged Slave’s Lament – are excitingly original without losing touch with the texts. Nicolson’s The Balfour Songbook is a sparkling illumination of three ancient Orkney melodies. Among the Welsh songs, another McGuire setting stands out: his simple treatment of Suo gan, a song made famous in Spielberg’s film Empire of the Sun. Restful listening.
Ken Walton - The Scotsman
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/music/album-reviews-ed-sheeran-sacred-paws-6th-borough-project-1-4392333
Strathearn Herald:
Strathearn Music Society – The Bardic Trio, Wed 18 Jan
“Celtic Music Re-imagined” was the title of last Wednesday’s SMS concert in St Andrew’s Hall, Crieff, and the line-up of performers, as so often on these occasions, was slightly wide of the mainstream, including the varied and contrasting talents of tenor Jamie MacDougall, harpist Sharron Griffiths and guitarist Matthew McAllister. Each one an accomplished and established soloist, together they presented an intriguing programme which explored the music and verse of the Scots, Irish and Welsh in a manner which was novel yet preserved just the right blend of “tradition” to balance the less familiar.
Jamie McDougall is rightly known for his versatility and he has, quite simply, a lovely voice which seems just as much at home with Robert Schumann as with Robert Burns, half a dozen of whose songs featured in this concert in arrangements by Scottish composer Eddie McGuire. Indeed there was much of the spirit and sound of McGuire evident throughout the evening, highlighting all the benefits and strengths that can derive from crossing the boundaries between “classical” and “folk” music.
And the harp, in the hands of Sharron Griffiths, proved a true powerhouse of expression across a similar range of idioms – as the quintessential Celtic soloist, as the perfect singer-sensitive accompanist and, more unusually, as duettist withclassical guitar (the latter partnership made possible by tasteful and subtle amplification which produced some ravishing sounds).
On his own account Matthew McAllister offered a convincing harp impersonation of his own (“My Gentle Harp” by Irishman Thomas Moore, arranged by Gerald Garcia) as well as holding the audience spellbound with Peter Maxwell Davies’ “Farewell to Stromness”.
Sometimes a good deal of imagination goes into creating the idea and realisation of a concert, and this event came over as a thoroughly bespoke, well-proportioned and thoughtfully considered entertainment. The natural charm of the entertainers themselves served only to enhance the enjoyment they gave.
Next concert: Wednesday, 15 February, Piatti Quartet
Howard Duthie
KAREN KEITH, The Buteman Monday 23 January 2017
One concert-goer remarked that she’d “Never forget this evening” - a sentiment surely shared by all who attended Bardic Trio’s performance on Friday. The ensemble - comprising Scottish tenor Jamie McDougall, Welsh harpist Sharron Griffiths, and Scottish guitarist Matthew McAllister - treated the Rothesay audience to s election of Celtic works which proved to be the perfect remedy to a cold winter’s night on Bute. The Bardic Trio in action in Trinity Church on Friday evening. Introducing the trio, Jamie remarked that they were delighted to be on Bute, joking that they’d turned down the opportunity to perform at the new US President’s inauguration to be there! Although Jamie apologised for the cold he was suffering from, it was hardly noticable as he, Sharron and Matthew launched into Robert Burn’s ‘Ae Fond Kiss’. Performed with real sensitivity and feeling, it was clear to see why the trio is held in such high regard Jamie’s vocals were crisp and clear, and a delight to hear in the superb acoustics of Rothesay’s Trinity Church.
Solo performances from both Matthew and Sharron were among some of the evening’s highlights. Matthew’s rendition of ‘Farewell to Stromness’ was both soothing and measured and demonstrated the depth of emotion in the music. Sharron, paying tribute to her Welsh roots, played John Thomas’ ‘Watching the Wheat’. A stunning, delicate performance of a tragic love story played expertly by Sharron. Other combinations of the trio saw Matthew and Sharron team up to perform ‘Clychae Aberdyfi’, a traditional Welsh song, and ‘The Meeting of the Waters’, which is an Irish song by Thomas Moore.
Among the evening’s highlights, without a doubt, were the trio’s performances of the works of Burns. Jamie’s high-energy rendition of ‘Rattlin’ Roarin’ Willie’ was a real treat and left many in amazement at how he was able to catch his breath in time for each verse! But it was ‘A Man’s a Man for A That’ which stole the show. Jamie himself remarked that the song “should be taken up by the world as an anthem”, and the ensemble’s performance of that particular piece was a prime example of the power and beauty of the song.
The next concert in Bute Arts Society’s winter programme will be held on Friday, February 17, and features the Roxburgh Quartet (string quartet). Tickets are £8, free to students, and the concert begins at 7.30pm. Mark it in your diaries now!
Read more at: http://www.buteman.co.uk/whats-on/music/an-unforgettable-evening-with-the-bardic-trio-1-4346402
BARDIC TRIO, SUNDAY 22nd January 2017
What a start to Cowal Music Club’s first live concert of 2017 when the Bardic Trio, Jamie MacDougall, tenor, Sharron Griffiths, harp and Matthew McAllister, guitar, played to a packed Hanover Street Hall last Sunday afternoon. Their professionalism and musicianship certainly cheered the audience up on a dreach Sunday afternoon.
They opened with three Burn’s songs arranged by Scottish composer Eddie McGuire, who is no stranger to Cowal Music Club. He was the composer that the club commissioned to commemorate the club’s 70 years a couple of years ago and he enjoys coming to be part of the audience whenever artists play his compositions.
The Trio started with ‘The Winter It Is Past’ which introduced the audience to Jamie’s agile voice capable of seamless transitions from lower register to mellifluous high register. He then followed with ‘The De’ils Awa Wi’ The Exciseman’ when his voice rang out with thrilling intensity and, finely, hefinished with a heartfelt interpretation of ‘Ae Fond Kiss’ that displayed a variety of tone including singing of the finest delicacy showing richness and the ability to convey feelings. Eddie’s arrangement, without a doubt, was melodic and so accomplished and the trio’s playing flawless.
Matthew’s playing ‘Farewell to Stromness’ by Peter Maxwell Davies was mesmerising and riveting.
Next it was Sharron’s turn who introduced the audience to a selection of Welsh songs opening with a breathtaking harp performance of John Thomas’s ‘Watching The Wheat’
The first half finished with a haunting interpretation of ‘ArHyd Y Nos’ ( All through the Night), again arranged by EddeMcGuire, and sung by Jamie with elegant phrasing and haunting effects.
The second half started with a selection of Irish pieces beginning with ‘My Gentle Harp’ played by Matthew and ending with Jamie’s rendition of ‘Minstrel Boy’ by Thomas Moore.
The concert finished with a selection of songs by Burns, again arranged by Eddie McGuire, starting with ‘Rattlin’ Roarin’ Willie’, ‘The Slaves Lament’ and the wonderful but highly emotional ‘For All That An’ All That’ that produced a wonderful combination of harp, guitar and tenor. The ovation from the audience said it all as they stamped their feet and clapped refusing to let the Trio leave the stage.
Inverurie, January 2017
BARDIC TRIO EARNS A STANDING OVATION
On Saturday, 11th February in St Mary’s Church, Inverurie Music presented the Bardic Trio in its first concert of the New Year. Jamie MacDougall (tenor), Sharron Griffiths (harp) and Matthew McAllister (guitar) entertained a capacity audience with a medleyof songs, pieces and poetry from the British Isles with a Celtic flavour.
Jamie MacDougall is well known in broadcasting circles. He presents ‘Grace Notes’ and ‘Classics Unwrapped’ and has anchored the BBC Proms in the Park as part of the Last Night of the Proms Festivities. Three songs by Alasdair Nicolson (b 1961) were a suitable launching pad for his singing in terms of compass, expression and communication with the audience.
Matthew is widely appreciated as a classical guitarist throughout Europe. As an effective contrast, he held the audience spellbound with his rendition of ‘Farewell to Stromness’ by Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016). This was originally written for piano. In the arrangement he delighted the audience with his mastery of his instrument and his sensuous and lingering evocation of the emotions of the title.
Another change of mood came as we were led by Sharron Griffiths from the calm and grey tides of Orkney to the lush landscape of the Welsh valleys. In a cascade of arpeggios, she displayed the powerand brilliance of her concert pedal harp with an introductory piece, “Watching the Wheat”, by John Thomas (1826-1913). This was followed by a selection of traditional melodies and songs, two of which were arranged by Eddie McGuire. Jamie gave a splendid rendition of an extract from the well-loved ‘Under Milk Wood.’
Thomas Moore (1779-1852) was a poet, singer and satirist that can lay claim to being the Irish counterpart of Robert Burns. His best-known songs were, like Burns, traditional songs fashioned with his own lyrics, but he also wrote his own material and was a very popular singer in and around London. Smiles were noticed on many a face when Jamie “unearthed” three familiar songs in his cheerful style, especially “Minstrel Boy”.
The Eddie McGuire arrangements of Burns songs were a fitting end to the concert. As the instruments were tuned up between numbers, Jamie made some wistful observations about a nearby village (which shall remain nameless) in his Glaswegian off-the- cuff style of humour. By this time the audience knew what to expect in terms of musicality: beautiful contrasts of colour, from the delicate caress of ‘Ae Fond Kiss’ to the racing triplets of ‘The De’il’s awa’ wi’ th’ exciseman.’ It concluded with a stalwart ‘For a’that an a’ that’ and as an encore ‘Castle Gordon.’ A standing ovation gave them top marks but it has to be said that every mark should be doubled for the Trio’s interaction with the audience, injecting life into live music.
Finally, thanks are due to the volunteers of St Mary’s Church for providing teas and cakes at the interval.
A.Massey
Gig review: MacDougall & Friends, Glasgow
By KENNETH WALTON, THE SCOTSMAN
Published on 13/06/2013 02:57
Last night’s early evening concert was a relaxed affair. The title itself – Jamie MacDougall and Friends – suggested as much. But it was the thread of folk music, and a manner of presentation to match it, that gave an air of congeniality to the hour-long programme.
MacDougall & Friends - Cottiers Theatre, Glasgow
****
At the centre of things was MacDougall himself, a Scots tenor with a couthie charm, talking us through a musical journey that began in Mexico and Paraguay, and ended in Scotland by way of England and Wales. Helping him on his way were guitarist Matthew McAllister and harpist Sharron Griffiths. In various combinations, they coloured songs by Mexicans Francisco Pichardo and Manuel Ponce (his heartfelt Por ti mi Carazón the most compellingly delivered) with an elusive passion, as well as Paraguayan instrumental numbers by Augustin Barrios and Alfredo Ortiz.
English and Welsh folk song arrangements by Britten – accompanied respectively by guitar and harp – gave MacDougall plenty of opportunities to slip into appropriate character modes, and to force out their charm above Britten’s rather stylised accompaniments.
But the real treat of the evening was Eddie McGuire’s exquisite arrangements of songs by Robert Burns, one of them – Ae Fond Kiss, with its clever conversation of harmonics announcing the theme in the instrumental intro, and the unforced boldness of its harmonic underlay – an absolute corker. Another gem was the Slave’s Lament, shot through with a weird Orientalism that captured the sultriness of the text – McGuire at his best.
LUNCHBREAK CONCERT JAMIE MacDOUGALL Tenor SHARRON GRIFFITHS Harp MATTHEW McALLISTER Guitar COWDRAY HALL
Dear Jamie.
Thanks you for a splendid recital today. The textures that you all produced were most attractive and the programming was lovely for a summer concert. I am so glad you were in touch and that we were able to help. Please would you give serious consideration to returning to the Cowdray for a concert in the main series of Lucnhbreaks during 2014/15 season?
I would like to pass on congratualtions to both your harpsit and guitarist - a combination that worked so very well.
Many thanks once again and 'haste ye back'.
Yours,
Dr Roger Williams, Lunchtime Concert Series, Cowdray Hall
Friday, 14 June 2013
Despite being some way outside of the main Lunchbreak Concert programme and being on a Friday rather than the customary Thursday, there was a reasonable turnout for the concert of music for voice, harp and guitar given by tenor Jamie MacDougall, harpist Sharron Griffiths and guitarist Matthew McAllister. I don’t know why the combination of voice with both harp and guitar should have seemed rather exotic since, especially in Scotland, voice with harp or with guitar alone are not that unusual either in a folk or a classical setting but the choice of music for the first part of the concert certainly added to the feeling that we were enjoying something rather unusual and exotic.
There are some countries whose music does not seem to achieve the international acclaim that music from Germany, Italy, France or Russia to give just four examples gets regularly. Even English and especially Scottish composers are not that well known internationally compared with the “central” repertoire so it was a special and valuable experience to be exposed to the music of Mexican and Paraguayan composers. One is left wondering how much more of a treasure house of music from these and other countries remains to be discovered. What I can say without too much fear of contradiction is that Dr Roger Williams and his Lunchbreak Series is certainly one of the places to go if you want to broaden your musical horizons.
Many of the songs in Friday’s programme dealt with failed or thwarted love and the trio opened their performance with two songs by the Mexican composer Francisco Pichardo. Not much seems to be known about him and I wonder whether more information exists in his own country. In the first song Al Triste Arullo (To the sad lullaby) Jamie MacDougall’s smoothly ardent tenor singing was accompanied by a combination of both harp and guitar which together were a satisfying analogue of a piano accompaniment. In the second song, Flores Del Alma, (Flowers of the Soul), the two instruments were more separate and the special qualities of each were allowed to flourish before being brought together again.
Two pieces by different Paraguayan composers gave the two instrumentalists the opportunity to impress separately. Agustin Barrios was himself a guitarist and Matthew McAllister gave a beautifully delicate account of his Julia Florida. Alfredo Rolando Ortiz (I include his middle name to distinguish him from a performer of the same name who plays with The Beastie Boys) is Paraguay’s most distinguished harpist and composer and Sharron Griffiths captured the rhythmic intensity and excitement of his Milonga para amar.
To complete our visit to South America, Jamie MacDougall took us back to Mexico and Por ti mi Corazón (For you my heart) by Manuel Maria Ponce, a fine example for tenor voice and guitar.
Benjamin Britten arranged a number of folksongs for Peter Pears to perform along with the most notable exponents of guitar and harp at the time. I Will Give My Love an Apple (The Riddle Song) and Soldier and Sailor were written for Pears and Julian Bream. Jamie MacDougall was accompanied delicately on guitar by Matthew
McAllister which allowed the texts to shine clearly through with the mystery of the first explained and the earthier conclusion of the second calling for lots of drink for the protagonists – this being the prayer that they heartily believe in.
The settings of Welsh songs were composed for Pears and the renowned Welsh harpist Ossian Ellis. Jamie MacDougall sang two of the most famous Welsh songs Bugeilo’r Gwenith Gwyn and Dafydd y Garreg Wen in the original language accompanied with deep feeling by Sharron Griffiths. In both sets as in Britten’s songs which use piano, exquisitely subtle harmonic changes in the accompaniments lend deeper meaning to the familiar folk melodies.
Before the final item in the concert which for me was the highlight of the performance, harp and guitar were brought together in a special arrangement of the Sérénade mélancolique Op. 45 originally for harp alone by the Belgian born harpist and composer Alphonse Hasselmans who worked most of his life in France and whom the French like to claim as one of their own. This arrangement had delightful interplay
and echo effects between the two instruments and the performers came together neatly at the conclusion.
I often feel that the Scottish composer Eddie McGuire does not get the attention and respect he deserves. I always enjoy his music and his arrangements of six well-known Burns songs were quite splendid, especially his magnificent setting of Ae Fond Kiss. The trio were brought together in these songs and Jamie MacDougall’s clear tenor voice sounded perfectly at home here whether in the softer arrangements like The Winter it is Past or Ae Fond Kiss or in the lively rousing songs like The De’il’s Awa or Rattlin’ Roarin’ Willie and of course A Man’s a Man which was a fitting response to the Slave’s Lament with its fine guitar accompaniment. It would be splendid to find these song arrangements laid down on a CD some time in the future!
****
The Bardic Trio – Scots tenor Jamie MacDougall, Welsh harpist Sharon Griffiths and Scots guitarist Matthew McAllister – combine classical sophistication with a penchant for Celtic tradition. So while the songs here by Scots bard Robert Burns, Irish poet Thomas Moore and others rooted in Welsh and Orcadian tradition echo the latter, many are presented in arrangements by such serious composers as Eddie McGuire and Alasdair Nicolson, and also in instrumental form by Griffiths and McAllister themselves. McGuire’s settings of Burns – from the sultry Winter is Past and deliciously ephemeral Ae Fond Kiss, to the exotically-charged Slave’s Lament – are excitingly original without losing touch with the texts. Nicolson’s The Balfour Songbook is a sparkling illumination of three ancient Orkney melodies. Among the Welsh songs, another McGuire setting stands out: his simple treatment of Suo gan, a song made famous in Spielberg’s film Empire of the Sun. Restful listening.
Ken Walton - The Scotsman
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/music/album-reviews-ed-sheeran-sacred-paws-6th-borough-project-1-4392333
Strathearn Herald:
Strathearn Music Society – The Bardic Trio, Wed 18 Jan
“Celtic Music Re-imagined” was the title of last Wednesday’s SMS concert in St Andrew’s Hall, Crieff, and the line-up of performers, as so often on these occasions, was slightly wide of the mainstream, including the varied and contrasting talents of tenor Jamie MacDougall, harpist Sharron Griffiths and guitarist Matthew McAllister. Each one an accomplished and established soloist, together they presented an intriguing programme which explored the music and verse of the Scots, Irish and Welsh in a manner which was novel yet preserved just the right blend of “tradition” to balance the less familiar.
Jamie McDougall is rightly known for his versatility and he has, quite simply, a lovely voice which seems just as much at home with Robert Schumann as with Robert Burns, half a dozen of whose songs featured in this concert in arrangements by Scottish composer Eddie McGuire. Indeed there was much of the spirit and sound of McGuire evident throughout the evening, highlighting all the benefits and strengths that can derive from crossing the boundaries between “classical” and “folk” music.
And the harp, in the hands of Sharron Griffiths, proved a true powerhouse of expression across a similar range of idioms – as the quintessential Celtic soloist, as the perfect singer-sensitive accompanist and, more unusually, as duettist withclassical guitar (the latter partnership made possible by tasteful and subtle amplification which produced some ravishing sounds).
On his own account Matthew McAllister offered a convincing harp impersonation of his own (“My Gentle Harp” by Irishman Thomas Moore, arranged by Gerald Garcia) as well as holding the audience spellbound with Peter Maxwell Davies’ “Farewell to Stromness”.
Sometimes a good deal of imagination goes into creating the idea and realisation of a concert, and this event came over as a thoroughly bespoke, well-proportioned and thoughtfully considered entertainment. The natural charm of the entertainers themselves served only to enhance the enjoyment they gave.
Next concert: Wednesday, 15 February, Piatti Quartet
Howard Duthie
KAREN KEITH, The Buteman Monday 23 January 2017
One concert-goer remarked that she’d “Never forget this evening” - a sentiment surely shared by all who attended Bardic Trio’s performance on Friday. The ensemble - comprising Scottish tenor Jamie McDougall, Welsh harpist Sharron Griffiths, and Scottish guitarist Matthew McAllister - treated the Rothesay audience to s election of Celtic works which proved to be the perfect remedy to a cold winter’s night on Bute. The Bardic Trio in action in Trinity Church on Friday evening. Introducing the trio, Jamie remarked that they were delighted to be on Bute, joking that they’d turned down the opportunity to perform at the new US President’s inauguration to be there! Although Jamie apologised for the cold he was suffering from, it was hardly noticable as he, Sharron and Matthew launched into Robert Burn’s ‘Ae Fond Kiss’. Performed with real sensitivity and feeling, it was clear to see why the trio is held in such high regard Jamie’s vocals were crisp and clear, and a delight to hear in the superb acoustics of Rothesay’s Trinity Church.
Solo performances from both Matthew and Sharron were among some of the evening’s highlights. Matthew’s rendition of ‘Farewell to Stromness’ was both soothing and measured and demonstrated the depth of emotion in the music. Sharron, paying tribute to her Welsh roots, played John Thomas’ ‘Watching the Wheat’. A stunning, delicate performance of a tragic love story played expertly by Sharron. Other combinations of the trio saw Matthew and Sharron team up to perform ‘Clychae Aberdyfi’, a traditional Welsh song, and ‘The Meeting of the Waters’, which is an Irish song by Thomas Moore.
Among the evening’s highlights, without a doubt, were the trio’s performances of the works of Burns. Jamie’s high-energy rendition of ‘Rattlin’ Roarin’ Willie’ was a real treat and left many in amazement at how he was able to catch his breath in time for each verse! But it was ‘A Man’s a Man for A That’ which stole the show. Jamie himself remarked that the song “should be taken up by the world as an anthem”, and the ensemble’s performance of that particular piece was a prime example of the power and beauty of the song.
The next concert in Bute Arts Society’s winter programme will be held on Friday, February 17, and features the Roxburgh Quartet (string quartet). Tickets are £8, free to students, and the concert begins at 7.30pm. Mark it in your diaries now!
Read more at: http://www.buteman.co.uk/whats-on/music/an-unforgettable-evening-with-the-bardic-trio-1-4346402
BARDIC TRIO, SUNDAY 22nd January 2017
What a start to Cowal Music Club’s first live concert of 2017 when the Bardic Trio, Jamie MacDougall, tenor, Sharron Griffiths, harp and Matthew McAllister, guitar, played to a packed Hanover Street Hall last Sunday afternoon. Their professionalism and musicianship certainly cheered the audience up on a dreach Sunday afternoon.
They opened with three Burn’s songs arranged by Scottish composer Eddie McGuire, who is no stranger to Cowal Music Club. He was the composer that the club commissioned to commemorate the club’s 70 years a couple of years ago and he enjoys coming to be part of the audience whenever artists play his compositions.
The Trio started with ‘The Winter It Is Past’ which introduced the audience to Jamie’s agile voice capable of seamless transitions from lower register to mellifluous high register. He then followed with ‘The De’ils Awa Wi’ The Exciseman’ when his voice rang out with thrilling intensity and, finely, hefinished with a heartfelt interpretation of ‘Ae Fond Kiss’ that displayed a variety of tone including singing of the finest delicacy showing richness and the ability to convey feelings. Eddie’s arrangement, without a doubt, was melodic and so accomplished and the trio’s playing flawless.
Matthew’s playing ‘Farewell to Stromness’ by Peter Maxwell Davies was mesmerising and riveting.
Next it was Sharron’s turn who introduced the audience to a selection of Welsh songs opening with a breathtaking harp performance of John Thomas’s ‘Watching The Wheat’
The first half finished with a haunting interpretation of ‘ArHyd Y Nos’ ( All through the Night), again arranged by EddeMcGuire, and sung by Jamie with elegant phrasing and haunting effects.
The second half started with a selection of Irish pieces beginning with ‘My Gentle Harp’ played by Matthew and ending with Jamie’s rendition of ‘Minstrel Boy’ by Thomas Moore.
The concert finished with a selection of songs by Burns, again arranged by Eddie McGuire, starting with ‘Rattlin’ Roarin’ Willie’, ‘The Slaves Lament’ and the wonderful but highly emotional ‘For All That An’ All That’ that produced a wonderful combination of harp, guitar and tenor. The ovation from the audience said it all as they stamped their feet and clapped refusing to let the Trio leave the stage.
Inverurie, January 2017
BARDIC TRIO EARNS A STANDING OVATION
On Saturday, 11th February in St Mary’s Church, Inverurie Music presented the Bardic Trio in its first concert of the New Year. Jamie MacDougall (tenor), Sharron Griffiths (harp) and Matthew McAllister (guitar) entertained a capacity audience with a medleyof songs, pieces and poetry from the British Isles with a Celtic flavour.
Jamie MacDougall is well known in broadcasting circles. He presents ‘Grace Notes’ and ‘Classics Unwrapped’ and has anchored the BBC Proms in the Park as part of the Last Night of the Proms Festivities. Three songs by Alasdair Nicolson (b 1961) were a suitable launching pad for his singing in terms of compass, expression and communication with the audience.
Matthew is widely appreciated as a classical guitarist throughout Europe. As an effective contrast, he held the audience spellbound with his rendition of ‘Farewell to Stromness’ by Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016). This was originally written for piano. In the arrangement he delighted the audience with his mastery of his instrument and his sensuous and lingering evocation of the emotions of the title.
Another change of mood came as we were led by Sharron Griffiths from the calm and grey tides of Orkney to the lush landscape of the Welsh valleys. In a cascade of arpeggios, she displayed the powerand brilliance of her concert pedal harp with an introductory piece, “Watching the Wheat”, by John Thomas (1826-1913). This was followed by a selection of traditional melodies and songs, two of which were arranged by Eddie McGuire. Jamie gave a splendid rendition of an extract from the well-loved ‘Under Milk Wood.’
Thomas Moore (1779-1852) was a poet, singer and satirist that can lay claim to being the Irish counterpart of Robert Burns. His best-known songs were, like Burns, traditional songs fashioned with his own lyrics, but he also wrote his own material and was a very popular singer in and around London. Smiles were noticed on many a face when Jamie “unearthed” three familiar songs in his cheerful style, especially “Minstrel Boy”.
The Eddie McGuire arrangements of Burns songs were a fitting end to the concert. As the instruments were tuned up between numbers, Jamie made some wistful observations about a nearby village (which shall remain nameless) in his Glaswegian off-the- cuff style of humour. By this time the audience knew what to expect in terms of musicality: beautiful contrasts of colour, from the delicate caress of ‘Ae Fond Kiss’ to the racing triplets of ‘The De’il’s awa’ wi’ th’ exciseman.’ It concluded with a stalwart ‘For a’that an a’ that’ and as an encore ‘Castle Gordon.’ A standing ovation gave them top marks but it has to be said that every mark should be doubled for the Trio’s interaction with the audience, injecting life into live music.
Finally, thanks are due to the volunteers of St Mary’s Church for providing teas and cakes at the interval.
A.Massey
Gig review: MacDougall & Friends, Glasgow
By KENNETH WALTON, THE SCOTSMAN
Published on 13/06/2013 02:57
Last night’s early evening concert was a relaxed affair. The title itself – Jamie MacDougall and Friends – suggested as much. But it was the thread of folk music, and a manner of presentation to match it, that gave an air of congeniality to the hour-long programme.
MacDougall & Friends - Cottiers Theatre, Glasgow
****
At the centre of things was MacDougall himself, a Scots tenor with a couthie charm, talking us through a musical journey that began in Mexico and Paraguay, and ended in Scotland by way of England and Wales. Helping him on his way were guitarist Matthew McAllister and harpist Sharron Griffiths. In various combinations, they coloured songs by Mexicans Francisco Pichardo and Manuel Ponce (his heartfelt Por ti mi Carazón the most compellingly delivered) with an elusive passion, as well as Paraguayan instrumental numbers by Augustin Barrios and Alfredo Ortiz.
English and Welsh folk song arrangements by Britten – accompanied respectively by guitar and harp – gave MacDougall plenty of opportunities to slip into appropriate character modes, and to force out their charm above Britten’s rather stylised accompaniments.
But the real treat of the evening was Eddie McGuire’s exquisite arrangements of songs by Robert Burns, one of them – Ae Fond Kiss, with its clever conversation of harmonics announcing the theme in the instrumental intro, and the unforced boldness of its harmonic underlay – an absolute corker. Another gem was the Slave’s Lament, shot through with a weird Orientalism that captured the sultriness of the text – McGuire at his best.
LUNCHBREAK CONCERT JAMIE MacDOUGALL Tenor SHARRON GRIFFITHS Harp MATTHEW McALLISTER Guitar COWDRAY HALL
Dear Jamie.
Thanks you for a splendid recital today. The textures that you all produced were most attractive and the programming was lovely for a summer concert. I am so glad you were in touch and that we were able to help. Please would you give serious consideration to returning to the Cowdray for a concert in the main series of Lucnhbreaks during 2014/15 season?
I would like to pass on congratualtions to both your harpsit and guitarist - a combination that worked so very well.
Many thanks once again and 'haste ye back'.
Yours,
Dr Roger Williams, Lunchtime Concert Series, Cowdray Hall
Friday, 14 June 2013
Despite being some way outside of the main Lunchbreak Concert programme and being on a Friday rather than the customary Thursday, there was a reasonable turnout for the concert of music for voice, harp and guitar given by tenor Jamie MacDougall, harpist Sharron Griffiths and guitarist Matthew McAllister. I don’t know why the combination of voice with both harp and guitar should have seemed rather exotic since, especially in Scotland, voice with harp or with guitar alone are not that unusual either in a folk or a classical setting but the choice of music for the first part of the concert certainly added to the feeling that we were enjoying something rather unusual and exotic.
There are some countries whose music does not seem to achieve the international acclaim that music from Germany, Italy, France or Russia to give just four examples gets regularly. Even English and especially Scottish composers are not that well known internationally compared with the “central” repertoire so it was a special and valuable experience to be exposed to the music of Mexican and Paraguayan composers. One is left wondering how much more of a treasure house of music from these and other countries remains to be discovered. What I can say without too much fear of contradiction is that Dr Roger Williams and his Lunchbreak Series is certainly one of the places to go if you want to broaden your musical horizons.
Many of the songs in Friday’s programme dealt with failed or thwarted love and the trio opened their performance with two songs by the Mexican composer Francisco Pichardo. Not much seems to be known about him and I wonder whether more information exists in his own country. In the first song Al Triste Arullo (To the sad lullaby) Jamie MacDougall’s smoothly ardent tenor singing was accompanied by a combination of both harp and guitar which together were a satisfying analogue of a piano accompaniment. In the second song, Flores Del Alma, (Flowers of the Soul), the two instruments were more separate and the special qualities of each were allowed to flourish before being brought together again.
Two pieces by different Paraguayan composers gave the two instrumentalists the opportunity to impress separately. Agustin Barrios was himself a guitarist and Matthew McAllister gave a beautifully delicate account of his Julia Florida. Alfredo Rolando Ortiz (I include his middle name to distinguish him from a performer of the same name who plays with The Beastie Boys) is Paraguay’s most distinguished harpist and composer and Sharron Griffiths captured the rhythmic intensity and excitement of his Milonga para amar.
To complete our visit to South America, Jamie MacDougall took us back to Mexico and Por ti mi Corazón (For you my heart) by Manuel Maria Ponce, a fine example for tenor voice and guitar.
Benjamin Britten arranged a number of folksongs for Peter Pears to perform along with the most notable exponents of guitar and harp at the time. I Will Give My Love an Apple (The Riddle Song) and Soldier and Sailor were written for Pears and Julian Bream. Jamie MacDougall was accompanied delicately on guitar by Matthew
McAllister which allowed the texts to shine clearly through with the mystery of the first explained and the earthier conclusion of the second calling for lots of drink for the protagonists – this being the prayer that they heartily believe in.
The settings of Welsh songs were composed for Pears and the renowned Welsh harpist Ossian Ellis. Jamie MacDougall sang two of the most famous Welsh songs Bugeilo’r Gwenith Gwyn and Dafydd y Garreg Wen in the original language accompanied with deep feeling by Sharron Griffiths. In both sets as in Britten’s songs which use piano, exquisitely subtle harmonic changes in the accompaniments lend deeper meaning to the familiar folk melodies.
Before the final item in the concert which for me was the highlight of the performance, harp and guitar were brought together in a special arrangement of the Sérénade mélancolique Op. 45 originally for harp alone by the Belgian born harpist and composer Alphonse Hasselmans who worked most of his life in France and whom the French like to claim as one of their own. This arrangement had delightful interplay
and echo effects between the two instruments and the performers came together neatly at the conclusion.
I often feel that the Scottish composer Eddie McGuire does not get the attention and respect he deserves. I always enjoy his music and his arrangements of six well-known Burns songs were quite splendid, especially his magnificent setting of Ae Fond Kiss. The trio were brought together in these songs and Jamie MacDougall’s clear tenor voice sounded perfectly at home here whether in the softer arrangements like The Winter it is Past or Ae Fond Kiss or in the lively rousing songs like The De’il’s Awa or Rattlin’ Roarin’ Willie and of course A Man’s a Man which was a fitting response to the Slave’s Lament with its fine guitar accompaniment. It would be splendid to find these song arrangements laid down on a CD some time in the future!
International Kodaly Symposium, Merchiston School, Edinburgh- August 2015
Dear Bardic Trio
Many thanks for your concert for the delegates of the Symposium, the feedback was fantastic with many being reduced to tears... in a good way and so many positive comments. The arrangements seemed to take a trick to and most people were still discussing it all on Friday, so thanks very much for doing this.
Best wishes Morag Campbell, Chief Executive, National Youth Choir of Scotland
Many thanks for your concert for the delegates of the Symposium, the feedback was fantastic with many being reduced to tears... in a good way and so many positive comments. The arrangements seemed to take a trick to and most people were still discussing it all on Friday, so thanks very much for doing this.
Best wishes Morag Campbell, Chief Executive, National Youth Choir of Scotland