Historic ballads known as laoidhean which were a central part of traditional gaelic culture during the late Middle Ages are to be brought back to life with a concert at the National Library of Scotland.
A concert at the iconic venue on Saturday 23 September is hoping to breathe new life into the ancient songs and bring them to a wider audience.
The event is also being recorded, with the recording released at the end of the year with the aim of opening up the music and tradition even more widely to people across the UK and abroad and add to posterity in the archive.
The reinterpreted laoidhean project is a collaboration between traditional Gaelic singer Màiri Macmillan from South Uist in the Outer Hebrides; Ned Bigham, a distinguished modern composer who works on a wide range of genres from classical to electronica; and the Edinburgh Quartet, a chamber ensemble known for their dedication to innovative music.
The endeavor to revive the heroic gaelic ballads is a joint one between the musicians and academics. John Francis Campbell, a nineteenth-century folklorist and polymath, worked through manuscripts, printed material and conducted fieldwork in the Highlands and Islands to compile one of the most important collections of laoidhean.
Read more: Alzheimer's: Could a blood test detect the disease early?
The texts Campbell compiled provided those working on the project with fascinating contextual details on singers who performed the songs in the Middle Ages which could act as a springboard for the creatives to launch their own fresh interpretations.
Campbell is not a stranger to the National Library of Scotland, having been the brains behind its first bi-lingual exhibition - Sgeul or Story, which opened in June of this year and will continue until April 2024. For this, he worked with local storytellers to record and save Gaelic folk tales at risk of extinction due to the oral tradition through which they had always been passed.
Academics from the University of the Highland and Islands’ National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture, Domhnall Uilleam Stiubhart and Abigail Burnyeat, will introduce the concert, offering the audience an insight into the history and stories behind the ballads, delivered in both English and Gaelic.
Read more: Great Taste Awards: Scots chocolatier nominated for Golden Fork Award
Musician Ned Bigham commented: “A few years ago Dòmhnall and Abigail introduced me to the fascinating Gaelic tradition of these heroic ballads that came across from Ireland, starting in the twelfth century. They belonged to the high art tradition in their communities, which may be why many contemporary singers have felt intimidated to take them on and it is now rare to hear them.
“In reimagining them for a modern audience we have set them to string quartet, which as far as we are aware is a first. The combination of the wonderfully talented Gaelic singer Màiri Macmillan and the internationally renowned Edinburgh Quartet, together with the ballads’ beautiful melodies and spellbinding narratives should be really magical!”
Abigail Burnyeat of the University of the Highland and Islands said: “Whether in a chief’s hall or in the ceilidh house, the characters of these laoidhean were known and what happens to them was both familiar and deeply-felt. The performance of these tales was part of an intimate conversation between storytellers and singers and their audiences.
“It’s not theatre or opera: the song is there to carry the words, and the words are what’s important. The ballads were high art; but their stories belonged to everybody and will resonate with people just as much today as in the past.”
National Librarian Amina Shah said: “The Ossianic Ballads are the culmination of research, musical collaboration and performance which will truly bring the collections to life. The performances perfectly complement our ‘Sgeul | Story’ exhibition which showcases Gaelic folktales that were rescued from oblivion in the 19th century. In the same vein, the heroic laoidhean will be revived for modern audiences through the Ossianic Ballads.
“The performers will also breathe new life into the Library’s public spaces, and will pave the way for more musical events in the National Library of Scotland.
“We are grateful to be working with such talented musicians and for the support of the Murray Family and the American Patrons of the National Library and Galleries of Scotland.”
Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 16th August and the event will also be livestreamed.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel