A Man And A Brother
by John Gourlay & Eoghan McKenzie (pictured)

Orchestral music by John Gourlay
Kirkcaldy Orchestral Society conducted by Graeme Wilson

Digital music by Eoghan McKenzie
Recorded and mixed by Erik Knussen, vocals by Katy Hardie

Live recording by Howie McKenzie at St. Columba’s RC Primary School, Cupar on Tuesday 18 March 2014

1.		Culloden – Africa/defeat – capture
2.		Voyage – Jamaica/exile – slavery
3.		Scotland – return, romance and claim
4.		Freedom
	
John was attracted to the story of Joseph Knight through the eyes of the novel written by James Robertson and was inspired to consider composing a work for orchestra. The project gained an added strand with the creativity and musical contribution of Eoghan McKenzie, a P7 pupil at St. Columba’s RC Primary School in Cupar. While Eoghan clearly knows what he wants musically, he has been encouraged and helped by several people along the way. Erik Knussen worked with Eoghan over a period of months along with class teacher Bernie McDougall and support staff Kim Hamilton and Mandy Bateman. Eoghan is also strongly supported in his use of Eyegaze along with the support of the FAACT. 

There have always been slaves. What makes the slave trade of the 17th-19th centuries different is the extent of the systematic commercial enterprise. The profits to be made from slavery were immense and much of the wealth of our society was made by introducing these profits into a mushrooming capitalist economy. And underpinning all this was the idea that some human beings were somehow worth less than others.
But horrors often have a way of throwing up ennobling moments and the Court of Session verdict of 1778 is one. There had been similar cases before, but this belonged purely to Scotland. And it happened as part of the long journey to the ending of slavery.  A decade after the Joseph Knight, Josiah Wedgwood had made the abolitionist medallion with the slogan “Am I not a man and a brother?” giving this piece its title. It took another twenty years for the slave trade to be stopped and yet another quarter-century for slavery to be abolished in the British Empire. But it did not disappear in other parts of the world. Even now, slavery exists; in acceptance speeches, “Twelve Years A Slave” producer Steve McQueen said that there are an estimated 21 million slaves worldwide.

Rather than just relating the story of Joseph Knight, the music that John and Eoghan have composed forms their response to that story and their feelings about it. John Wedderburn was the son of a Scottish baronet. Father and son were involved on the losing side in the Jacobite rising of 1745-6 and the father was executed shortly afterwards. John fled to Jamaica and eventually became the owner of a sugar plantation and thus also the owner of slaves. We do not know the real name of Joseph Knight. He was given the name of the captain of the ship on which he was taken from Africa, but we know nothing of his origins or how he came to be a slave.
Culloden – defeat	John Gourlay      Africa – capture	Eoghan McKenzie

Joseph Knight arrived in Jamaica aged around twelve or thirteen. He was bought by John Wedderburn in 1762, but instead of being made to work in the sugar fields he became a house servant and received some elementary education. The second movement of the music is a reflection on Joseph Knight’s journey from Africa, his anguish at his separation from his land and people and his despair at the prospect of a lifetime of servitude.
Jamaica – exile	John Gourlay    Voyage – slavery	Eoghan McKenzie

In 1769, having made his fortune, John Wedderburn decided to return to Scotland and he took Joseph Knight with him. Whilst Wedderburn worked at rehabilitating himself and regaining his father’s title and estate, Joseph continued as a slave in the house where he fell in love with Annie Thomson. They were permitted to marry, but Joseph also asked for payment for his years of servitude and for his freedom. Wedderburn refused.
Scotland – return, romance and claim		John Gourlay

The Sheriff of Perth ruled that Joseph Knight was a free man, but John Wedderburn could not accept this and appealed to the Court of Session in Edinburgh. By a majority of eight to four, a panel of judges ruled that the state of slavery was not recognized by the laws of Scotland and was inconsistent with its principles. They rejected John Wedderburn’s claim for perpetual service; Joseph Knight was free. The orchestral section of the final movement includes musical references to Scottish songs and the American Civil Rights movement.
Freedom		John Gourlay & Eoghan McKenzie



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From the CD Baroque Explorations by David Watson
A range of baroque music, some tracks are simply transcriptions for various 
instruments while others are arrangements with a jazz feel.
Available from Kanon Editions KM097  www.kanon.co.uk  price £10.
Track downloads will be available from CD Baby , itunes etc in January 2013.


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