Mr John Murdo Martin and Rev Calum Iain MacLeod

Gaelic Psalm 23 - Our Wedding

2 Cuibhlichean A Bhus

Pàdraig Pìobair

Aberdeen - Gaelic Pronunciation

Ardnamurchan - Gaelic Pronunciation

For P6 Girls - S07G - Tha Fadachd Cian do Ghaoil Orm - Gaelic

Gaelic Psalms, courtesy of Back Free Church

Òran 1 - Fear A' Bhàta Inst

This lullaby talks about the tailor's cattle, thimble and needle. This setting is from Tochar No.35 and the last verse, from Folksongs & Folklore of South Uist.

Kaitlin Ross - vocals/guitar
Ilona Kennedy - fiddle
Ailis Sutherland - whistle/backing vocals

EP Track 2 - Crodh an Tàilleir (Gaelic Song)

'An Tiona' by Peter Mackay appears as part of the resources the Scottish Poetry Library has put together to mark National Poetry Day 2017, whose theme is 'freedom.

Peter Mackay, 'An Tiona', from Gu Leor (Acair, 2015), by permission of the poet.

An Tiona by Peter Mackay

Orders open end of January 2018.

The recordings of Gaelic Psalm singing presented in the release are among the best ever captured. They document a living tradition, a form of religious singing from the Hebrides in Scotland, which is still practiced in Lewis. In Gaelic psalm singing, a precentor leads, and from here voices follow, moving together like the murmurations of birds. These recordings of Gaelic Psalm singing were originally made over two evenings in the Back Free Church on the Isle of Lewis in October 2003. The singing was spontaneous and totally unrehearsed. The recordings are now presented on vinyl for the first time by Arc Light Editions.

This is music that is transcendent and together, about the individual and the earth, movingly spiritual with or without belief. The sound comes in great waves, swells of sound that break and roll around the space. The texture relies on the individuals: this is group singing where the individual is preserved, elevated, but together.

A precentor leads off with the first lines of a psalm, and the congregation follows, some faster than others, and each one remains discernible. In his notes to the original release, Calum Martin writes that the form, called precenting (where one person puts out the line and the congregation responds) while not exclusive to Gaelic free church traditions, is in Lewis particularly influenced by the pibroch style of free ornamentation. It’s through this, he says, that the distinctive emotional swell of sound emerges. The sound relies on the congregation’s individual responses to the melody and the individual precentor’s leading. The musical term is free heterophony.

Arc Light Editions has worked directly with DR Macdonald at the Bethesda Hospice and Calum Martin on this release, and we thank them for their time. A portion of the profits from this release go directly to Bethesda Hospice, in accordance with the original release.

Official release date:
2 February 2018

Òran 1 - Fear A' Bhàta Inst

Stòrlann

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