The mission of the Alt Pibroch Club (APC) is to re-extend the idiom of piobaireachd performance and composition by exploring a multitude of ancient and modern interpretations, styles, and schools of performances, making them accessible to the public.
You know of our effort to make the primary source material accessible and understandable. Over the last five years we have been on the forefront of this work, and we are seeing the impact all of us have been making: more and more performers are interested in bringing these old scores and styles to the public, whether through recitals or in competitions.
Our next phase is to encourage the growth of new materials to our art. The Shasta Piping Society has done a fine job of holding an annual competition where the composers of the top three pibroch scores have been handsomely rewarded. We are supplementing their effort by taking a more radical approach to the concept of “pibroch”, and encouraging submissions from composers at the edges of the piping world, and beyond.
The result has been remarkable. Over 20 submissions arrived from all over the world, representing scores that included not just piping, but viol, harp, piano and voice. While many were quite representative of our common perception of piobaireachd as a piping folk art, others were interested in exploring scores and music “inspired by” piobaireachd.
Today we announcing the selections for the inaugural volume of the APC Modern Pibroch Library:
- Simon Chadwick - Failte Mhic Mhuirich
- Jordan Alexander Key - Òran do beag madadh-ruadh
- Carleton Macy - Dilemma
- Janet Montague - When Sorrow Calls
- Lisa Robertson - Piobaireachd for Violin and Piano
- Matthew Welch - Looking at Loch Fyne
We are thrilled at the quality of the compositions submitted, and are excited about the prospects that these selected works represent for the future of pibroch composition and crossover audience appeal. Consummate and respected composers from all over the world and from a myriad of musical traditions contributed to this volume, and we are happy to make available what we consider the most exciting of the works we received.
Soon we will announce the release of a new website by the Alt Pibroch Club where these scores (and recordings) may be purchased and downloaded, along with biographical information about the composers.
Please join us in congratulating these remarkable composers and their works. They represent the beginning of a brand new phase for the Alt Pibroch Club, one we hope will encourage composers to contribute to our art in a safe space that encourages exploration.
