Pibroch

Pibroch

A pibroch (pė`brǒok) is a wild, irregular type of music, native to the Scottish Highlands. They are performed on a bagpipe and were adapted to excite passion, particulairly to rouse the spirits of fighting men before a battle. In Scots Gaelic the original form for the name of this type of music is piobaireachd, and the Anglicised word pibroch is derived from the Gaelic pronounciation. The word is derived from the Gaelic piobair which simply means piper, and so piobaireachd can be taken as meaning pipe music. For this reason many pipers prefer the Gaelic name Ceol Mhor which is Scots Gaelic for Big Music, to distinguish it from other kinds of pipe music which are called Ceol Beag or Little Music.

Subjects

The subjects of pibroch music are quite varied. The popular misconception is that all pibrochs are laments for someone who died, perhaps a soldier in battle or a beloved spouse, child, parent, or clan chief. Although a great many pibrochs are laments, other common subjects are salutes in honour of a person or event, and gathering tunes for the assembly of a clan.

History

The origins of pibroch are obscure. The musical form appears to have been well developed by the time of Patrick Mor MacCrimmon (ca. 1595-1670), one of the hereditary pipers to the MacLeods of Dunvegan on the isle of Skye. After the Jacobite Rising of 1745 and the destruction of the Scottish clan system, pibroch fell into disfavour and the musical form was nearly lost. Around 1800 piping compititions for pibroch were organised in an attempt to revive the form.

Most pibrochs are traditional tunes that were written prior to 1745, and in many cases the composer is unknown. However a few pibrochs continue to be written by bagpipe composers up to the present day.

Structure

A pibroch does not usually follow a strict metre, and though it does have a rhythmic flow or pulse, it does not follow a strict beat or tempo as in most other music.

In musical structure, pibroch is a theme with variations. The theme is usually a very simple melody, though few if any pibrochs contain the theme in its simplest form. The theme is first stated in a slow movement called the ground or in Gaelic the urlar. This is usually a fairly stylised version of the theme, and usually includes numerous added embellishments and connecting notes. The subsequent variations can number from one up to about twenty, although there are a few fragmentary tunes for which only a ground is known. In most cases the variations following the ground involve the use of a number of different musical embellishments, usually starting very simply and progressing through successively more complex movements before returning again to the ground. These variations are typically named by the Gaelic names of the types of movements used, eg Leumluath, Taorluath, and Crunluath. However not all pibrochs will include all or even any of these movements but instead the later variations may be irregular and use some other structure to state the theme.

In addition the theme will usually use one of several internal structures for the ordering of its musical phrases. These are usually classified as follows:

• Primary - The theme or ground is composed of two two-bar phrases, A and B, played in the following order:

AAB

ABB

AB

• Secondary - The theme or ground is composed of four phrases, with A and B being one-bar phrases and C and D being two-bar phrases, and played in the following order:

ABCD

CBAD

CD

• Tertiary - A relative of Primary Pibroch, with three two-bar phrases, A, B, and C, played in the following order:

AB

ABB

AB

C

• Irregular - The theme or ground does not fit into any of the above structures.

Unfortunately few pibrochs are pure examples of any of these structures though most can be fit into one of the first three with a slight modification of one or two of the phrases in one or more lines.

References

• Collinson, Francis (1975). The Bagpipe: The history of a musical instrument. London: Routledge & Kenan Paul. ISBN 0-7100-7913-3.
• Cannon, Roderick D. (1995). The Highland Bagpipe and Its Music. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers Ltd.. ISBN 0-85976-416-8.