Incorporating Cambridge Recordings
Gaelic Triptych
The first movement, a lively 6/8 serves as a prelude and introduces much of the harmonic material for the following two which are highly programmatic. The second movement, Corgarff Castle, is a musical portrait of a lonely fortress situated near Tomintoul. On the day of the visit the weather was bleak and the landscape appeared grey and foreboding. The fortress itself is grim and isolated. The third movement, Drummossie muir was inspired by a visit to the Culloden battlefield. After a dramatic introduction there follows a highly charged rhythmic movement representing the fury of the battle. The final section features a solo oboe which plays the melody ‘Lord Lovatt’s Lament’ and this is interspersed with mournful interjections from brass and woodwind representing the dire consequences for the Scottish people as a result of the Jacobite uprising of 1746.
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