Royal Concert Hall and Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, 14 January 2006

Greg Lawson.

TO ME, Martyn Bennett’s music has always been about a deeply felt resonance. His music was consistently characterised by innovation, virtuosity and a profound understanding of the Scottish folk tradition and its origins in the landscape.

As a musician, producer and composer he broke many musical and cultural barriers, defied definition, and forged a musical path unlike no other. His was an expansive art, founded on a deep respect for the cultural traditions of the past, incredible technical ability, and a deep sense of place and identity.

His music is a great example of the indigenous art of Scotland. His death in January 2005 was a huge loss to the nation.

Two concerts staged by Celtic Connections’ Director Colin Hynd, Martyn’s wife Kirsten, and his close friend Martin Swan gave the opportunity to experience anew the visionary music of an extraordinary man and the true breadth of his talent.

Saturday afternoon’s concert in the Main Auditorium at the Concert Hall highlighted Bennett’s classically influenced compositions. A selection of his works were performed by Mr McFall’s Chamber, The Orchestra of Scottish Opera Orchestra (conducted by violinist Greg Lawson – see top picture – who also arranged some of the music), pipers Fred Morrison and Finlay Macdonald, drummers James McKintosh and Tom Bancroft, and the wonderful voice of Michael Marra.

It is extremely appropriate that an International Festival in Scotland celebrate the musical legacy Martyn Bennett created.

The concert began with a lone piper, Fred Morrison, playing one of Martyn’s favourite pieces of Ceol Mor. It was a great introduction to the performance of Bennett’s own compositions. A lone piper creating a strand of sound and resonance that runs thematically through all of Bennett’s work, that of the strength and endurance of indigenous traditions.

Mr McFalls’ Chamber performed smaller scale pieces in the first half of the concert. Included in the programme were ‘Cuillin’ from Bennett’s first album, and two pieces, ‘Woman’ and ‘What Am I Doing Here?’ which he wrote for the stage production of David Harrower‘s ‘Knives In Hens.’

‘Knives In Hens’ itself was an arresting performance with solo low whistle underpinned by a violin drone. One by one strands of sound were woven together to evolve into a set of reels underpinned by a syncopated Balkan dance rhythm. As in so much of Bennett’s work ancient sounds such as the drone forms the basis for modern composition.

The Orchestra took the stage after the interval, with Greg Lawson in an unaccustomed role on the podium. His arrangement of ‘Liberation’ from Bennett’s last album, ‘Grit’, was a powerful and moving performance.

The rich texture of the string arrangement together with the translation of Gaelic psalm 118 (voiced by Michael Marra) evoked Bennett’s own struggle, the loss of faith and the “determination to find it again.” It was simultaneously an expression of profound loss and a musical celebration of a young artist at the height of his creative powers.

‘Fantasy and Toccata on a 7th, opus 4’, exquisitely played on solo piano by Graeme McNaught, was a true gift to the audience. Martyn wrote the piece for his future wife while both were studying at the RSAMD in Glasgow. It was dedicated to “Kirsten, a beautiful pianist…with quite small hands”.

The introductory first theme unwound itself with intimate simplicity. It is a composition of strength, complexity, tenderness and humour, “based on the interval of a seventh because Kirsten hated playing octaves!”

It was a rare privilege to hear something so personal. The piece also alludes to Bennett‘s understanding of and adherence to musical structure. Like all great artists he understood the creative language of music well enough to shape it into his own creation. Even in its most exuberant expression, Bennett’s musical foundations are solid and deeply rooted in classical, folk and world traditions.

‘MacKay’s Memoirs’ concluded the concert and epitomised the brilliant way Bennett merged ideas of place, memory and identity into contemporary composition. Here landscape, music and the human voice merge to create something truly extraordinary. Based on the theme of the piobaireachd “Lament For Mary Macleod” this piece evokes the soul of the Hebrides.

Beginning with a simple psalm-like chant and accompanied by the sounds of seabird-like violins, the sighing undulation of sound speaks of the sea. As described in Michael Marra’s recorded voiceover, it is “the music of the sea, the sea’s sorrow and the working out of the piobaireachd.”

There is a merging of the human and natural world. Out of sorrow and history a bold musical statement is created for all time. It is extremely apt that this piece was played by the Edinburgh Music School Chamber Orchestra at the opening of the new Scottish parliament.

The human voice provides the alpha and omega of ‘MacKay’s Memoirs.’ True to the composer’s instructions it ends as it began, the audience joining the chant as it fades to silence.

It was fantastic to see the Old Fruitmarket back in action after refurbishment, and it was the perfect venue for the second half of the tribute, the Martyn Bennett Club Night, which recaptured the spirit and energy of his original gigs.
Cuillin Music’s Kirsten Bennett and Deidre Morrison were joined on stage by fiddlers Adam Sutherland, Greg Lawson, and Martin Swan, pipers Ross Ainslie, Fraser Fifield, and Rory Campbell, and singers Karen Casey and Michael Marra.

The evening was a multimedia musical and theatrical experience, with DJ Dolphin Boy, and a spectacular finale that incorporated Beltane Drummers, five pipers, acrobats and dancers, and creatures on stilts parading in carnival-like revelry through the audience.

They began with the first ever live performances of four songs from ‘Grit’ with guest singers Casey and Marra. They opened with ‘Move’, featuring Karen Casey, a great performer of the Irish Sean Nos tradition.

Her voice exudes the gutsy earthiness and strength this song demands as it describes the persecution of the Roma people, present in Scotland for a thousand years. The soaring vocal and pounding beat brought an ancient art to a club audience. Dundonian Michael Marra reveled in ‘I’ll Awae Hame’, part of ‘Nae Regrets’, as did the audience who sang along.

Projected home movie images of family crofting life and island landscape accompanied live music from Bennett’s first self titled album and ‘Bothy Culture’. Fiddle performances by Adam Sutherland and Deidre Morrison were very much in keeping with the kind of energy Bennett generated in his stage performances.

It was a euphoric evening driven by dance beats, fiddle and pipes and a wonderful celebration of the life of an amazing artist. Programmed and performed by the people who knew him best, Martyn Bennett Day assembled the kind of collaborative effort that Bennett brought together in his own projects.

It is extremely appropriate that an International Festival in Scotland celebrate the musical legacy Martyn Bennett created. I hope that this will become an annual event through performance, interpretation and the commissioning of new works in the groundbreaking spirit that Bennett personified.

The launch of the “Martyn Bennett Tunebook” also coincided with these events. Perhaps outreach education based on this publication would be a project for next year’s festival. The work of Celtic Connections and the Martyn Bennett Trust will hopefully ensure that generations to come will continue to discover his music and passion for the Scottish folk tradition.

It is hard not to lose faith in the loss of someone so gifted and in the promise of what he would have continued to create. Hearing his music being performed live again I cannot help but be inspired by its resonance, strength and ultimate integrity.

From the sorrow of his passing to the euphoria of what he created, Martyn Bennett will never be forgotten.

© Georgina Coburn, 2006

Link

• Celtic Connections website