Review by John Saich
Homecoming Rhapsody 09
29 Oct 2009 in Argyll & the Islands, Music
Corran Halls, Oban, 28 October 2009
Homecoming Rhapsody 09 (photo - Matthew Boyle)
IT’S A SAD thing to confess as an advocate of the arts in Argyll that I haven’t had a night out at the Corran Halls for a long, long time. In light of that admission, I had no particular expectations of the Oban venue for Homecoming Rhapsody 09 (featuring a reprise of Donald Shaw’s Argyll Rhapsody from 2007), but on arrival it very quickly became clear this was to be an evening of surprises.
The scene was verging on Vegas – in a good way – warmly lit, a stage crammed with music stands and glittered with festoons, big projection screens right and left, and a floor-lit runway projecting into the first dozen rows of seating. It’s a mark of an ambitious and momentous event that you feel the buzz before a single note is played. It also makes you want to take a seat near the front. Nicely done, production team.
I won’t need to go into the full detail here about the background to Homecoming Rhapsody [see our October feature by Mark Morpurgo], except to say this was a production with three distinct elements: music, fashion and photography.
In the lead up to the event I was not entirely clear what the connecting thread between these disciplines would be, fearing perhaps a convenience of unrelated projects under a Homecoming banner. Projected photographic images can work well with music, and did so superbly on this occasion under the direction of Colin McPherson, but where does the fashion bit come in? I’ll come to that, because for me it turns out to be the biggest revelation of the night.
Donald Shaw’s original Argyll Rhapsody had been re-arranged for 2009 by band leader and Argyll & Bute Music Services Manager John Grant, and as such added fresh and exciting textures of brass, woodwind and percussion to the more traditional elements of fiddles, accordions and Gaelic singing.
Combine that with the professional rhythm section, guitars, 20 pipers and 5 drummers and what you get is a sound best described as huge. In fact this is a cast of more than 80 all told, a super-sized ceilidh orchestra with a big band for added swing.
The eleven musical pieces within the Rhapsody reflect places and people significant in the life of the composer (Glen Orchy, Lismore, the builders of the Cruachan power station, the horizontal rain encountered on back road cycling) and the combined work is a tasteful, evocative and culturally relevant memoir of one man’s Argyll.
I could say there were a few “first night” issues in the performance that at times meant not all the parts fused quite as sensitively as they might have done – two days rehearsal for a production on this scale is in one way an achievement, but can have a cost in the detail.
That’s a small point however, because I’m certain that with the luxury of a few nights run, and perhaps a bigger stage, these are things that would be ironed out very quickly. What’s without question is the major accomplishment of all the young musicians involved who were on the money throughout.
That will be in no small part due to the fact that, in the galaxy of the big production, Donald is The Doctor, and you know all will be well. If there is one thing all these young people could learn from him is that if you believe something is possible, it is.
Furthermore, if The Doctor needed an ingenious and talented assistant in this adventure, award winning Gaelic singer Maeve Mackinnon could not have been a better choice. Sure handed and un-flappable, she shone brilliantly as solo performer and Chorus leader, often at the same time.
Part two of the evening brought a big change of direction. Music continued, but now as an accompaniment to something quite different as the fashion runway opened for business. I said earlier I was puzzled about how the world of fashion, hair and beauty would dovetail into what began as a musical production. Within a few minutes I wondered why I should have thought it wouldn’t.
The context here is that secondary school art and design students have taken up the theme of “Scottish Influence Abroad” and the schools have then selected several pupils to model their creations. But this is way beyond a school fashion show. This is cool, confident showbiz, a riot of colour and imagination and the models (mostly girls but including a couple of bold lads) are the height of elegance and chic.
Some subtle and effective choreography added to the wow effect, as did brilliantly done hair and make up. The designs incorporate everything from beach wear to ball gown, with all shades in between, on occasion with more than a passing visual reference to our beloved Scottish phenomenal ginger pop. I have in mind a scene from Gregory’s Girl as John Gordon Sinclair marvels at the new social order of youth in changing times… “modern girls, modern boys.”
As the models strike a pose to ‘Lexie McAskill’, ‘High Road to Linton’ and a selection of Puirt a Beul, all performed live by the band and timed to perfection, you think to yourself: this is the Scotland we want, and want others to see. There can’t be too many places in the world where tradition meets the effervescence of youth with so much style.
I gather from CAST (Creative Arts in Schools Team), the producers of the project, that for this section they wanted to create something wild. Mission accomplished, and major credit to the pupils of all the high schools in Argyll that so clearly got the point and absolutely delivered.
© John Saich, 2009
