Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Nationalism can be seen as an inherent evil, however pride in the culture that the country of your birth has supplied to the world, the history of certain events that have defined the way people look at you, all those can be a force for good and there is nothing quite as stirring to any age old forgotten gene as music.
Whilst you don’t have to have Scottish ancestry to appreciate the sound of Highland pipes calling in the distance, nor to enjoy the full flavour of instruments such as the cello, the harp, played with serious beauty by Mary Macmaster, or the violin being added to the event, it certainly does not hinder the theme that the orchestral progression has in mind in the composed work of Allan MacDonald and Neil Johnstone as they celebrate the 700th Anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in the rousing and emotive work The Bruce 700.
The Bruce 700 takes musicians such as the aforementioned Mary Macmaster, Christine Hanson, Angus MacKenzie, Chris Gibb, Masaki Kato, Lori and Innes Watson through the life of Robert the Bruce in what is a magnificently produced album which neatly encapsulates the feelings of a man’s life, a celebrated man, a hero to millions and one to whom legends really don’t do justice to.
The album makes the most of the Highland pipes, the sound that fills the air is enough to have the listener reaching through the mists of history, past the taste of peat bogs, whisky enthused poetic freedom and the shouts of an intolerant, belligerent neighbour to the south. It is in this that the drama unfolds and in movements such as An Caepadh Eucorach (Unjust Incarnation), Bruce’s March, Lament and The Road To Loch Nam Bairneas, the composed work of Allan MacDonald and Neil Johnstone rings with affection, honour and a love for story telling through the medium of music.
A spiritual journey, a warm embrace to a King, a man, a leader of a proud nation; nationalism may be a inherent evil based upon tribalism and false patriotism, of a certain amount of xenophobia but it is in history what has defined the lands we now live in and the call of independence that guides many in their own lands. The Bruce 700 is loyal and passionate to the cause.
Ian D. Hall