home
|
about
|
news
|
contents
|
gossip
|
photographs
|
venues
|
brighton
|
dublin
|
edinburgh
|
film
|
features
|
interviews
|
awards
|
fashion
|
recipes
|
no more drinks
|
newsletter
|
links
|
contact
Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Coast String Fiddlers
Verdict: Gifted music
Edinburgh 05 - Museum of Scotland - 15 August 05 - 12:45 (13:20)
This is a lively lunchtime concert from Canadian musicians The Coast String Fiddlers in a stunning venue. The Museum of Scotland is the cheeky late-20th century extension to Edinburgh's augustly-traditional Royal Museum. The band performs at the ground of its atrium, which is crossed by walkways overhead. Walls and floors are concrete and stone, which give - oddly - perfect acoustics for the lively string music. A midday crowd of around 150 packs the venue at each of the 3 levels from the ground up, creating a vibrant atmosphere for a remarkable performance.
19 players of fiddles, cellos and drums, interpreting Scottish contemporary folk and traditional music - with step-dancing thrown in - may sound like hell, but turns out not to be. There's not (almost not) a bagpipe in sight, and the one that is doesn't sound like a strangled cat. It's all a surprise - fun, and some sublime music. Performers are a range of ages from older to many teenagers. There’s an enthusiastic response from the audience. It’s probably the first time adults fiddling with children has met with public approval.
It's an easy-going set, with people free to walk in and out of the open audience space at will and without embarrasment, and to sit, stand or perch on walls. This makes for a very relaxed atmosphere, and unlike many shows, there are more people at the end than at the beginning. There are all ages - 20s, 40s, middle- and old-aged, and children in prams.
Coast String Fiddlers today are 19 players. 12 are women, 7 men – most are ages 14-19 with 3 older accompanists. There are 15 fiddlers, including a solo vocalist and two step-dancers. There's a keyboard player, cellist, percussionist and guitar-player. Musical directors are Heather Cattanach Beckmyer, who puts in some deft and gorgeous piano; and Ann Law, who uses a hand-drum and other subtle percussion instruments - including her knee - and comperes. The band produces a tightly-integrated, smooth sound. There’s effective rhythm work from keyboard (Heather Cattanach Beckmyer), percussion (Ann Law) and guitar (Tom Willams), underscored by lush bowed-cello (Peter Williams).
Folk music can have a restricted appeal, with its stereotypical audience sometimes including beer-drinkers skilled at anal gas and people with personal hygiene requirements. It may often include Whisky In The Jar, The Leaving Of Liverpool, Abilene, and anything by The Dubliners. And fiddling? Just awful. But The Coast String Fiddlers wash that stereotype away. Their sound is supremely musical - there are no scraped notes except for occasional effect – elegant, and exactly in tune. Keeping 15 violins to tune and pace must be an exacting task - but it sounds effortless, and graceful.
Skilled arrangements and performance make it easy to become borne by and into the remarkable music. Material includes music from the Appalachian Mountains (Art Stamper’s Josie O, Big Sioty) that’s a long way from Deliverance – no banjos, no sodomy. There are Shetland tunes (Full Rigged Ship, New Rigged Ship) evoking the storms of the ocean; and some thoughtful, slow numbers. There’s drama in Tamlin's Reel, which recalls a traditional tale of Tam Lin being thrown into fire. Holly Beckmyer and Claire McGillivray step-dance to it.
Highland Cathedral - by Roever & Korb with lyric by Jack Whyte - is the climax. It is a show-stopper, a number huge in impact. Solo voice is by Sophie Heppell. The players all sing in support, and the keyboard switches to church-organ voice. Coast String Fiddlers manager John Law explains later that Sophie’s father, the late David Heppell, is the reason for the band being here today. David Heppell worked at the Museum of Scotland before moving his family to Canada, and his former colleagues at this Edinburgh venue encouraged the band to perform here on their visit to the UK. John Law adds: ‘Sadly (David) passed away while we were recording the CD and we dedicated it to his memory. It was quite an emotional day for (Sophie), it was her first time back to Edinburgh since she was 9.’ Today Sophie Heppell sings with a gifted musicality and gentle grace. Her song is a hymn, evoking the limitless scale of mountains as a tribute to God. In heaven, there must be a very proud father.
