Violin Duet Violin - Level 2 - Digital Download
SKU: A0.596615
By John Winstead and Miguel Angel Cotignola. By Juan MarÃa Solare. 20th Century,Celtic,Instructional,Irish. 5 pages. Juan Maria Solare #6208589. Published by Juan Maria Solare (A0.596615).
Highlands
for two violins
About the genesis of my work
Highlands: There was a composition competition in Scotland (
The Gordon Stewart Memorial Competition), they asked to write a short march for Scottish bagpipes. I said to myself: I don't know anything about the bagpipes, this could be an opportunity to get to know the instrument better.
So I began to investigate and discovered that there is a huge literature, many works. Of course: all the works are impressively similar, because it is a relatively limited instrument (with forgiveness of the pipers). But this is an unimportant detail for our story. So, with a collection of bagpipe sheet music at hand, I began to investigate the possibilities of the instrument.
And I made a huge mistake: Bagpipe scores are written without accidentals, but they are actually in A major. Sharps are not written simply because there is NO alternative. They can't play anything else (at least the traditional bagpipes), so the sheet music ommits the superfluous sharps. In short: then I composed my melody for that contest in A minor ... which is impossible to play on bagpipes. The fact of having written the melody on board a train prevented me from listening to dozens of works for bagpipes as a reference (at that time - June 2015 - I did not have a mobile internet connection).
When I realized the mistake (in time) I rewrote that melody in major mode (well, Mixolydian ...), added some typical bagpipe ornamentation and retitled it:
Ballone Castle (the name of the castle of the organizers of the contest, the
Stewart Society).
And now what do I do with the original melody, in minor mode? Instead of throwing it away (which I never do) I titled it
Highlands, and it is the work that you are about to hear, or whose score you are holding.
I didn't win that contest in Scotland. But I recorded
Ballone Castle and posted it on Spotify:
Ballone Castle (for bagpipes) - on Spotify (there is a version with drums and another without them).
As for
Highlands, the saxophone version was recorded by my Chinese friend
Yu Han for the album
Images of Elsewhere (
Images of Elsewhere (saxophone)). In this case, there are also two versions: solo saxophone and sax with electronic sounds. The electronic sounds here actually simulate the typical bagpipe pedal (drone) note. A version of Highands for
oboe Solo was recorded by
John Winstead (
Highlands (oboe solo))
Comparing both pieces (
Highlands and
Ballone Castle) it is verified how the simple change of mode (major / minor), in addition to the change of instrument, can work wonders for musical perception. They are two related but independent works, each with its own defined character - like two twins.
But the story continues. In October 2020 I began an intense dialogue with the violinist
Miguel Ãngel Cotignola, from Mendoza (Argentina). I suggested him to film
Highlands. He suggestd me to write a second violin part. I did it. He filmed it on the shore of
Lake Potrerillos, in Mendoza (Argentina). This video can be seen here:
Highlands (for two violins)Juan MarÃa Solare
