To go to the most recent tunes click on the links immediately below:
January 2024, Fourth Class Reunion
January 2024, Dance of the Blue Pearl
September 2023, A Notable Year
September 2023, 27,000 Sunrises
March 2023, Reading about the Wild West Coast
January 23, 2022, He broke an Ornament
January 2023, Thyme Honey
January, 2023, Rev Pam Mildenhall
December, 2022, April
December, 2022, Marching for Life
December, 2022, Whistler on the Green
November, 2022, Oil of Gladness
November, 2022, Bogda Shan
September, 2022, England's Flower
September, 2022, Rev Dr McCulloch
August, 2022, Balaghaderreen (piano)
August, 2022, Welcome to Waipu
April, 2022, Mountains of Heaven
April, 2022, Joy all over the fingers
March, 2022, Mr Steve MacDonald
February, 2022, Mr Rowan Marshall
December, 2021, Beth Cambourn's 80th Birthday
October, 2021, Catriona Loughnane
October, 2021, Mr Russell McKean
May, 2021, Mr William Turner
January, 2021, Babble of the Burn
January, 2021, Child's Scribble
August, 2020, Walking to Hope
August, 2020, Remembering Amazing Grace
July, 2020, Justine Irving
July, 2020, Miss Jessie Irving
April, 2020, Vanessa
April, 2020, Miss Anika Irving
April, 2020, Redvers Drive and Covid 19
April, 2019, A Dog called Kitkat
February, 2019, RSVP
December, 2018, Lynne the Gongoozler
August, 2018, Dance Alone
August, 2018, Le Meilleur Eclusier de Tous
March, 2018, Absent friends - A Lament
March 2018 HVPBRIP
February, 2018, Mayor Raymond Wallace
January, 2018, Angels Celebrate 71 Birthdays

 

Favourites

To download: Desktops/laptops: right click on the pdf or mp3 icon and select "Save link as"
Tablets and smartphones: Tap to download or view online

David [&] Eilidh's Welcome to Wilton

A 6/8 March for a couple coming from the USA to live in our area, with deliberate echoes of the iconic Dr Ross’s 50th Welcome by Donald MacLeod

Mrs Lois Collett

A Reel. Mrs Lois Collett of Invercargill, New Zealand was the youngest (equal!) of the Irvings of Taieri (Otago, New Zealand), and has had a lifelong interest in music, particularly Church music

Return of the King

original manuscript music for highland bagpipes

The tune has at least three layers of meaning, and predates the movie by many years. It is intended to convey the excitement as the king approaches and almost turns into a dance at the end

Sir Robert Beaufin Irving

original manuscript music for highland bagpipes

A hornpipe. Sir Robert Irving was an historical figure, with a long and distinguished maritime career in the British Royal Navy, and captaining the Queen Mary

SIBELIUS

Have you ever heard the pipes played digitally? Don't cringe too much - it sounds less synthetic than you might expect. The three tunes below were composed and played on Sibelius - a computer program used to professionally compose and write music. The notated music can then be played with various stored music sounds including bagpipes. Sibelius had 650 instruments available at last count, including a bagpipe chanter, and drone. Unlike conventional Pipe notation, the music must be created in a key, in this case A Major. The notation of gracenotes can be complex for the more florid ornaments, but they are amazingly uniform compared with the struggle a live performer has. The advantage of the system is that it has a rather greater pitch range than conventional, eg., one of the pieces in this collection reaches high C#. It is also possible to create chromatic notes not in the original scale. The Scary Pensioner is an example but shows why this has been traditionally avoided – discordance is worse than usual. The match of Drone and Chanter volume proved poor, and impossible to adjust. This was because an unvarying loudness has been programmed in. The only solution was to have a "quartet" of pipers playing the melody in unison above the drones to give 4x the volume. Interesting, but live performance has much greater clarity. Other programs dedicated to bagpipe imitation are said to be much more accurate and pleasing. Three Sibelius examples are in this section.

The Scary Pensioner

manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes

Written in Sibelius to celebrate my wife's new pensioner status. The scary nature of the piece - Briar can be a bit scary - comes from the chromatic scale, impossible on real bagpipes

Briar's Reel

manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes

Composed for my wife Briar

Maria of the Snows

manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes

The non-digital version of this tune can also be found in the “people” section, along with explanation. (Useful for comparison)

Events

Dance of the Blue Pearl

manuscript pipe music for a book launchA pipe tune celebrating the life of a blue pearl

A tune composed for a friend at the launch of her book about beautiful pearls emerging from life's hardships

Fourth Class Reunion

pipetune commemorating a class reunionA pipe tune celebrating a school reunion

A tune composed to celebrate the fourth reunion of the Feilding Agricultural High School Upper Sixth class of 1968

Marching for Life

A pipe tune celebrating a march for life

A tune composed to celebrate life on the occasion of a national march for Life in New Zealand.

Redvers Drive and Covid 19

manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes

A tune composed and played to lift the spirits of our neighbourhood during the Corona virus Lockdown. On this occasion the pipes were accompanied by a doumbek (a Turkish belly dancing drum)

Hutt Valley Pipe Band, RIP !

manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes

To celebrate with a reunion in Petone in March 2018, the history of the band which goes back 80 years. I was a member for 12 years.

Absent Friends - A Lament

Highland pipetune for a 70th birthdayHighland pipetune for a 70th birthday celebration

Commemorating the long life and windup of the award-winning Hutt Valley NZ pipeband. Numbers of pipers had died.

Hutt Valley High School Centenary

manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes

I was at this school as a pupil in the ‘50s, and Pipe Major one year when it had a Pipe Band. The school's centenary will be in 2026. Not sure I will still be around then, I submit this celebratory tune right now!

Angels celebrate 71 birthdays

Highland pipetune for a 70th birthdayHighland pipetune for a 70th birthday celebration

Written to celebrate my sister’s 70th birthday. We celebrate 70 birthdays, but it seems to me that angels might also celebrate the birth itself – so 71 birthdays!

Church Picnic

manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes

Capturing the fun at Hope Centre's picnic at Catchpool, Eastern Bays Regional Park on a windy summer's day

Eastern Hutt School Centenary

manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes

For my old primary school, Lower Hutt, New Zealand. To reflect the skipping of children and the tedium of rote-learning

Ceol Alba's 5th anniversary

manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes

Ceol Alba is a group of predominantly Scottish fiddlers, led by Lynne Scott, meeting regularly in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Bagpipes are inappropriate, but I decided to celebrate its five years with a hornpipe. The 2nd pdf is a fiddle version

Flock House

manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes

Flock House was an agricultural training centre near Bulls in the North Island, NZ, 1924-1987 - now a conference centre. Originally it was a “thank you” to British seamen who kept New Zealand exports viable during WWI. Their dependants were trained there and settled on New Zealand farms. The jig was written during a communications training course run by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research late last century

New Tartan

manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes celebrating members of the Irving clan

This piece celebrates the production of a new personal tartan by Dr Bruce Irving, Bonshaw, about the turn of the century

Laird of Whitehorse

A 2/4 march. Whitehorse is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, and the piece celebrates a controversial seminar held there

Tom Little

manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes

Dr Tom Little served as an optometrist with the International Assistance Mission in Afghanistan for more than 30 turbulent years. I met him during a visit to Kabul in the late ‘90s. In 2010, returning to Kabul after doing a remote eye clinic, he and seven other foreign aid workers with him were murdered then robbed. (2nd pdf is an instrumental version)

Pipe Major Masaharu Hoshi

manuscript music for original bagpipe tunes

Bagpipes and bands are rare in Japan, though Toyota has sponsored one. Professor Masaharu Hoshi of Hiroshima University led a disparate group of scientists for several years in a variety of projects. On his 2011 retirement, I declared him an honorary “Pipe Major” of the group and wrote the tune for him

The Irvings of New Zealand

Justine Irving

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

Now in the COVID diaspora in Canada

Miss Jessie Irving

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

Imitating one of Jessie’s horses at speed

Miss Anika Irving

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

For a visiting grandniece about to leave for a mission trip to Nepal.

Jacqueline Irving

Original pipetunes celebrating members of the Irving Clan Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

Miss Jacqueline Irving is the daughter of Mr A. Irving of Waimatua, and a well-regarded secondary school teacher in Dunedin.

George Irving

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

This piece was written in 1974 for the funeral of an uncle on my mother's side and played on the hill above his house near Dunedin. George had a transport business. The tune was modernised this year.

Catherine's Reel

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

Named after my cousin Mrs Catherine Hoekendijk nee Irving. A very talented musician and co-pastor of Harmony Church in Christchurch.

Mr David S. Irving of Little River

original pipetunes celebrating members of the Irving Clan Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

A march for a talented NZ artist specialising in classic vehicles, aeroplanes, historic buildings, and portraits. David Irving is a member of the British Guild of Motoring Artists.

Mr A. G. Irving of Waimatua

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

A long-time dairy farmer near Invercargill, and my cousin, he has a remarkable collection of restored vintage motors, and produces his own wine and cheese.

The New Zealand Irvings

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

A conventional strathspey, celebrating that part of the diaspora living in New Zealand

Julian's March

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

Julian’s march completes a series written for 3 brothers and a sister. The other two are The New Irvings and Miss Kristina Irving

Mrs Shirley Irving

original pipetunes celebrating members of the Irving Clan Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

The late Mrs Irving was of Christchurch

The New Irvings

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

This celebrates the latest generation of Irvings, specifically brothers Jonathan and Eliot Irving who changed their names to reflect their lineage. Both married in the late ‘90s. Since they both now have children, the piece perhaps needs to be updated!

Mrs Hilary Reid

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

This tune celebrates my cousin, a former weaver of Irving tartan. She lives near Taneatua in the Bay of Plenty

Mrs Anne MacLeod

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

Ann, my cousin has lived for several decades on a farm near the seaside area of Brighton, south of Dunedin, New Zealand

Oran An Beatha

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

Yet to come

Mrs Pearl Harvey

original pipetunes celebrating members of the Irving Clan Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

My Aunt, recently deceased in her nineties, was a long-time resident of Mosgiel

Mrs Doris James

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

A 2/4 March. One of my late Irving Aunts. Of all my aunts she had the most pronounced Southland accent

Mrs Jessie Irving

Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

Mrs Jessie Irving, my Aunt, long-time resident of the Taieri plain near Mosgiel. A strathspey

Mrs Lois Collett

manuscript music for Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead Irving pipetunes by Neil Whitehead

A Reel. Mrs Lois Collett of Invercargill, New Zealand was the youngest (equal) of the Irvings of Taieri (Otago, New Zealand), and has had a lifelong interest in music, particularly Church music.

People

27,000 sunrises

Manuscript music for pipe tune composed for my wife's birthday A pipetune to commemorate a birthday

For Briar’s 75th birthday –A bright reel commemorating at least 27000 sunrises.

A Notable Year

Manuscript music for abagpipe tune composed for my wife's birthday A pipetune to commemorate a birthday

To celebrate my wife, Briar’s 75th birthday. This tune has exactly 75 notes, which forces a 5/4 time signature.

Rev Pam Mildenhall

Manuscript music for a memorial bagpipe tune composed for a friend A pipetune to commemorate a book launch

Written for a commemoration service for a dear old friend. Played while her ashes were being placed in old church garden in rural NZ.

April

Manuscript of an original pipetune for a friend killed in a car accident A pipetune to commemorate a book launch

Commemorating a 27 year old Australian woman called April whom we had only known for one day. She had been so affected by a podcast about my wife that she WhatsApp’d us a 30 minute introductory video about herself. The following day she was dead, killed almost instantly in a road accident. Neil wrote this piece as a lament and celebration of her life..

England's Flower Waits till Spring

Manuscript music for an original pipetune composed at the death of Queen Elizabeth II A pipetune to commemorate a book launch

A lament composed at the death of Queen Elizabeth II containing strains of a well-known anthem.

Rev Dr John McCulloch

A memorial pipetune for a friend manuscript music for an original pipetune to commemorate a retirement

Composed for him at his retirement as Minister at St Andrews, Jerusalem . The church was built in memory of Scottish soldiers killed in Palestine during WWI.

Morven's Welcome to Waipu

A pipetune for a friend A pipetune for a friend

A pipetune for a friend whose ancestors from the Isle of Lewis settled in Waipu. They were known as the Waipu Settlers. There are both piano and pipe versions of this tune.

Mr Steve MacDonald

manuscript music for an original pipetune A pipetune to commemorate a book launch

A tune for our IT guy  - a kiwi with Scottish roots. This is an irregular reel.

Mr Rowan Marshall

manuscript music for an original pipetune to commemorate a friend's 21st A pipetune to commemorate a 21st

Played at the 21st birthday celebration of the son of close friends.

Beth Cambourn's 80th birthday

A memorial pipetune for a friend A pipetune to commemorate a book launch

For the 80th birthday of a close relative with Scottish roots (the Orkney Islands).

The Catriona Strathspey

A memorial pipetune for a friend A pipetune to commemorate a book launch

Composed for a local supermarket checkout operator whom we discovered had a Scottish name - Catriona (meaning Catherine). She was surprised and delighted.

Mr William Turner

A memorial pipetune for a friend A pipetune to commemorate a book launch

A special pipetune composed for the launch of a fine book by one of Briar's clients - a Gaelic-speaking Scotsman

Mr Russell McKean

A pipetune commemorating a Scottish man's book of paintings and verse A pipetune celebrating a Scottish man's book of paintings and reminiscences

Another tune composed for one of Briar's clients - a Scottish man, who had produced a small book of reminiscences and paintings of the Scottish village of his boyhood, Kirkliston.

Remembering Amazing Grace

A memorial pipetune for a friend A pipetune in memory of a friend who died suddenly and unexpectedly

Memorial to Mrs Lynne Polglase, July 2020. We named it after 2 weeks together on a barge on a canal in France in which Amazing Grace was played many times on the bagpipes

Vanessa

A pipetune commemorating Vanessa's attempts to track down her brother, who went missing during Lockdown A pipetune for my nieces's valiant efforts to locate her missing brother

Remembeering my niece’s valiant efforts to locate her missing brother.

Lynne the Gongoozler

A pipetune commemorating Mayor Raymond Wallace of Lower Hutt A pipetune commemorating Mayor Raymond Wallace of Lower Hutt

Written for Lynne Polglase’s birthday, this also celebrates the two glorious leafy weeks we had on the Canal du Midi in 2018. (A gongoozler is a very obscure UK word meaning someone who gazes for a very long time at a canal!)

Mayor Raymond Wallace

A pipetune commemorating Mayor Raymond Wallace of Lower Hutt A pipetune commemorating Mayor Raymond Wallace of Lower Hutt

Mayor William Raymond Wallace was Mayor of Lower Hutt, New Zealand, for several terms. In 1513 a William Wallace was killed at the battle of Flodden against the English. Similarly for me, a relative, Christopher Irving was killed at the same battle.

Dr Ralph Brock-Smith’s 70th Birthday

A pipetune commemorating Jesus Birthday A pipetune commemorating Jesus Birthday

An acquaintance that goes back to the late ‘60s. A greatly appreciated Lower Hutt Physician.

The Pyper of Avalon

A pipetune commemorating Jesus Birthday A pipetune commemorating Jesus Birthday

This tune is dedicated to Miss Pyper Sercombe (a relative by marriage) of Avalon, a suburb of Lower Hutt. It imagines that the Arthurian Island of Avalon had a pyper, an antique form of the modern word.

Dr Lindsay Davidson

A pipetune commemorating Jesus Birthday A pipetune commemorating Jesus Birthday

Dr Davidson is Clan Piper of the Davidson Clan and composer of many pieces. He also gained the first Ph.D. in piping!

'Song who writes Himself'

A reel. Guess Who?

2020th Birthday

A pipetune commemorating Jesus Birthday A pipetune commemorating Jesus Birthday

We commemorate his birth but never his birthday! So - in celebration of His birthday.

Mrs Moira Sligo

This slow air, unusual in form, celebrates my cousin and a lifetime in Oamaru (NZ).

Two Finnish Ladies

A bagpipe tune lamenting deaths of agency workers in Afghanistan A bagpipe tune lamenting deaths of agency workers in Afghanistan

This piece is in memory of two Finnish women working with an NGO in Herat, Afghanistan. They were killed by gunfire in 2014, after a lifetime of service to the people of that country. Their taxi was attacked, and it seems the driver was also killed. The men were arrested.

Briar the Brave

Briar is my wife, and this outrageous piece in irregular time is the attempt of Scotland the Brave to keep going in spite of her!

Maria of the Snows (A flamenco jig)

A flamenco jig on the Highland Bagpipe A flamenco jig on the Highland Bagpipe

We had a Spanish English language student staying with us, whose full name was a mouthful: Maria de las Nieves Ruis de los Panos Martin de Vidales. (She had numerous problems with bureaucracies!) There were so many Marias in Spain, she said, that she preferred to be called Maria de las Nieves, Maria of the Snows. This poetic name almost demands a pipe tune! It sounds more like a flamenco as it proceeds, but is rather easier than it sounds

Pipe Major Brian Jackson by Don Sargent

Brian Jackson was Pipe Major of the Hutt Valley Pipe Band. This tune was written in the early ‘60s (roughly) and played at a Pipe Band Contest but through modesty called a “traditional air”! It does not seem to occur in published collections of Don Sargent’s music, but seems to me well worthy of it

Rev. Dr Ross Wards

This tune celebrates a more than 50 year association with Ross, who was in the Hutt Valley High School Pipe Band and Hutt Valley Pipe Band with me. He had a long vocation in the Anglican Ministry, remained an adherent of piping, and was known for his enthusiasm for the pipe organ. His doctorate was in Scottish Culture

Laird of Lanark

Haydn Carmichael, a Melbourne lawyer, gathered a group of colleagues to explore a proposed mining project. We declared him honorary Laird of Lanark (his ancestral area) with this pipe tune

The Gillies

The Gillies are my cousins. Now retired from teaching careers they are installed in Omarama, an area in the South Island particularly famous for gliding.

SUNDRY

Reading about the Wild West Coast

original pipetune celebrating a B&B owner on NZ's West Coast neil whitehead original Scottish pipetunes

Written for the owner of a B&B on the "wild" West Coast of NZ" where we stayed for 2 nights. She called her place the Readers' Retreat. She was delighted to have her own original tune.

He Broke an Ornament

Neil Whitehead original tunes Great Highland Bagpipe original Scottish pipetune celebrating the breaking of an ornament

A humorous piece that stops abruptly when the ornament falls to the floor and breaks! Ornament has a double meaning of course.

Thyme Honey

Neil Whitehead original tunes Great Highland Bagpipe original Scottish pipetune based on Psalm 45:7

Composed after wondering what Thyme honey would SOUND like? Probably a sweet sound

Whistler on the Green

original pipetune celebating a happy whistler neil whitehead original Scottish pipetunes

Evoking any happy whistler anywhere - especially in green and open spaces

Bogda Shan

Neil Whitehead original tunes Great Highland Bagpipe original Scottish pietune celebrating Bogda Shan mountain

In celebration of the Mountain of God in the extreme West of China. (Bogda Shan means Mountain of God)

Oil of Gladness

Neil Whitehead original tunes Great Highland Bagpipe original Scottish pipetune based on Psalm 45:7

Straight from Psalm 45:7

Ballaghaderreen

Neil Whitehead original tunes Great Highland Bagpipe neil whitehead original Scottish pietunes

I found the name of this town so interesting that I composed a pipetune for it. It's also the birthplace of Matt Molloy of The Chieftains - a favourite traditional Irish band

Mountains of Heaven

Neil Whitehead original tunes Great Highland Bagpipe neil whitehead original Scottish pietunes

A mountain range in the extreme far west of China

Joy all over the fingers

Neil Whitehead original tunes Great Highland Bagpipe neil whitehead original Scottish pietunes

This tune doesn't need a description

Babble of the Burn

Neil Whitehead original tunes Great Highland Bagpipe neil whitehead original Scottish pietunes

The sound of water over pebbles

Child's Scribble

Neil Whitehead original tunes Great Highland Bagpipe neil whitehead original Scottish pietunes

All our tunes are child’s scribble compared with the ultimate transcendent Tune

Walking to Hope

Neil Whitehead original tunes Great Highland Bagpipe neil whitehead original Scottish pietunes

On an hour’s walk to a local church called Hope Centre. Any other interpretations welcome!

A Dog Called Kitcat

Neil Whitehead original tunes Great Highland Bagpipe neil whitehead original Scottish pietunes

This tune was composed for a girl call Milya near Montreal, who wrote a chain letter to reach interesting people world-wide. When the letter reached me, this tune did too!

RSVP

Neil Whitehead original tunes Great Highland Bagpipe neil whitehead original Scottish pietunes

I interpret Is:55 as an invitation to a transcendent wedding feast. This is an RSVP. I call it an advance rather than the trad ¾ retreat.

You Never Dance Alone

Neil Whitehead manuscript for strathspey Great Highland Bagpipe neil whitehead original Scottish pietunes

Although there are many solo Scottish Dances, this strathspey talks of a state in which Someone is always with you.

Le Meilleur Eclusier de Tous

A pipetune for the best lockkeeper of all. An original pipe tune for the Canal du Midi

(French for The Best Lock-keeper of All) Written to celebrate a trip on the Canal du Midi, France, and its locks. A clue to the identity of the best lock keeper may be found in Rev. 3:7. (Français: Apo. 3.7).

Lifeline

We all hate deadlines. What would it be like to be past a life-giving lifeline?

Jig on the Rock

The safest jig must be on the strongest rock.

An Beannachd

"An Beannachd" means "The Blessing"; a very important and neglected part of life

Lochend

Lochend was the traditional name of a little village near Dumfries said to be the dwelling of the Arthurian Lady of the Lake.

Lammerlaw

A pipetune commemorating Jesus Birthday A pipetune commemorating Jesus Birthday

The tune is named after the Lammerlaw range in Otago, New Zealand, rolling hill country crowned with golden-brown tussock.

Leprechaun in the Glen

Jigs are both Scottish and Irish; and this pictures an elusive, magical creature in Scotland

Letter of Comfort

A "letter of comfort" is a declaration by a city council that some unpermitted building activity will not be prosecuted. What might a heavenly equivalent of this be like?

L’Chaim

L’Chaim means “To Life!” and is the traditional toast for Israelis. It is clearly the best celebratory toast to him who is Life!

March of the Fat Friars.

A lightweight ¾ piece. These overweight monks of very unsteady pace and gait are heading off to a retreat. They are clearly short of breath, and one appears to tread on a companion’s foot. Fortunately there are more grace notes as the piece progresses. This piece is best played with a hard reed prone to squeal!.

Sun on the Corn

My wife Briar supplied this very apt title. A March.

All-night Route March

This depicts the epic all-night marches of Abner and Joab with their wounded after a fierce battle (2Sam: 2)

Lap from the Linn

Psa 100:7 He drinks from any stream he has to cross, then charges forward triumphing (Moffat). Linn is a Scottish word for the plunge-pool of a waterfall.

March On O My Soul

This rather heroic sounding title is taken from Judges 5 which is a kind of victory song sung by Deborah and Barak who fought against Sisera the Field Marshall of Jabin the King of Canaan, and won an overwhelming victory.

He Dances on the Lake

manuscript music for an original pipetune to commemorate a Dancer original pipetune by Neil Whitehead

This piece is nominally a hornpipe, but has four-note groups which are more typical of some Celtic Fiddle writing. They could be interpreted as a twirl. If Someone once walked on water ... why wouldn't he dance on a lake?

Machowl’s Rant

A rant is supposed to be an intense, long-continued speech, perhaps dance, or possibly playing of an instrument under the grip of a strong (often negative) emotion. A good example is the pipe tune The Cameronian Rant. In Western classical music, the tarantella can be of this type.The surname above is actually Irish, and the music is apposite there, if anywhere. The name is also a Israeli word for “dance”. The piece is unlike any other rant I have been able to find, in that it is in ¾ time and sounds something like a wild reel

The Boiling Cauldron

manuscript music for an original pipetune jig an original pipetune

Jig

Life-giving Pipes

manuscript music for an original pipetune to commemorate life-giving water an original piptune

The bagpipes? But in the words of an old Japanese-American Christian teacher “even a rusty pipe can deliver life-giving water without feeling proud”. The piece exploits extensively a rare but fairly easy ornament comprising a Taorluath with an extra note added

The Loch Ness Monster’s Cold

manuscript music for an original pipetune about the Loch Ness monster original pipetune about the Loch Ness Monster with a cold

This piece (a march) arose from a friend's remark that bagpipes sounded like the Loch Ness Monster with a cold. So the piece is composed to sound like that. Coincidentally the recording technique produced a flattened low G which could easily be the honking sound of nasal passages getting a good cleanout!

He pipes, I dance

manuscript music for an original pipetune to commemorate one of NZ's best Scottish dancers original jig composed for a dancing friend

This jig is dedicated to Dr Ewen McCann, one of the best Highland dancers in New Zealand, his late father, Mr Bruce McCann being one of the best pipers. Dr McCann already has at least two other pipe tunes named for him.

Reelity

There is a fundamental invisible dance to reality. This is why there is something rather than nothing

The Lord of the Jig

If there is a Lord of the Dance, there must be a Lord of the Jig!

The Rock of Scotland

Slow air. Rock underlies Scotland as The Rock undergirds us

Sarayu

Sarayu is a mythical underground river in Eastern mythology mentioned by William P. Young, author of The Shack, and is his symbol for the Holy Spirit.

Mitzi

A jig commemorating the life of our loveable, active and slightly dim-witted ruby-red cavalier King Charles Spaniel. It travels over the available range rather like she did – somewhat mindlessly

Revival of The Belfast Hornpipe

This is an echo and altered setting of a known tune called The Belfast Hornpipe

Graceless

The tune is almost unique because it has no gracenotes whatever. So, what's the result? Graceless? You judge!