Piping at the double

George Greig gives a play-through to Jock Agnew's latest pipe tune book, for duet playing

TWO'S Company is the title of Jock Agnew's latest book, a collection of 29 duets, 28 of which were arranged by Jock himself. Of these, the majority are for two pipes of the same pitch, there being seven for pipes set a fourth or a fifth apart - the most obvious combination being A and D.

Jock is one of the pillars of the Society and has had a hand in most of the Society's publications, so it seems almost presumptuous to review his latest opus.

Whether your reviewer is brave or foolhardy, only time will tell. I bought my copy (please note that I parted with hard-won bawbees for this - would that I had known that I would later be offered a free review copy) as soon as it

became available at this year's competition. At least my comments are not a result of my palm being greased with silver! I bought it because ... well, it was Jock's and it had a nice cover. When I got it home, 1 was less than enthusiastic about it; neither the appearance (of more anon) nor the contents list inspired me. And so it gathered dust until our editor invited me to review the book.

Having worked through the book in considerable detail, playing and making copious notes on each tune, I can now record that my initial impression was misplaced and I am grateful to the editor for persuading me to give the book the attention it deserves. Inevitably, my comments, particularly in relation to the tunes themselves, must be subjective; I have to presume that Jock liked them all, even if I didn't. Rather than give a blow- by-blow account of each tune, here is a selection of comments from my notes.

A Bumper at Parting: This is a “nothing” tune which is saved by the harmony which gives some interest to it.

Christmas Day in the Morning: Harmony muddies the tune in the first part. Second part okay but why bother?

The Derry Boat: Hard to get excited about the tune but the harmony on D pipes works remarkably well with melody on A.

Malbrook: A good example of where the D pipes take the melody over the A pipes harmony - but only Jock would have bothered with “for he's a jolly good fellow” - however, he should take it as a compliment to himself!

Jenny Nettles: Very effective.

Jenny's Bawbee: Works well. A good start to the book.

Katie Bairdie: Works well; surprising that we don't hear it more often.

The Fair Maid oƒ Barra: Nice tune and the harmony on A against melody on D works particularly well.

The Mulindhu, (correctly, Am Muileann Dubh, The Black Mill): I like this; it is very effective.

In all, I thought that fully half the arrangements worked very well, which, as music books go, is a pretty good proportion. Indeed, I thought that only two (Low Country Jig and Miss Menzies oƒ Culdair) did not work well: not that the notes don't harmonise, it is just that, to my ear, the “harmony” detracts from the melody and that may be a matter of personal taste.

My slight reservation about some of the other arrangements arises out of the question of just how well matched the two instruments are. In the ideal case of two identical instruments, when the harmony repeats the preceding melody note, the melody becomes lost. When one set of pipes plays with, say, flute or whistle, it remains clear which is carrying the melody. I hesitate, though, to argue for two sets of pipes not being closely matched.

What is pleasing to note is that Jock provides successful examples both of D pipes carrying the melody over A pipes and vice versa - including what I think is one of the best tunes and arrangements, but I'll save that for my final comments.

The only tune with which I have real difficulty is Cummilum. The harmony works well in the second part but less so in the first. However, I think that this tune originally exceeded the 9-note range (the version in 0'Neill's 1001 goes from low E to high B) and compressing it to fit did it no great service.

I have talked of “harmony” and that, in my view, is what Jock provides. I would regard few of the accompanying parts as “counter-melodies”. And I will concede that the same can be said of many of my own efforts. I see nothing wrong in this but observe that it makes learning the accompanying parts just a little more difficult.

I do have two reservations about the production of the book. I commented earlier about the appearance. Yes, it does have an attractive cover but the art-work continues throughout the book with a heavy band, sometimes floral, at the beginning of each tune and the harmony line is highlighted throughout. I do not care for this.

And my other gripe is that it is just as well that most pipers ignore the key signatures because Jock is idiosyncratic, some might say cavalier, in their use. There are instances of tunes being written in three sharps and every G being preceded by a nat. sign. Why? In other cases, he gives a key signature of two sharps and a nat. What is wrong with just two sharps?

I am sure that much careful proof-reading went into the preparation of this book; it is ironic, therefore, that the tune For Pauline is incorrectly credited as being “trad”. The comment in my notes is “Nice tune given sensitive treatment - one of the best in the book.” It is Jock's own composition and he deserves proper recognition for it.

And what is my conclusion? This is a splendid little book which contains some gems and, certainly, is worth its modest price.

Two's Company, £7, available from Jock Agnew, 11 Ulting Lane, Essex, CM9 6QB.