THE vigorous health of what is generally referred to as the “clarsach revival” (although, strictly speaking, the clarsach was the wire-strung Gaelic harp; current Scottish harps tend to be gut, nylon or fibre-strung) was epitomised recently by the launch of emerging young harpist Ailie Robertson’s debut “solo” album, First Things First, at a warm-hearted concert at George Watson’s College.
At 24, Robertson is already a seasoned folk player, having recorded a well-received album with the Scots-Irish-Canadian band The Outside Track, with whom she is currently two weeks into a gruelling 35-gig tour, much of it throughout mainland and isla
nd Scotland (for relevant dates, see
www.theoutsidetrack.com). They were ensconced somewhere in darkest Essex when I spoke to her about First Things First (Lorimer Records), an engaging take on traditional and contemporary Scots and Irish material, on which she is accompanied by pianist James Ross, guitarist Ewan Robertson, bassist Duncan Lyall and percussionist Paul Jennings.
“The main thing was to create a really modern-sounding setting for the harp,” she says, “and I wanted it to have a definite band feeling, rather than just solo.”
Robertson’s career path so far has been impressive, if intriguing. Although she has played the Scottish harp since she was 11, winning four Mod gold medals, she gained a first-class honours degree in genetics at Cambridge, then promptly flitted to Limerick University’s Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, whence she emerged with a first-class MA two years ago. “Limerick was great in the sense that it allowed me to gather useful ideas. You had day-long master classes with lots of different people, so it exposed me to loads of different harp techniques and styles.”
A finalist in this year’s Radio Scotland Young Traditional Muscian of the Year awards, she regards her own style as settling in – “I think harmonies are a big thing for me, while I suppose my right-hand style is a mixture of Irish and Scottish.”
Genetics, its seems, has been left far behind, although harping could be in her own genes: her mother, Lindsay, is administrator of the Edinburgh International Harp Festival.
The Scottish harp scene is indeed thriving, reckons Ailie: “There are so many young players coming out of college at the moment, and we’ve got such great role models such as Catriona McKay, Corinna Hewat, Patsy Seddon and Mary McMaster. And there’s still not any set style as such, so there’s lots of room to be creative.
“But there are not so many of us yet that you can’t turn on a CD without knowing straight away who’s playing.”
Among those she mentions, Catriona McKay, a formidable player as likely to be found in the company of Shetland fiddlers or Scandinavian nyckelharpists as in an electronic music workshop, released a dazzling album, Starfish (Glimster Records), at the end of last year, combining virtuosic technique with a uniquely tuned, custom-built harp by Starfish Designs of Ballachulish.
Another wide-ranging player, literally, is Barcelona-based Borderer Phamie Gow, who recently appeared at New York’s Carnegie Hall in a star-studded Tibet benefit concert organised by renowned “minimalist” composer Philip Glass, and who launched a new CD of her own, La Vida Buena (Gemecs), at Edinburgh’s Coda music shop last month.
It has to be said, however, that if the Scottish harp is flourishing, it is no thanks to chaps. In the heyday of Gaeldom’s bardic culture, most harpers were men; not so today. One is tempted to ask Robertson whether it’s something in the male DNA.
What’s holding them back, with traditional role models as diverse as King David and Harpo Marx?
• For further information and dates, see
ailierobertson.comThe full article contains 650 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
