First Person

Short Takes XIII

19/6/09: Why the bagpipes?   On Classic FM this afternoon I caught the end of a medley played by the pipes and drums of one of the Highland regiments. When it comes to the Highland pipe bands, I have an addiction, so must get to the bottom of why that skirl moves me to some of the most volatile emotions I experience. Here are melodies that rouse in the same moment they haunt. The air pushed by those pipers through bladder and pipes issues from some high and orderly frenzy, a momentum that takes me outside all consideration of the…

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