The song though is not, as it’s name would otherwise suggest, a drinking song.  Rather the song is a parting song, namely parting from a loved one, in this case ‘Mary’.  So although we may all wish gae bring to me a pint o’ wine, it seems that we’re going to have to share it … then leave.  More’s the pity, on both counts!

I have included the score – .pdf file – here for your convenience.  Also below you’ll find a nice wee video of it being performed vocally and below that the lyrics for it.

Gae bring tae Me a Pint o’ Wine.

Gae bring tae me a pint o’ wine,
And fill it in a silver tassie,
That I may drink, before I go,
A service to my bonnie lassie.
The boat rocks at the pier o’ Leith,
Fu’ loud the winds blaws frae the ferry,
The ship rides by the Berwick Law,
And I maun leave my bonnie Mary.

The trumpets sound, the banner fly,
The glittering spears are ranked ready;
The shouts o’ war are heard afar,
The battle closes deep and bloody !
It’s no’ the roar o’ sea or shore
Wad mak’ me langer wish to tarry,
Nor shouts o’ war that’s heard afar,
It’s leaving thee, my bonnie Mary.

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“There was a lad was born in Kyle”, celebrated Burns’ 28th birthday on the 25th January 1787. The song harks back to the momentous, and the poet, half-jokingly suggests, portentous, storm that damaged the house he was born in as well as many other properties in the neighbourhood.

In case you, as was I, are unfamiliar with the song I include a wee video below for your enjoyment, meanwhile the .pdf of the score is here:

Robert Burns – There was a lad was born in Kyle

The full lyrics:

There was a lad was born in Kyle,
But whatna day o’whatna style,
I doubt it’s hardly worth the while
To be sae nice wi’ Robin.

Chorus
Robin was a rovin’ Boy,
Rantin’, rovin’, rantin’, rovin’;
Robin was a rovin’ Boy,
Rantin’, rovin’, Robin!

2. Our monarch’s hindmost year but ane
Was five-and-twenty days begun,
‘Twas then a blast o’Janwar’Win’
Blew hansel in on Robin.
Chorus

3. The Gossip keekit in his loof,
Quo’scho wha lives will see the proof,
This waly boy will be nae coof,
I think we’ll ca’him Robin.
Chorus

4. He’ll hae misfortunes great and sma’,
But ay a heart aboon them a’;
He’ll be a credit till us a’,
We’ll a’be proud o’Robin.
Chorus

5. But sure as three times three mak nine,
I see by ilka score and line,
This chap will dearly like our kin’,
So leeze me on thee, Robin.
Chorus

6. “Guid faith,” quo’scho, “I doubt you Stir,
Ye gar the lasses lie aspar;
But twenty fauts ye may hae waur-
So blessins on thee, Robin.”
Chorus

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Scots Wha Hae is written in tribute to a Scottish King, yet it speaks to us of the freedom of man from the dominion of those who would seek to oppress him and what that oppression might mean.  It is a powerful piece of writing that works on a number of levels.

The song is sung to the traditional Scots tune “Hey Tutti Tatti”, which is what is reproduced here (.pdf file type) – out of a sense of completeness I’ve included lyrics which are sung in the same key as the trumpet part – from an old copy of “Burns Song” published in 1896.   Given that it’s pages are beginning to look a little worn and that it’s spine is fairly heavily damaged I’m giving some consideration to reproducing it with a nod to brass players and so including a stave in Bb … the version of Scots Wha Hae here was already written in Bb, so no need to transpose fortunately!

In case you don’t know what Scots Wha Hae sounds like, here it is performed by Parcel of Rogues:

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As is often the case with music thoughts of one lead to thoughts of another, sometimes it’s an oblique thing with a spurious train of thought that ends up somewhere unexpected, sometimes it’s not.  I mean it’s hardly surprising that whilst singing Bowie’s Space Oddity in my head – I’m forbidden from singing out loud, it frightens small children and animals – that my thoughts should turn to the accomplishments of man in terms of getting into space, I mean it.  is.  just.  MAMMOTH!

Initial efforts to put people into space were simply Herculian and the pilots and scientists involved were either extremely brave or extremely stupid … rumour has it though that stupid people aren’t allowed into space.  Not yet anyway.

If you read over that last paragraph you might note one thing, I talk in the past tense, as if getting into space is an easy thing now, like we all do it, like there’s no risk.  It’s often taken for granted now that there are satellites in space, that men have been to the moon and that there is an international space station which – to the best of my limited knowledge – is always manned, but even now it’s not easy.  On the 1st Feb it will be the 10th Anniversary of the the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the loss of all crew as it attempted re-entry having been earlier damaged during lift off.  Thinking back, it’s something I remember quite clearly now.

In spite of the difficulties we still hear about the potential for space tourism, indeed companies exist to [potentially] serve that very purpose, Virgin Galactic (what a brilliant spin on the Virgin Atlantic name!) for example. I’m sure we can all imagine what it must be like, even the reality might be quite different, but in many respects it’d be a bit like someone deciding to set-up a travel agent for going to Australia on holiday in the years immediately after Cook discovered it was there!  Buy two tickets, get one bout of scurvy for free and possibly be smashed to death on rocks or drowned in high seas . . . sounds like great fun!

And still, in spite of this tragedy and those before it we still consider going to space as if it’s something that ‘just happens’, that can be taken for granted.  And yet it’s really not.  It’s quite incredible.  Think about.

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Below is the Corrie’s amusing rewriting of Scotland the Brave, my favourite version!

It’s ’cause we know who we are.

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Bearing these things in mind I was compelled to seek out a proper paid for recording, as I think we should all do when we find an artist on-line who meets or surpasses our expectations.  If we are to benefit from their skill and artistry, then they should benefit from the pound in our pocket . . . anyway, I stray from topic!  In the end I opted for Nakariakov’s No Limit Album, to say that I wasn’t disappointed is something of an understatement, it has to be one of the finest displays of musicianship and technical skill I have heard, an absolute masterpiece.

The fact that the pieces were originally written for violin and cello only goes to further demonstrate his absolute mastery of an instrument that so many dismiss as loud and brash.  He coaxes from his trumpet and flugel such beautiful and enchanting music that many a player from the string section may be tempted to lay their instrument down upon the ground before thrashing it into matchstick sized pieces, they may then be further tempted to use resultant kindling to put to fire any other violins or cellos they might be able to lay their hands on . . .

. . . cellist and violinists, you’ve been warned!

The piece you have hopefully just listened to (or are currently listening to) is the opening track, Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns Rondo Capriccioso in A Minor original for violin and orchestra, from the No Limit album, and quite an opener it is and sets the scene nicely for what follows.  An incredible album, well worth having in your collection.

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What I would be inclined to say about it is this, that when Vizzutti performs it it’s a technical tour-de-force and really demonstrates the skill and character of Vizzutti the musician, perhaps this is why it is more appealing to those who play the trumpet et al. since there is then a real understanding of the skill required to perform it as intended.

If there’s one thing I can say for absolute certain about it though, I won’t be trying it.  The lady pictured below spent several years trying to master it before going on to use her then over-developed hands to throttle her band leader who had been so keen for her to play it at a future fund-raiser . . .

“The Strangler” by Travis Louie

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Oren Marshall,

The instrument that he plays here, and more generally, is now commonly referred to as an Orenophone, although as far as I can ascertain it is just a shape variant of an Eb Tuba, all the same it’s very cool and, I’m guessing, easier to hold than it’s more traditional counterpart.

I have to admit that, even as a trumpet / flugel player there is something very appealing about the tuba, I think it’s maybe just the sheer scale of the instrument . . .  I wouldn’t want to play one in a marching band right enough!

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The bell is especially nicely engraved including the text:

CLASS A
NEW CREATION
50 MEDALS OF HONOUR

BESSON & CO
“Prototype”
198 EUSTON ROAD
LONDON
ENGLAND

The only addition that the band instruments had over-and-above this is an inscription to the effect, “Leadhills Silver Band”, also those instruments are dated back to the early 1900′s . . . the similarities though are uncanny.

I should probably make a note on the dating of this Besson trumpet.  It’s serial number is 122324, which according to horn-u-copia places it’s date of manufacture anywhere between 1921 (last serial no. 111500) and 1934 (last serial no. 124350).  Using these serial numbers I reached the conclusion that Besson were producing somewhere in the region of 988 horns a year (assuming levels of manufacture were fairly stable – a big assumption I know), and on that basis this would mean that my trumpet was completed at some point during the early 1930′s . . . if anybody has any other notions as to dating I’d be delighted to hear them!

As you can see from the pictures the horn isn’t exactly in ‘as new’ condition, in fact someone had attempted to cover up some of the wear on the valve block with silver paint at some point, the problems didn’t stop at the cosmetic either.  The valves were blowing out, the lower register in particular sounded just dreadful . . . I mean really bad!  The valve caps were also replaced as one of the original ones was cracked.

More recently I had the collars on the main tuning slide removed to assist with tuning, actually I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the tech I use, a guy by the name of Bryce Ferguson who’s based in Edinburgh.  He’s also responsible for all the work done on the band instruments too.

In the end I spent substantially more having the horn serviced and the valves repaired than I originally spent on the trumpet itself and whilst it’s not to everyone’s taste I actually rather like the tone of the instrument.

It’s probably worth noting that the choice of mouthpiece had a huge impact on the sound of the trumpet, I had been playing it with a modern Denis Wick with extremely poor results and it wasn’t until I stuck a Schlike in that I really started to get things to work for me.  Interestingly I’ve since heard other vintage Besson trumpets struggle to sound at all good with a Denis Wick mouth piece, a problem easily overcome by substituting for another brand.

The key change valve allows the trumpet to be played in either the Kay of Bb or A.

Ideally, at some point in the future, I’d like to have the silver-plating redone.  That, however, is for another day!

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