The Flap of the Eagle's Wing
| ID | JSS0076 |
| Title | The Flap of the Eagle's Wing |
| Document Reference | MS2726/69 |
| Format | 245 x 300 |
| Medium | pen & ink on music manuscript paper,with handwritten notes |
| Item Type | Manuscript |
| Subject | Music, Scottish Bagpipe Music, Scottish Violin Music, Reel, |
| Item Description | Skinner's manuscript of the 'Pipe Reel', "The Flap of the Eagle's Wing", by 'J. Scott Skinner'. His dedication, beneath the music is: To my esteemed friend Mr W(illia)m Maclennan, & danc(e)r, / "The Flap of the Eagle's Wing" is an expression of (the) composer(')s as to that artiste(')s / vigorous style of cutting' (a heel to calf movement in Highland dancing). The three-staff systems are for 'Pipes', 'Violin', and 'Piano'. Skinner explains, below the music, that, in the next last bar: '*C (natural) here would lead to the bare G (natural) / better than the Natural effect / of C (sharp) -'. His footnote adds: '*The drones (of the bagpipes) are fixed and admit of no change, but then the / open air dispels the wildness that would be occasioned by attempting / to put A's in the Bass against a passage purely in G.' This is a musical convention, not a realistic device; Highland bagpipes drones are tuned an octave, not a fifth, apart. The music is in 2/4, the A major key signature with G natural, not G sharp, a note the pipes cannot play. |
| Creator | James Scott Skinner |
| Creator Manuscript | James Scott Skinner |
| Time Period | 1890's-1900's |
| Relationships | JSS0591 |
| Location | University of Aberdeen |
| Collection Name | Harp & Claymore |
| Copyright | http://www.abdn.ac.uk/diss/historic/documents/copyright |
Historic Collections · Kings
College · Old Aberdeen · AB24 3SW
Tel:(0)44 1224 274312 · E-mail: scottskinner@abdn.ac.uk
