Brand Expression

Drysdale was strongly influenced by the folklore o f his mother’s native Borders and many o f his compositions are connected with this area. Local ballads provide the basis for vocal works such as Thomas the Rhymer (1890; unfinished) and Tamlane (1905) although neither employs the melodic material associated with its traditional text. This is not always the case — the choral ballad Barbara Allan (1906) is based on one version o f the traditional melody with which it is associated.1 A number o f Drysdale’s songs are settings o f texts by Walter Scott and James Hogg, writers closely associated with the Borders, and the latter’s ballad “May o f Morril Glen” also provided the stimulus for his first orchestral work The Spirit o f the Glen (1889). However, the foremost supplier o f Drysdale’s song texts is the mysterious Ercil Doune, a name connected with the thirteenth-century poet and seer Thomas the Rhymer who held land at Erceldoune near the Borders’ town o f Galashiels. Investigation has revealed that the composer’s sister Janey used this pseudonym for her writings, an apt choice considering the Learmont family’s connection with the poet. It was not just the literature o f the Borders which inspired Drysdale; its imposing landscapes provided stimulus for several compositions including the orchestral pieces Border Romance and Herondean although these works convey general impressions rather than specifically illustrating a definite programme.

Drysdale also drew upon other areas o f Scotland for inspiration. There are several song settings o f texts by Robert Bums and his colourful poem Tam o ' Shanter was used by Drysdale as the stimulus for his concert overture o f the same name. The poetry o f many lesser-known Scots authors also appears in his oeuvre. For example, there are a number o f songs with texts by the Cromarty author and journalist Donald A. MacKenzie (1873— 1936), a prominent writer on anthropological and mythological subjects with whom Drysdale held many common interests. The part song “Whar Daur Meddle Wi’ Me” is a setting o f a poem by the Dundonian Sir William Allan, a prolific writer o f patriotic and fervid texts whose sentiments would have appealed to the composer’s national spirit and strong sense o f patriotism.

1 The earliest printed source o f this melody has been traced to James Johnson The Scots Musical Museum 6 vols (Edinburgh: Johnson, 1790) 3, 230.

Several works have links with Scotland’s rugged west coast — the orchestral overture

Through the Sound o f Raasay was written following Drysdale’s tour of the Western

Highlands whilst the cantata The Kelpie is a setting o f Dr Charles Mackay’s poem “The Kelpie o f Corrievreckan” which has its basis in the folklore associated with fairy water creatures. The stimulus o f Celtic folklore and legend, albeit from mainly Irish sources, also played a prominent part in Drysdale’s collaboration with the ninth Duke of Argyll on the opera Fionn and Tera with the partners drawing great strength from their mutual interest in the then burgeoning renaissance in Celtic culture.

Drysdale’s works demonstrate expertise in integrating features derived from Scottish folk music into a style based on the more traditional composers of the late-nineteenth century. He draws upon devices from a wide variety o f his native genres including folksong, bagpipe music and dance tunes.2 The features most commonly found are:

gapped scales in their many transpositions. Root forms used include

Ex.6.1 — Root forms of gapped scales

* Pentatonic --- fCk--- --- 0 — $ — —0 . . . . . . _ m P 9 y ' i 0 — w — < ml 1 --- * --- m 0

Hexatonic — filling in the second gap of the pentatonic scale

--- ---/ W t--- --- J— (*9— J

—0 ""0 rv---

(x) indicates the gaps within the scale

These scales are often employed in melodies forming the major motifs and themes o f folk-inspired works giving them a distinct traditional flavour;

modal keys associated with the flattened leading note (most frequently Dorian, mixolydian and Aeolian modes);

2 For further information concerning this topic see Francis Collinson The Traditional and National Music

• the ‘double tonic’ progression. The shifting between the tonic triad o f the home key and the triad a full tone lower;

Ex.6.2 — Scottish pipe tune3 “The Inverness Gathering” based on the double tonic progression

JJ J

J il

J J J J-J-J Jif r r l tif

c/J J---J i

G A

On numerous occasions, Drysdale manipulates western-type chordal progressions to mimic this effect.

Ex.6.3 — Example o f chord structures used to mimic the double tonic progression

8 — r — q O --- - 4 f t 1

( § * 4 ---

^

l b n i b n

The contents o f this specimen summary will be discussed in more detail later. • melodies which begin and/or end on notes other than the tonic;

• melodic ornamentation such as grace notes and roulades;

Ex.6.4 — Examples o f melodic ornamentation found in traditional tunes

■frj J

Oran na Leanabhbg

Transcribed b y F . CoHinson from M irdina Macdonald, Isle ofLewis

r

- 4 j i ^

• Scottish traditional rhythmic characteristics including the often cliched Scotch snap; • long pedal points/drones found in bagpipe music;

• the mimicking o f folk instruments.

Such devices make frequent appearances in Drysdale’s music. Nevertheless, he rarely employs known traditional material; instead, these features are deftly incorporated into his composition, infusing it with an innate Scottishness.

Drysdale’s composition training from Frederick Corder had a considerable impact on his work. At a basic level, this took the form o f the straightforward technical advice expected from a teacher: means o f thematic development; advising on orchestration (in which Drysdale had no experience); or choosing the correct nomenclature for a composition o f a particular structure. Corder also had his own techniques and preferences which he disseminated to his students. For example, he promoted the use o f particular harmonic devices such as the final inversion o f the German sixth chord and its resolution for ‘gloomy writing’,4 a progression which Drysdale’s compositions, and particularly those from the RAM years, frequently employ. However, Corder’s teaching went beyond advising on simple technicalities. He vigorously encouraged the employment o f compositional techniques derived from composers connected with the late Romantic German style, notably, Wagner. In Drysdale’s music, this influence is often evident in the harmonic language employed and in the deployment o f devices such as:

• lack o f full cadences to achieve continuity;

• recurring motifs and rhythmical figures which take the form o f leitmotif-like devices which are used to identify and recall specific characters, actions and emotions;

• passages o f chromatically shifting chords over pedals which momentarily obscure the prevailing tonality;

• sudden enharmonic changes.

Drysdale’s correspondence and programmes o f concerts where his own works were given show that he attended performances o f several o f Wagner’s works.5 In an interview o f 1904, where Drysdale discusses, amongst other subjects, the composers he particularly admires he gives his qualified approval o f Wagner thus:

4 Frederick Corder Modern Musical Composition (London: Curwen, [1909]) 11

5 For example, the overture to Tannhauser was performed at the same concert as the first performance o f