Music: Repetition of songs

Note on the use of music in Sunset Song
By Dougal Lee, musical director of the Prime Productions production

In Act 1 Long Rob sings 'Ladies of Spain' when all seems right with the world. In Act 2 he sings it when he seems to want to hang on to a time when all was right with the world. The repetition of this song is the leitmotif in the play most obviously called for by Alastair Cording. We have used other tunes the same way: 'Up in the Morning Early' is quoted to dispel gloom (when Will leaves; at the wedding; it is also used to describe the storm). 'Bonnie Wee Thing' is the tune the Daftie Andy hears and sings and seems to describe his yearning for love - so we have Chris sing it when she turns from Ewan, and it is played in jig form at the meeting of John and Jean Guthrie. 'Flouers o' the Forest' is a coronach played at John Guthrie's funeral, and at the dedication of the war memorial and at the strewing of the poppies by the doomed soldiers. By transforming these song tunes into dance tunes we are able to invite the audience into the action at the beginning of the play, and maintain an economy and homogeneity of music which allows the music to contribute to the emotional content of the piece whilst appearing to be an important and everyday part of the characters' lives, without that music becoming obtrusive within the action of the piece.

Music: