Music: Dougie Maclean's songs

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

The other 'parachuted in' pieces of music are the songs written for the play by Dougie Maclean. As one of Scotland's premier songsmiths and a traditional musician of note he was appointed musical director of TAG's 1993 production of the Scot's Quair trilogy. Personally I love the songs, but wonder if, musically, they are at one with the other music in the show. The lyrics of what we have come to call 'the Tink song' and 'I've no tears for you Faither' move the action along, and the melodies and arrangements underpin Chris' emotional journey through each song, but the songs are foreign to the piece.

We use a variety of acting styles throughout the show, however. Perhaps it is no bad thing to vary the musical styles as well. Only feasible contemporary instruments are used as part of the action of the play (flute, whistle, fiddle, mandolin). In the Dougie Maclean songs the main instrument of harmony is the guitar - which is used nowhere else in the piece; with any luck this places these songs somewhere outwith the unity of the action and underlines their soliloquacious nature.

Music: