20thCentury

Muscular young man in a Scottish landscape with a tartan plaid on his shoulders, with a legend describing the Banks and Braes of Scotland, and a tartan frame

The Sound of Scotland – what is ‘Scottish film music’?

27 August 202623 September 2024 by Jane Pettegree

Image: Advert for Rob Roy (Westminster Films, dir. W. P. Kelling, 1922), in The Bioscope, Thursday 21st September 1922, p.7. … Read more

6 rock musicians on a stage at the end of a concert, waving goodbye

Highland Rock Bands in late 20th Century Scotland

24 June 2024 by Jane Pettegree

Image: Runrig’s final concert, ‘The Last Dance’ in Stirling, August 2018. Hic et nunc, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia … Read more

4 men in Salvation Army uniform playing in a band

The Revelations: Gospel and Country Music in the Far North

27 May 2024 by Jane Pettegree

Image: The Revelations. L to R: John Stewart, Sandy Bremner, Ricky Mackay and David Dunnet. It may come as a … Read more

Review: Franz Ferdinand and the Pop Renaissance

13 May 20247 May 2024 by Jane Pettegree

Franz Ferdinand and the Pop Renaissance, by Hamilton Harvey (London: Reynolds & Hearn, 2005) Tapping in again to the contemporary … Read more

Victorian painting of soldiers with a large drum, Scottish flag and bagpipes, dressed in a Scottish style military uniform

Review: Strike Up, Strike Sure: The Pipes and Drums of the London Scottish Regiment

29 April 2024 by Jane Pettegree

Strike Up, Strike Sure: The Pipes and Drums of the London Scottish Regiment by Duncan da Silva Scottish military music … Read more

Book cover The life and legacy of Alexander Carmichael

Review: The Life & Legacy of Alexander Carmichael

17 September 20261 April 2024 by Catherine Helferty

Soundyngs welcomes guest writer Catherine Helferty, BMus BEd, who is an MLitt candidate in Sacred Music at the University of … Read more

a rock band before a show in a scruffy back room, possibly rehearsing

Review: Edinburgh’s Greatest Hits

18 March 202418 March 2024 by Jane Pettegree

Image: The Bay City Rollers in Edinburgh before they were famous, from Edinburgh Live, photo credit Len Cumming. This post … Read more

Drawing of a sail boat with The Psalmboat project or Bata Nan Salm written on it

Psalm Boats

26 February 2024 by Jane Pettegree

Imagine if going to church didn’t involve driving or walking … but a boat trip. This was, and possibly sometimes … Read more

A stone church on a hill with a blue sky

Seinn Spioradail (Sacred Singing): Sacred Soundscapes of the Highlands and Islands

22 January 202521 February 2024 by Jane Pettegree

Image: St Michael’s Church, Eriskay (Father Allan MacDonald’s parish) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Michael%27s_Church,_Eriskay#/media/File:St_Michael’s_Church,_Eriskay_20090608.jpg Licensed CC BY-SA 3.0 Soundyngs directs readers to a new … Read more