Music from South Africa, Catalonia and Scotland will celebrate the international quality of the Fringe when the Whistlebinkies appear at artSpace@StMarks in Castle Terrace on Saturday 23rd August at 6:30pm.
One of the longest-established groups on the Scottish folk scene, the Whistlebinkies formed in the late 1960s in Glasgow. They were the first folk group to champion the playing of the Scottish tradition’s “three graces” - fiddle, pipes and harp. They then went on to become the first Scottish band to play in China during an international career that has included tours across Europe and the U.S.
“We like to give audiences a real flavour of the Scottish tradition, especially at the Fringe,” says the band’s flute player Eddie McGuire, who is also a respected and prolific composer of works for a whole range of ensembles. “But we also enjoy playing music from other countries and will be including the South African national anthem, Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, and a Catalonian tune, Muntanyes de Canigo.”
The group arranged the South African national anthem for this year’s celebration of Nelson Mandela Day and performed it in Glasgow City Chambers.
“It’s a stirring piece,” says McGuire. “It was composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a Methodist mission schoolteacher, and it became a popular church hymn that was adopted as an anthem at political meetings. We don’t sing but it was taken up as an act defiance during the Apartheid years and I think you can hear why it became so popular through the strength of its melody.”
The group’s own history is varied and eventful. As well as working with the innovative American composer John Cage and celebrated Scottish composer James MacMillan, they have contributed to pop and rock recordings by David Essex and Cutting Crew.
They also recorded McGuire’s music for the first adaptation in Scots of McBeth for BBC Radio Scotland and have a long connection with Edinburgh during the Festival and Fringe, having performed McGuire’s specially composed The Fiddler’s Farewell for Sir Yehudi Menuhin when he visited the Edinburgh International Festival in 1985.
“We always enjoy playing to the Fringe audiences,” says McGuire. “We particularly like artSpace@StMarks as it’s an ideal size to accommodate a good number of people and yet allow a feeling of intimacy. We’re really looking forward to being back there again.”