The Edinburgh Evening News, 1 June, 1945
Battle Music
The King and Queen have accepted a brochure entitled “The Martial Music of the Battle of Britain,” written by an Edinburgh man. The brochure runs to 44 pages of bagpipe music, interspersed with a number of water-colours of Highland scenery. It contains seven tunes–four pibrochs, a march, strathspey, and a reel. The opening tune is “Salute to Their Majesties the King and Queen,” and the others are “The Gathering for War,” “The Battle of Britain,” “Lament for the Heroes Who Fell in the Battle of Britain,” “The Victory March,” “The Victory Strathspey,” and “the Victory Reel.”
Many events in the life and history of our country have been commemorated in the “great music” of the Celt, and the Battle of Britain is certainly an appropriate subject for such treatment. The author of the interesting work is Mr. John Grant, who has a good number of books and compositions to his credit, including “The Royal Collection of Piobaireachd” and “Piobaireachd: Its Origin and Construction.” He is also joint author of “The Pipes of War.”
