In August my sister, Triona, and I made our second tour to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We performed under the title "Samurai and Bard" at the beautiful and acoustically magical St. Mark's Unitarian Church on Castle Terrace. In total, we had three concerts on the 7th, 9th and 11th of August.
I made my way to Ireland on the 25th of July. We started practicing together very soon after that. Whereas last year our programme was centered around our individual solo numbers, this year our joint numbers played a more prominent part. We focused mainly on the numbers we had prepared last December working them up.
This time Triona came up with a wonderful harp part to go with the Satsumabiwa piece known as "Kadobiwa". It is one of the few biwa pieces that has a 'steady beat'. This piece was played by the blind buddhist monks from the Satsuma region of southern Japan for many centuries until a few decades ago, from which time it has been preserved as a solo biwa piece. The meaning of the title is "Biwa of the Gate". The monk played this piece at the gate of a house to let those inside know of his presence. He would then be led into the house where he would recite sutras to the gods of the house and perform other duties. It is quite likely we will continue using this as part of our programme for the foreseeable future.
I went to Edinburgh via Glasgow this time, arriving in Edinburgh on the fourth of August. By chance, I spotted someone carrying a clarsach into "The Lot", a well known jazz and ceilidh music venue. This turned out to be the well known player Catriona MacKay. I fortunately had the time to hear her performance and was very glad I did. It was very special indeed.
Our performances started on Monday the 7th and went quite well, I thought. Triona played a lot more Scottish tunes this year besides "Tullachgorm". She played "Carolan's farewell to music" on the last night. I played "Yashima no Homare" (The Honour at Yashima) and "Hanamomiji"(Maple Leaf Blossoms).
We got a four-star review from Janet Polson:
Japanese satsumabiwa lute and shakuhachi flute meet Irish harp once again as brother and sister Charlie and Triona Marshall return with another charming and absorbing show in which the sounds of these instruments are first compared and contrasted and then unified in a way which confirms that music is indeed a universal language. So light and quick is Triona Marshall's fingering of her harp that at times it seems as if the music is flowing from string to string of its own accord, whilst the silk strings of the satsumabiwa lute appear so fine and fragile - particularly in comparison with the large fan-shaped plectrum with which they are plucked - that you cannot help but marvel both at the skill and delicacy of touch required to play the instrumenent without damaging them and the range of sounds and volume that they can produce. The excellent acoustics and friendly and intimate atmosphere of St Mark's provide a perfect home for both styles of music, whether they are being played individually in Japanese warrior songs and Irish and Scottish airs and dances, or together, when the shakuhachi flute blends perfectly with the harp as it plays a tuneful medley and, in the final piece in the programme, the harp echoes the plangent tones of the satsumabiwa lute. The show provides an intriguing and enriching experience that is literally worlds away from the frenetic life of the Fringe and will surely please anyone with a true love of music.
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