Breath of Life
A World History of Bagpipes
Cassandre Balosso-BardinA truly global history of bagpipes
Forget everything you think you know about bagpipes. Breath of Life takes readers far beyond the lone Scottish piper to reveal a vast, surprising and deeply human world of more than 130 bagpipe traditions. Cassandre Balosso-Bardin traces the history of bagpipes from antiquity to the present day and across continents, from India to Western Europe and from Scandinavia to North Africa. Drawing on two decades of research and interviews, she approaches the subject thematically, with each chapter uncovering the people, places and legends that have shaped the history of this instrument. Shepherds and princesses, soldiers and dancers, beggars and monarchs, devils and angels all appear in a rich tapestry of stories woven through a diverse array of bagpipes.
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This highly readable and richly illustrated book by a leading activist and scholar offers a panoramic view of the bagpipe as an ancient and still-evolving modern instrument, musically and culturally.
'Mark Slobin, Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music Emeritus, Wesleyan University, and author of Folk Music and Motor City Music: A Detroiter Looks Back
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This brilliant and revelatory book on the bagpipes showcases the author's long-term association with the instrument, her residency at the Metropolitan Museum and her curatorial skills, and her unique personality which has allowed her to meet and interact with many of the wonderful bagpipe players active today. This is the most exciting book on the subject that's been written in a long time, perhaps ever.
'Michael Beckerman, Dean of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
Introduction
1 . The Emperor’s New Pipes
2. The Big Bagpipe Boom
3. Shepherds – Rural Guardians of the Bagpipes
4. Urban Piping Legends
5. The Princess, the Gentleman and the Bagpipe
6. Pipes and War
7. Bagpipes, Rituals and Devotion
8. Reinventing Bagpipes
A Final Welcome
References
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
Cassandre Balosso-Bardin is Professor in Cultural Musicology at the University of Leuven, Belgium. She is a bagpiper as well as the founding director of the International Bagpipe Organisation and the co-founder of International Bagpipe Day (10 March).