KATHERINE'S TUNES and 'GET A LIFE'

Early in August 2006, Alison and I sat down with Katherine's tune notebooks, a cello and a harmonium, to choose in the first instance some music to play at Katherine's funeral. I'd never realised what a prodigious writer of tunes she was: it was one of many talents she preferred to keep quiet about. It seems important to publish her work somehow, and we've started this process by playing in public some of the tunes that we chose then. At the end of a recording session with David Greenberg on 6 September, we bribed the recording engineer with some good whisky to hang on a bit longer and record them.

We're offering them here as a free download, but we'd like to invite you to contribute to Katherine McGillivray's Get A Life Fund. - details are below.

-DMcG

In 2005, Katherine took a sabbatical from touring life as a baroque viola player to study Swedish folk music and the nyckelharpa at the Eric Sahlström Institute. Those of us watching from the sidelines witnessed a breathtaking growth – she returned so full of music and dance and dynamism. After August 1st, the idea to set up a fund in her name came very quickly. She had already inspired many colleagues through the act of taking a leap into the unknown, but now a fund could also assist in a very practical way. 

Katherine McGillivray’s Get A Life Fund will give two awards annually of £10,000 to musicians over 30, to help them take a life-and-work-enriching sabbatical.

For more details, visit www.getalifefund.org.uk 

-AMcG

Download the tunes here  
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The tunes are:
Carsons' Lilt
Waltz: The 4 Note Spell
Dr McGuinness
I.A. McGilllivray (The Dolls' House Lights)
duration: 9'32  128 kbps mp3, 8.8MB

Alison McGillivray, cello
David Greenberg, violin
David McGuinness, harmonium, melodica

recorded in Glasgow by Automaton, 6 September 2006