| Mackay's Memoirs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Martyn Bennett | ||||
| Released | April 15, 2005 | |||
| Recorded | 2005 | |||
| Genre | Celtic, Classical | |||
| Length | 20:17 | |||
| Label | City of Edinburgh Music School | |||
| Producer | Various | |||
| Professional reviews | ||||
| Martyn Bennett chronology | ||||
|
||||
Mackay's Memoirs is the last recorded work by Scottish Celtic fusion artist Martyn Bennett. It was released on April 15, 2005 by the City of Edinburgh Music School.
It is the recording of a piece commissioned for the opening of the Scottish Parliament on 1 July 1999 and is performed by the City of Edinburgh Music School Chamber Orchestra and conducted by Susan Emslie.
The composition for pipes, clarsach and orchestra was written in honour of the late Dr. Kenneth A Mackay of Badenoch after Bennett read Dr Mackay's medical and personal journals written during his post as Free Church of Scotland missionary general practitioner in Moyobamba, Peru. The composition is based around the theme and first variation of the piobaireachd 'Lament For Mary MacLeod' and opens with Psalm 121 and features the pipes, voices, clarsach and the classical orchestra.
It was recorded the morning after Martyn's death on the 31st January 2005 by the young people of Broughton High School who were unaware Martyn had died, the news being kept back until recording was over. The record is Bennett's final recorded work.