The Bubblyjock Collective, formed in 2023, is an ensemble dedicated to promoting and performing music by composers born or based in Scotland. The collective has three main aims:
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to revive forgotten and neglected works from archives
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to commission new works from Scottish composers
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to tell the story of art music in Scotland: the composers, the pieces, and the performers!
Neil, Rosie and Anna have known each other for years, as friends and colleagues in music-making. All three studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, in Glasgow, and it was here they began to ask questions about Scottish composers and classical music in Scotland. Composers are often known and celebrated for their nationalities, and grouped by the styles associated with their countries and periods. So why did we know so little about Scottish compositional styles or celebrate great Scots composers of the 18th, 19th, or 20th centuries?
Individually, we were all on our own journeys into Scotland's rich heritage of art music - discovering repertoire, composers, and recordings of which we'd previously been unaware. Now, by no means are we the first people to champion Scottish classical music, there are many performers, academics, and teachers who have been working to promote this music for years.
And yet, much of it still goes un-talked about, un-performed, under-appreciated.
That's where The Bubblyjock Collective comes in.
In 2023, we began talking about a new ensemble which would focus on performing works by Scottish composers. It would present instrumental music alongside the wealth of Scottish art songs, and in particular celebrate settings of poetry in Scots and Gaelic.
Alongside existing repertoire, we would work with contemporary composers based in Scotland, established and upcoming, to commission pieces and provide regular performance opportunities for new works.
It sounded like a good idea, so here we are.
Our Name:
Our name is a nod to a 1966 setting of a Hugh MacDiarmid poem, 'Bubblyjock', by the composer Ronald Stevenson. It is a comic, dramatic poem describing the absurd appearance (and call) of a turkey - and to us, seemed to strike the right tone for this ensemble. Playful and serious, comic and daring, absurd and precise, and not least, it's full of great Scots vocabulary!