GLASGOW – UNESCO City of Music
By Clark McGinn
Clark McGinn delights in the August announcement of Glasgow as UNESCO: City of Music, and explains the city’s musical culture which has led to the award.
Glasgow is a city of striking industrial architecture, of ancient learning, a powerhouse of industry and commerce, a city of justly proud citizens. So it warmed my heart to hear that my old home was bidding to join the elite club of UNESCO Cities Of Music. And on 20th August I was delighted to hear that Glasgow had won !
People associate the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation with its famous list of world heritage sites (Scotland is well represented here, of course, with St Kilda, Prehistoric Orkney, New Lanark and both the old and new towns of Edinburgh on board) but the organisation also rewards cities which create a popular cultural contribution and are centres of excellence in artistic endeavours. The ‘creative cities’ network includes a wide range geographically and in genre: Edinburgh as City of Literature with Santa Fe and Aswan sharing Folk Art; Berlin, Buenos Aires and Montreal represent Design while Popayan in Columbia is the sole City of Gastronomy.
In terms of music there are two incumbent Cities: Bologna and Seville and now Glasgow is honoured to be the third.
Scots Musical Culture
While it’s true that the Edinburgh Festival is the popular view of Scots musical culture (and certainly fills the month of August to the brim in the East) the western city has a sustained approach to music: the official bid document describes a vibrant culture with 127 annual concerts, generating just under £75 million for the city’s economy and employing nearly 3,000 people in full time music related jobs.
The commitment to the classical traditions is much bigger than you’d first imagine, but is hardly surprising when you think of the wealth of civic pride which is a typical legacy of the civic philosophy of Victorian times. The jewel in the crown is Scotland’s national music and drama school – the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama (RSAMD). Actors such as Robert Carlyle and Alan Cumming are global properties, but the Academy is also a powerful conservatory of musical talent across the disciplines of voice, instruments and conducting.
With that pool of talent, it’s not surprising then that we are rich in orchestras, being home to three significant groups: The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland – that’s more than any city outside London, while Scottish Opera performs to critical acclaim as the country’s sole professional troupe.
The world of pop music is often in debt to Glasgow. While there have been some odd No 1s in the UK charts with Scottish links (just remember ‘Amazing Grace’ or ‘Mull of Kintyre’) there is a distinct thread of Glasgow talent: the charts have seen our favourite daughter Lulu in a storming career from the 60s to date while today’s iPods will hum to the music of new Glasgow bands like Franz Ferdinand or the Fratellis as they perform their way up the charts across the world.
Amateur night is an important feature of this City’s musical life – the Glasgow Music Festival has allowed young (and young at heart) amateurs to perform while the city abounds with non professional orchestras and music groups and famously choirs, for this is the city which gave the world the extraordinary voice of the Glasgow Orpheus choir, possibly one of the greatest choirs in history. It voluntarily disbanded after wowing audiences at home and abroad for 50 years, but the spirit carries on in groups like the Phoenix.
Music Festivals
We have a real menu of venues and performers but the second engine in Glasgow’s bid are the huge festivals held each year.
In the traditional musical field, whether it’s a guy with a button box above the pub or one of the internationally famous groups playing at the Old Fruitmarket or Oran Mor, there’s a real engagement. Many say that the success of the Celtic Connections festival in January has fuelled this renaissance. In its fifteenth year of rude strength, the festival this year saw over a hundred thousand people joining in concerts, shows and gigs capturing the best of the roots of Scottish music in the mirk of a cold, wet January in the City chasing out the winter blues and rivalling the sometimes never-ending cycle of Burns Suppers.
And at the other end of the climate there is the World Pipe Band Championships which have taken root on Glasgow Green in early August. Thousands of pipers and drummers and many more of an audience hear the unique musical tradition of the pipe band – born here in Scotland – but the winners nowadays are as likely to come from Canada, Northern Ireland or the US as from local talent. If there’s a metaphor here it’s very Glaswegian: create something of value, export it around the world and then bring the best back home for consumption. Very like the mercantile foundation of our city.
T in the Park is both the most popular of popular music festivals and now the world’s biggest carbon neutral gig! It’s currently held in Balado in Kinross but its first three years were in Glasgow at Strathclyde Park absorbing the City’s musical energy. Sometimes the music’s drowned out by 80,000 cheers, sometimes everything is drowned by the rain but that big main stage makes up for everything in an unforgettable atmosphere.
Musical Architecture
There’s an old saying that architecture is frozen music, and in a city of extraordinary buildings it’s no surprise that our music venues rank highly in aesthetic and in popular terms. From the City Halls’ Victorian grandeur – born in 1841 and recently refurbished to capture some of the finest acoustics in the UK – to the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall which is a lasting legacy of the City of Culture year standing in modern pride at the top of Buchanan Street and its shops.
What an extraordinary statement for the whole of Scotland : Glasgow and Edinburgh to be UNESCO cities together – for this is the very first time that two cities in the same country have been honoured - what a unique a chance to recognise and respect both in terms of the deep cultural life we have here in Scotland.
So going forward under the new banner, there will be great music, good tunes and the warmth of this great city’s great musical culture to help us while away the time.
Clark McGinn
Clark McGinn was born in Ayr and studied (in between debates) at Glasgow University before starting a career in Banking. He is a noted speaker and writer on Scottish subjects and his latest book ‘The Ultimate Guide To Being Scottish’ is to be published by Luath Press in November 2008. His musical career peaked too soon in winning second place in the Burns Singing competition at Ayr Academy, but he knows a good tune when he hears it...
Further Information
