Siubhal nan Salm
Sunday 19th December 2004, 5.40pm, Grampian and STV
Could the origins of Gospel Music be white? This highly controversial theory is put forward by Willie Ruff, an African American jazz musician and Professor of Music at Yale University. Professor Ruff believes that Gaelic Psalm singing is part of the DNA of all African American music. For him it represents the last vestiges of European ''lining out'' - where a precentor puts out a line and the congregation follows - and that only the Gaels and African Americans are singing in this form today: "It's the only game in town - the only two people carrying on this tradition, are the marginalized black, and the Gaels in the Hebrides".
In the second programme of this two-part series, Mary Ann Kennedy meets Dr Bobby Jones, America's most popular Gospel artist. Although lining out is recognised as an earlier form of Gospel, the Gaelic psalms are quite new to him, and he is fascinated by their similarity.
"It's amazing! This is authentic Gaelic? This is what we did in our churches, and in some churches, still do".
Runrig's Calum MacDonald believes all this has to be good for Gaelic.
"a window has opened, not just for the history of the Gaels but for the music itself and this brings an opportunity for this unique spiritual Gaelic music to be heard all over the world."
Professor Ruff believes he has discovered this link just in time, before it dies out on either side of the Atlantic. He believes it has given his people a starting point with which to uncover their past. For Willie Ruff the significance of his discovery is best described in the words of Dr Martin Luther King:
"One day the sons of slaves will sit with the sons of slave owners at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream".
For Mary Ann, it is fascinating that music has provided this link with the past, uncovering previously unknown relationships. The link between Gaelic Psalms and African American 'lining out' may be considered tenuous by some, but the link between black and white is apparent in the shared experience of all the singers participating in 'lining out' at Mt Zion Church, Alabama.
Siubhal nan Salm is an Eyeline Media production. It is funded by Seirbheis nam Meadhanan Gaidhlig, Scottish Screen and Channel 4. It is in Gaelic with English subtitles.
For further information please contact the producer:
Terry Wolsey
Tel - 01674 850261
E-mail: terry@eyeline-media.co.uk
