Gordon Duncan
A musical genius, anticonformist – rock and roll in the end – enfant terrible and gifted on the pipes. Gordon broke all the taboos around his instrument. He profoundly changed its repertoire and the definition of what was possible for the instrument to do.
Gordon was born on 14 May 1964 in Pitlochry, a Scottish town between Glasgow and Inverness. At the age of 41 Gordon passed away. He left behind a huge musical legacy as well as the community of family and friends who loved him.
Today, the tunes written by Gordon Duncan are classics played throughout the Celtic world. His good friend Fred Morrison, another bagpipe legend, opens the history book: “Gordon and Andy Mac Donald and I came to Lorient in 1983. We looked like three rebels. Gordon tried out a lot of things. With the chromatic notes, he changed a lot of things.
The young Scottish scene owes a great deal to Gordon Duncan.
Gordon Duncan
came to Lorient Interceltic Festival
times between 1981 and 2000
as part of the Macallan Interceltic Trophy for bagpipe soloists (now the Mac Crimmon Trophy), which he won in 1997 and 1998.