The Bagpipe Society

Review: Double Yolks, Duo Gällmo Branschke

CD: Double Yolks - Duo Gällmo Branschke

Since 2011, Swedish riksspelman Olle Gällmo and German bagpipe maker Matthias Branschke have jointly taught the Säckpipa course at Spielkurs Pipenbock, offering an equal mix of traditional Swedish and re-discovered German tunes.• ‘Double Yolks’ is the first CD resulting from this collaboration and features 22 of their favourite pieces played as duets.

The two pipers have different playing styles which complement each other well - Matthias punctuates the tunes with rhythmic ‘hiccuping’ borrowed from Hungarian piping tradition while Olle’s piping has the typically sweet Swedish lilt, with lots of subtle ornamentation. Their combined playing is expressive and precise at the same time, resulting in a bright and joyful collection of sets which transcend the limitations of the single- drone, single-octave instrument.

The combination of Swedish and German dance tunes also works well.

Somewhat surprisingly, there is more similarity than difference - the country of origin is not always obvious without looking at the sleeve notes!

I would heartily recommend ‘Double Yolks’ for sheer listening pleasure, but also as an excellent inspiration and learning resource for the growing number of säckpipa players!• If you don’t already possess a set of Swedish pipes, you may well find yourself wanting some after an hour in the company of Gällmo and Branschke.

To buy a copy, visit http://olle.gallmo.se/cd2/ [Note that Olle Gällmo will be teaching and performing Swedish tunes at this year’s Blowout!)