Composing
Composing has always been an interest of mine. However, it was only once I became a full time teacher and had performed for a number of years that I started to compose confidently for my own instrument. As such, I call myself a guitarist-composer. I am content to write for the forces that I know best, and over years I have built up a considerable body of work, comprising mostly solo concert pieces as well as works for guitar ensemble and pedagogical guitar music. I began recently to seek publication of my compositions and now have a number of pieces for sale with Bergmann Edition. I write in a tonal style with musical influences ranging from the Baroque, Latin-American and Celtic folk traditions, light music and jazz.
Current Published Solo Works for Sale
Newly Published!
Elegy for MacCrimmon
for 6 string guitar
This piece is based on the old piping lament and Gaelic folk song Cumha Mhic Criomain, also known as Tuireadh Mhic Criomain.
The beautiful original melody is quoted in various forms and interspersed with new, but related, material. I have incorporated drone and guitar effects, a section in an energetic rhythm (perhaps suggestive of a battle scene), as well as moments of serenity.
Buy here: https://bergmann-edition.com/products/mckay-elegy-for-maccrimmon
Performed by Stewart Kelly
Milonga del Niño
Having spent some years of my youth in Argentina I grew to love the music of that country. The Milonga is one of my favourite dance forms and is related to the more famous Tango. My piece, written in 2007, does not follow strictly the form of the Milonga, but borrows elements from its style.
The piece is dedicated to parents who have suffered a miscarriage or lost a child due to other reasons.
Buy here: https://bergmann-edition.com/products/mckay-milonga
Three Songs without Words
These three pieces have three things in common: they were each dedicated to an individual, they are in a light, folk-guitar influenced style and are of intermediate level playing standard. “Songs Without Words” is a title that owes less to Mendelssohn’s famous piano pieces of the same name but refers to their light style, popular music genre, clarity of melody and lack of lyrics.
Buy here: https://bergmann-edition.com/products/mckay-three-songs-without-words
Präludium für Andreas
This piece was written partly in response to guitarists’ desire to play another work: J.S. Bach’s first Prelude from his Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846, which at first sight looks suited to the guitar but on closer inspection is not.
It was not my intention to imitate exactly Bach’s preludes, but my piece has a good deal in common with some of them in that it contains a continuous chordal arpeggio pattern. It also has some non-Bachian aspects such as alternating 3/4 and 6/8 time.
Buy here: https://bergmann-edition.com/products/mckay-praludium-fur-andreas
Canción de La Plata
This piece is heavily influenced by the forms of Argentine folk music, especially the Milonga. However, I often depart from this form when it seems appropriate. Principally, this diversion is reflected in frequent changes of time signature. This helps to provide variety, yet should present no real difficulty to the intermediate to advanced player, since the quaver pulse never changes, other than gradually, as in ritardandi or between sections.
Buy here: https://bergmann-edition.com/products/mckay-cancion-de-la-plata
Recuerdos del Niño, 1972
As a child, I spent a number of years in Argentina. The title of this piece refers to that time and to the memories I have of that period in my life. This was also where I first started learning the guitar.
The style of this work borrows from the Argentine Milonga in the first, minor-key section, followed by a brighter major key section that has Tango/Habanera elements.
Buy here: https://bergmann-edition.com/products/mckay-recuerdos-del-nino-1972
Performed by Dr. Francisco Farias
Other Published Pieces:
Milonga Pandémica - available here: https://bergmann-edition.com/collections/mckay-conall/products/mckay-milonga-pandemica