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<\/center><\/p>\n\u201cThose were village dance tunes,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe church took a hold of them, slowed them down, and added Christian-based lyrics to them. By the time the settlers came here, the tunes were thought to be regular Christian Christmas carols. But if you look way back, that changeover from being pagan-based holiday music had already long since taken place.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it’s those pre-Christian traditional village folk dance tunes that Laval and his compatriots would play at this special performance. \u201cI’ve made my specialty in really, really ancient Scottish music, Laval says. \u201cAnd I try to give a fresh spin to it.\u201d Laval is well-suited to such an ambitious goal: he began his formal musical training in British Columbia at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, where he studied classic violin. But he quickly fell in with the region’s folk traditions. \u201cMy first summer job was playing chamber music in the lobby of a grand old lodge,\u201d Laval recalls with a chuckle. \u201cEveryone who worked at the hotel had a tendency to spend off-days at the grange hall dances. So after being in music a very short time, I started doing square dances, barn dances.\u201d Initially, those folk dance events were a mere sideline and hobby for the young fiddler. \u201cBut,\u201d he continues,\u201d over the years, as I pursued a classical career in symphony playing, I got better and better at the folk music.\u201d He says that he eventually devised his own style, a \u201csignature rendition of Scottish and Irish\u201d traditions within the framework of the Celtic music format.<\/p>\n
\u201cTen or twelve years into classical music,\u201d Laval recalls, \u201cI realized that my heart was really leaning more toward folk music than classical. I made a decision to turn a corner. He went out in style, though: his final classical gig was Puccini’s Madame Butterfly<\/em>, performed with the Seattle Opera. \u201cA grand send-off,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n Celtic music is handed down through note-for-note re-creation of the tunes. Asked if he finds that relatively strict format limiting or liberating, Laval chooses the latter, and attributes it to a characteristic one might not think to associate with the style: groove<\/em>. And, unlike classical, \u201cthe liberating part is that there’s no requirement to be faithful to a score.\u201d In folk music, Laval points out, \u201cit’s perfectly permissible to re-render the music in a different tempo, a different harmonic structure, with different emotion.\u201d<\/p>\n Reflecting on the universal appeal of folk music, Laval suggests that humans are \u201chard wired for rhythm.\u201d Moreover, he says, \u201cI understand the depths of emotion that come across through folk music.\u201d That, he says, is due in part to the fact that \u201cfolk music is the product of not one composer, but a collective body of people as the music is passed from one generation to another. It gets imbued with the sentiments of each of its contributors. And so the music ends up being an expression of a people, of a whole culture.\u201d In Celtic music, Laval hears the \u201cyearning and longing and struggle and triumph that’s built into that long tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n And that culture \u2013 with its long-held pre-Christian traditions \u2013 was the focus of the \u201cChristmas in Scotland\u201d show. \u201cThis is a chance to put together the kind of lineup I don’t usually get to play with,\u201d says Laval. He customarily performs solo or with a very small group. Bigger ensembles usually necessitate large venues and large stages, with the accompanying divide between performer and audience. Laval promised that \u201cChristmas in Scotland\u201d at the Isis, would be \u201cintimate, but yet I get to work with dancers. And that’s always fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
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