Annotation:Hills of Alva (The)

Back to 

 HILLS OF ALVA, THE. Scottish, Retreat March (4/4 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCCDD. A very popular pipe band march. The Hills of Alva are in Clackmannanshire. The tune was composed by Tom "Tam" Muirhead (1900-1979), who was not a piper but rather a dance-band accordion player born at Meadowfield Row, Longriggend, Lanarkshire. He was a miner, then a railway employee, who happened to live nearby to pipe band members who became friends, and who picked up the march (composed around 1970) from his repertoire.  Source for notated version:  Printed sources:  Recorded sources:  See also listing at: Hear Tom Muirhead's own recording of the march

Back to