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In the first edition of Express's annual Christmas covers series, a Jersey Music Service teacher welcomes in the 'Silent Night' before Christmas with a haunting and reflective violin interpretation.
Speaking about his version of the classic, laden with echo and reverb that brings to mind a cold winter's evening along the coast, Dan MacFarlane traced his inspiration back all the way back to his early musical days.
"My musical journey discovered when I first saw 'The Pig and The Jig' at age two. Since then, I have had a fascination with music in general, and in particular, the viola/violin," Dan explained.
"As a principal violin teacher with the Jersey Music Service, I have developed even more of an appreciation for the instrument through teaching others, and sharing in the initial pain of starting to learn!"
He continued: "The instrument has always shown itself to be very expressive to me, and the way in which you can slide in and out of pitch, add varying vibrato, and utilise other techniques have felt almost therapeutic to me.
"However, as a generally electric musician, I have found more traditional violin/viola playing self limiting. It just so happened that I needed an electric violin for a performance with a function band I am incredibly lucky to be a part of (The Jersey Bounce), and upon receiving the instrument, I was hooked with the different sound effects you could make whilst utilising music production techniques and effects such as delay and reverb.
"As this instrument has five strings, it can technically be called a violin with a low string, or a viola with a high string, so I like to refer to it as both.
"This cover of Silent Night is a special one for me. It marks my first solo public performance on the instrument, and I'd like to dedicate it to all of my previous music teachers, Verity Le Brun, Hugh Lincé, Mike Hannigan, Mr Pritchard, Mr Arnett, and Miss Sinfield.
"Now that I am a full-time teacher, I can fully appreciate the incredible gift that is to teach someone music, and my life is infinitely brighter because of the love of music that has been instilled in me from my teachers.
"My special thanks has to go to Verity Le Brun as she was my first music teacher, and my viola teacher. If you can do one thing in the new year, I'd implore you to learn an instrument. It is simply a joy to be able to share music with the ones you love, especially at such a special time as Christmas."
Have a listen...
Rhumba Club recalls 'Last Christmas'
What Christmas means to Midriff
Dan wishes you a cosy little Christmas
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