Daisy
Henderson was a soprano in the full-time of chorus of Scottish Opera
from 1996 - 2005, at which time the chorus was made redundant. She
continued to be employed by the company on a freelance basis, in
addition to teaching singing privately, and at the same time, sang as a
soloist around Scotland, and with Opera Alba, Coro Alba, Trio Serenata,
and latterly with The Ivor Novello Story.
While she was
managing these groups, she felt she might try to represent some other
musicians as well, and in April 2011 she created her own website,
following on in July 2012, with a professional website
www.classicalmusiciansscotland.com where she now represents over 60
of the best performers from, or currently based in Scotland.
The CMS
performers are singers/instrumentalists, soloists/ensemble players and
perform in recital, in concert, in opera, at music festivals, at
corporate functions, for charity/fundraising events and on special
occasions of any kind where quality musicians are required. While
primarily performing in Scotland, many of the performers represented
have worked extensively in the rest of the United Kingdom and in Europe.
The Fejes
Quartet formed when the members met while working with the Royal
Scottish National Orchestra. They currently have residencies at the
Glasgow Art Club and at the Mackintosh Church in Glasgow. They’re
currently completing their second CD and have plans for concerts in
August/September 2013 which include inviting Marco Scolastra, classical
pianist across from Italy to play with them as a piano quintet.
“...the
seasoned professionals of the Fejes Quartet in a mind-blowing
performance...”
“...the style
of the Fejes Quartet, which is very much a go-for-it, risk-taking outfit
- as was clear from their hair-raising account, possibly the fastest
I've heard, of the violent second movement of the Shostakovich.”
“...the same
energy that later manically powered the Shostakovich catapulted the
Haydn - which came out of the bottle like a champagne cork - into
effervescent action."
Outstanding
cellist, Robert Irvine, well known for creating an immediate rapport
with his audiences through his lively and informal introductions, comes
together with guitarist, Allan Neave, one of the foremost classical
guitarists of his generation. Two musicians of remarkable sensitivity
and authority delight audiences with a diverse repertoire ranging from
the stately baroque to the fiery passion of Spain, the Americas and
beyond.
Both
musicians were born and raised in Scotland and after performing
worldwide, now teach at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland - Allan as
Professor of Guitar and Harp and Robert as Head of Cello Studies. They
still perform and record regularly, both as soloists, together as a duo
and with other ensembles.
As a duo,
they are much in demand, not only for the quality of their playing, but
also for their wonderfully humorous introductions, which are an integral
part of their personalities and performances.
“They were
wonderful and a very good audience said so. It is difficult to imagine
them giving any better”
“The concert
was superb......people said they would very much like them back.”
“Neave’s
lovely sound provided tonal foil to the bowed strings.”
"Allan Neave
performs all compositions with an outstanding and intriguing showcase of
guitar techniques on a soulful and moving musical journey."
Formed in
2004, Opera Alba is a quartet of professional, classically trained
opera singers with a wealth of experience, who are expertly accompanied
by Derek Clark, currently Head of Music at Scottish Opera. Along with
their ”big sister”, Coro Alba, eight singers and accompanist, they have
delighted audiences all over Scotland with their blend of humour and
quality singing. Their programmes of opera, operetta, Gilbert and
Sullivan, Songs from the Shows, popular songs and Burns/traditional
Scottish songs in specially arranged four part harmonies have something
for everyone. "...they held us spellbound,...”
"...This
versatile ensemble took us through every range of emotion in the varied
content of the programme, with amusing and engaging commentaries linking
each number. A combination of solos, duets and the beautifully blended
voices of the full ensemble ensured a thoroughly entertaining
evening..."
" an
effervescent evening! Coro Alba gave us a concert of emotion, joy and
sparkle. The singers were totally professional and the accompanist was
superb. The programme of operatic arias and excerpts from musicals was
well chosen and delivered in style."
Trio Dalriada, mezzo, guitar, violin.
Beth Mackay, mezzo, Ian Watt, guitar, Paul Livingston, violin.
Trio Dalriada
present a lovely programme of music by Roger Quilter, James Oswald,
Britten, Respighi, Debussy, albeniz, Paganini , Bizet et al. They
specialise in arrangements of Scottish pieces for this unusual
combination of musicians.
“...a first
class concert...”
“....a quite
extra-ordinary musical treat. The three young musicians have already
proved their talents each in their chosen field... they presented a
highly professional concert of musical contrasts..... style and
sophistication.... and dramatic arias that took our breath away... we
can say of “Dalriada” that they are a trio to keep an eye – and an ear
on - in the future.”
From a script
by John Cairney (by special arrangement with Samuel French Ltd), this
show has charmed audiences across Scotland and will be performing at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2013. A story about a Welshman, who
was thought of as being English, performed by four Scots!
Ivor Novello
was a man of the theatre above all else, and a musician of real worth,
brilliantly capturing the ease and diffident charm of the world between
the wars. The songs he wrote are certainly not forgotten.... Waltz of
My Heart, Some Day My Heart Will Awake, Keep the Home Fires Burning,
We’ll Gather Lilacs...
Not only was
he a composer of lavish musical plays, he was a film star appearing in
two Hitchcock films, and a Hollywood screenwriter, recognised as coming
up with the immortal phrase, “Me Tarzan, you Jane.”
In this
wonderful script by John Cairney, Scottish writer, actor, artist and
raconteur, Ivor Novello’s story and songs are brought to life by an
actor, two singers and a pianist. Nostalgia, romance and showbiz
glamour away from the rush-hour traffic.
“It is not
necessary to have lived in the Ivor Novello times to appreciate this
entertaining story of his triumphs. The story is one of charming
success.”
“The songs
are neatly intervoven with the narrative to produce a portrait of the
man and his music - and a tribute to theatre people in general - that
will charm Novello’s admirers and may even win him some new ones.”
“Such a
well-rounded evening of fine theatre”
“It was
simply first class, and to use a time-honoured phrase, there was magic
in the air.”
Feargus
Hetherington has developed a wide ranging and varied career as a chamber
musician, soloist and orchestral player. He also presents musical
workshops and seminars, arranges music and is a highly accomplished
viola player.
Feargus
studied at the RSAMD (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) and the
Cleveland Institute of Music, USA, and has worked with some of today’s
great performers. He has performed in renowned concert halls in the
UK, and abroad he has given concerts in Denmark, Sweden, Germany,
Ireland and North America, giving his New York recital debut in June
2010 with American pianist Steven Beck. He enjoys a successful
collaboration with US based, Belarusian-born pianist Olga Gorelik.
Feargus has
been guest leader of orchestras and chamber ensembles in Scotland and
the USA and has participated in performances by leading orchestras
including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
In March 2009
Feargus took part in the educational element of the Abu Dhabi Music and
Arts Foundation’s festival, mentoring young musicians. In 2011 he worked
with the Scottish Ensemble on the ‘Music for Change’ project in Polmont
Prison. He has participated in many first performances of new
compositions by Scottish composers with Ensemble Symposia and Red Note
Ensemble. He has recorded and performed for BBC Radio 3, BBC Scotland
and BBC Ulster. In 2009, as violist, Feargus joined the Roxburgh Quartet
and in 2010, he was appointed an associate teacher in violin and chamber
music at the University of St Andrews.
Feargus has
developed an interest in exploring the relationship between Scottish
traditional music and the European ‘Classical’ tradition, giving
lecture/recitals on this subject entitled ‘McGibbon to Mackenzie’. He
recently recorded this repertoire with pianist Mira Opalińska for a
forthcoming CD release on Natural Studio Records. Collaborations with
other musicians include Meall a’Bhuiridh (‘Hill of the Bellowing’) by
Barry Reid and An Aifreann Ghaidhlig (Gaelic Mass) by Blair Douglas.
Feargus researches deeply the scores he performs, and has arranged works
for his chamber music colleagues – including works by Copland and Satie
– and composed stylistically appropriate cadenzas to Mozart’s Violin
Concerti. His interests extend to improvisation, and the study of
harmony and temperaments.
In 2009
Feargus attended the Starling-DeLay Symposium on Violin Studies at the
Juilliard School, New York, given by professors including Monica Huggett,
Itzhak Perlman and leading performance psychologist Don Greene. In
August 2011, he took part in the Unity Hills Arts Center’s seminar in
Vermont, USA, studying with conductor and violinist Joseph Swensen
supported by the Musicians Benevolent Fund’s Professional Development
Awards and the University of St Andrews. He returned there in the summer
of 2012 with assistance from Creative Scotland’s Professional
Development Awards Scheme.
He has
recently released his Highland Ballad CD, featuring works by Scottish
composers.
James Oswald - Composer
The composer
of the music entitled “Airs for the Seasons” is Scotland’s most famous
18th Century composer James Oswald, who was born in 1710 and died in
1769. I listened to a recording of his 48 Floral Suites each
representing a particular shrub or flower, played by the Broadside Band.
For the summer season, the plants Oswald selected were Veronica, Myrtle,
Heliotrope and Poppy. In 1755 when he composed them, Oswald had moved
from Scotland to London, so he probably saw these summer bloomers
growing there.
He had a lucrative career as a teacher in London, and in 1742 he
published his most popular work the “Caledonian Pocket Companion,” which
includes tunes for the lyrics of Robert Burns. He was granted a Royal
Licence to set up his own publishing shop and office to print his own
compositions. He was the most prolific Scottish composer of his time and
popularized many Lowland Scottish melodies. He loved to recycle
traditional old tunes.
Each of his lovely airs for the flowers of spring, summer, autumn and
winter has a distinct and recognizable style. In 1781 he was appointed
Chamber Composer to the English King George the third.
James Oswald
was buried in the north aisle of the nave on 1 April 1769. A small
rectangular brass with a decorated border now covers his grave and those
of members of his family. The brass shows the symbols of the four
Evangelists at the corners, with a border of entwined roses, thistles
and shamrocks with the initials JO. His crest of a silver star of six
points is shown at the top together with a shield on which is a figure
pointing a telescope at another star. The inscription reads:
“In memory of the Right Honble. James Oswald of Dunniker, the friend of
David Hume and Adam Smith, Lord of [the] Treasury and Treasurer of
Ireland, M.P. for the county of Fife, Lord of Trade and Plantations,
Commissioner of the Navy. Born 1715, died 1769. This memorial was placed
over his remains by his great grandson James Townsend Oswald of Dunniker,
Fifeshire and other of his descendants in the year 1871. The site of the
grave is in the north aisle, ten feet from the centre of the step of the
doorway going into the grassplot”.
Prior to this brass marker there were small memorial stones over the
graves of James, his wife Elizabeth, Ann his sister in law, and George
Oswald, James’s grandson
James’s father was James Oswald the younger of Dunniker, Fife, Scotland
and his mother was Anne (Durie). She was born 7 September 1698 and
married James in 1714. She died at her son’s house in Westminster 29
March 1762 and was buried in the west cloister of the Abbey. James was
born in 1715 and baptised at Kirkcaldy. He was educated at Edinburgh
university and became a lawyer and Member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy
burghs. On 19 January 1747 he married Elizabeth Reynardson (nee
Townsend). She died 20 September 1779 and was buried with him in the
nave, aged 80. Their only child was James Townsend Oswald, who succeeded
his father as M.P. and married Janet Gray. One of their sons, George
born 6 May 1779, was in the Civil Service of the East India Company. He
died unmarried aboard a ship returning from Bengal and was buried in the
nave on 12 June 1819. George’s niece, Lady Augusta Bruce, married Arthur
Stanley, Dean of Westminster, in the Abbey and is buried in Henry VII’s
chapel. Ann Oswald (nee Buchanan), who died 13 February 1785 aged 65,
was the wife of the Revd. Dr John Oswald, a prebendary of Westminster
1755-62 and later Bishop of Clonfert, Dromore and Raphoe in Ireland. She
was married in 1755 but seems to have had no children and was buried in
the nave (her husband is buried at Raphoe).
Two examples of James Oswald’s classical
music [converted into Mono Wav files to avoid possible copywrite] played
by ‘Da Camera’.
Though little is known of Oswald's early life he was quite active in
Scotland before moving to London in 1741. As a violinist he published
two sets of compositions in 1736 and 1740 respectively. The first was a
"Collection of Minuets" and the latter was a "Curious Collection of
Scots Tunes." By this time he was also active as a singer. In London
Oswald was paired with the publisher John Simpson. When Simpson died,
Oswald ventured on his own and set-up a publishing shop for popular
music. "The Caledonian Pocket Companion," in fifteen volumes, was a
collection of Scottish folk tunes, a most excellent publication. Because
he helped to found a secret musical society, The Temple of Apollo, with
Burney and Reid who edited each other's works, it is difficult to assess
some of the music that should or should not be attributed to Oswald. He
may have contributed to stage productions of Alfred, Harlequin Ranger,
and The Genii. In 1761 he was appointed as the chamber composer to
George III who had just ascended the thrown. Oswald set "God save the
King" for the bells of Windsor Church and may have composed the melody.
"Airs for the Four Seasons" were trio sonatas sparked with original
structures. Oswald's short works are noteworthy but his technical skills
were never tested through extended formal structures. ~ Keith Johnson
Alison
Melville, 2004, writes .....
It was many years ago when I first began exploring eighteenth-century
Scottish music. Having been steeped in the more typical Baroque
repertoire for my instruments, I was always on the lookout for more
esoteric musical fare; and as a first-generation Canadian with ancestry
in Port Glasgow and Dundee, perhaps it was genetic. But my chief reason
was that I found many old Scots tunes beautiful and very touching,
qualities as admired nowadays as they were in the eighteenth century. I
wondered how these tunes might have been played three centuries ago, and
what other music had been composed for the flute and recorder. This
recording offers a small sampling of the repertoire I came across; I
hope you have as much pleasure in the listening as my colleagues and I
had in the playing.
As seems to have been the case in most of Western Europe, the gulf
between ‘art’ and traditional music in 18th-century Scotland was not as
wide or un-navigable as it became by the early 20th century. Many Scots
musicians, such as John Clerk of Penicuik who studied with Corelli in
Rome in the late 1600s, composed in a typical Baroque style and produced
sonatas, divertimentos and ‘setts’ of Italianate or French influence.
Most were also familiar with Scottish traditional music, both vocal and
instrumental, and many tried to blend both styles with varying degrees
of success.
Most common was the attempt to arrange traditional airs in an ‘educated’
style, adding figured bass parts and/or secondary melodic lines; even
non-native composers resident in Scotland, such as Barsanti, Schetky and
Corri, made use of this approach. But adagios reminiscent of slow
Scottish airs and reel-like allegros can occasionally be found in the
sonatas of John Reid, James Oswald and others, bringing a distinctive
Scottish flavour to what otherwise sound like typically Italianate
works.
The collecting of Scots tunes began in the 17th century but blossomed
following Scotland’s Union with England in 1707. The loss of their own
Parliament spurred the Scots to protect their cultural heritage in
whichever ways they could; and ironically enough, Scottish music grew
enormously popular in England. For well over a century, the demand for
Scottish instrumental and vocal music fuelled tremendous publishing
activity in Scotland, England and abroad – the Scottish song
arrangements by Haydn and Beethoven are some of the more celebrated
examples. Some very large collections appeared, such as Robert Burns’s
Scots Musical Museum and James Oswald’s Caledonian Pocket Companion, as
well as collections by MacIntosh, McGibbon, Baillie, Foulis, Erskine,
Macklean, Watson, Bremner, Ramsey, Rick, Craig, Campbell, Schetky and
innumerably more.
Most of these collections were printed for voice or violin, and many
included only the tunes, sometimes with variations. The Scots Musical
Museum and various other publications included the song texts and
figured bass parts; still others provided slow air tunes without words
but set with figured bass for performance on the harpsichord or other
instruments. However, it must be said that applying ‘educated’ rules of
harmony and metre, not to mention tuning and temperament, significantly
alters the nature of these tunes, and playing from these arrangements
clearly produced a result very far removed from ‘traditional’
performance.
As for music written specifically for the flute, which was a popular
wind instrument throughout the eighteenth century, sonatas appeared by
Munro, Macklean, John Reid, Barsanti; Oswald composed a set of
divertimentos; and sets of flute duets were prepared by McGibbon,
Schetky, Montgomery, Muschat, Oswald and others.
James Oswald was one of Scotland’s bright lights in the 18th century,
making a career first in his hometown of Dunfermline and in Edinburgh
before moving to London in 1741. Appointed chamber composer to George
III in 1761, and a member of the Society of the Temple of Apollo, he
worked as a musician, composer, teacher and music editor. His Caledonian
Pocket Companion was a multi-volume collection of Scots tunes for violin
or flute solo published between about 1742 and 1759. Variations on the
tunes are often included, especially in the earlier volumes. Forty-seven
of the tunes in the CPC also appeared in a version with figured bass
around 1742 (a modern edition of this is available from Ut Orpheus,
Bologna). This recording features seven of the CPC’s tunes as solos, and
an eighth (Greensleeves) accompanied in an arrangement created by my
colleagues. ‘A rock and a wee pickle Jon,’ ‘Lovely Nancy‘ and ‘My aprone
dearie‘ are some of the most popular tunes of the time, found in many
collections; ‘The Braes of Ewes‘ is a tune of Oswald’s own composition.
James Oswald also composed numerous works for various instruments,
including two large sets of sonatas called ‘The Seasons.‘ Each ‘season’
consisted of several short sonatas, each named for a particular flower
or plant. The selections on this recording come from the second set,
published in 1747. I seem to have gravitated to some unusual botanical
subjects: the Sneezewort is a species of yarrow once used as a
substitute for snuff; the Duck’s Foot is more commonly known as the May
apple; and blue Heather Bells are amongst the most beautiful of
wildflowers in the northern U.K.
The short and sweet sonatas by Charles Macklean are two of the four
specified for flute in his ‘Twelve Solo’s or Sonata’s,’ op. 1, published
in Edinburgh in 1737. Macklean, who worked in Montrose, Aberdeen and
Edinburgh, also set a number of traditional tunes as part of a
collection published posthumously in 1770.
Nicola Matteis’s ‘Ground after the Scotch Humour’ comes from his Ayrs
for the Violin (1685). Matteis was a brilliant Neapolitain violinist who
came to London around 1670. During his early years there he performed
very little, allegedly because he was ‘inexpugnably proud,’ but he was
later described as ‘stupendious’ by Evelyn, and considered a second
Corelli by North and Burney.
Not much is known about Alexander Munro, whose ‘Collection of the Best
Scots Tunes Fited [sic] to the German Flute With Several Divisions, &
Variation’ appeared in Paris in 1732. The publication contains twelve
well-known tunes, each with a group of variations and set to a figured
bass. ‘Fy gar rub her over wi’ strae‘ is one of the longer examples,
featuring a group of divisions on the original melody followed by
several versions of the tune in different metres, tempos and dance
forms. The text of the original song extols the virtues of making hay
while the sun shines, “afore auld age your vitals nip,”and in a highly
politically incorrect fashion, ‘Fy gar’ seems to be an Aberdeen
colloquialism for ‘get a move on.’
For examples of slow airs set to 18th-century figured basses,
arrangements by Barsanti and Edward Miller are included here. Padua-born
Francesco Barsanti, who lived in Edinburgh from 1735 to 1743 and is
better-known to recorder/flute players for his sonatas, adapted many
Scottish slow airs in various arrangements for vocal and instrumental
performance.
‘The Braes of Ballandyne‘ is taken from Edward Miller’s flute
instruction method of 1799.
Captain Simon Fraser’s collection of ‘The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to
the Highlands of Scotland and The Isles’ was assembled between 1715 and
1745 but did not appear in print until 1816. A record of Gaelic songs as
sung by his older relatives, the tunes were set in very simple keyboard
arrangements, presumably to be useful to as wide a spectrum of music
lovers as possible. The accompaniments recorded here, created by my
colleagues, are significantly more inventive than Fraser’s.
Two tunes by members of the illustrious Gow family of fiddle players
have also been included here, simply out of respect for their influence
on Scottish music.
‘Bannocks of Beer Meal‘ is a melody featured in numerous collections,
and the variations on it come from Robert Bewick’s manuscripts of tunes
for Northumbrian small pipes. Bewick was a celebrated pipes player of
the early nineteenth century, and also produced excellent copperplate
engravings.
The CD’s final tune comes from an anonymous 18th-century collection at
Edinburgh’s National Library of Scotland (MS 2833).
Ancient Scottish Melodies (pdf)
From a Manuscript of the Reign of King James VI. with an introductory
enquiry illustrative of the history of the music of Scotland by William
Dauney, FSA Scot (1838)
The
Life of Sir Herbert Stanley Oakley (pdf)
Knight; Hon. Composer of Music to H.M. in Scotlaand; Emeritus Professor,
Edinburgh; M.A. Oxford; D.C.L. Toronto; LL.D Edinburgh, Aberdeen,
Glasgow; MUS. DOC. Oxford, Edinburgh, St. Andrews, Dublin, Canterbury,
Adelaide; Hon MEMB. Philharmonic, London, Filarmonica, Bologna;
Filarmonica and S. Cecilia, Rome; Vice-President, Trin. Coll. London.
Compiled by his brother Edward Murray Oakeley (1904)
Hamish
MacCunn (pdf)
A short biographical sketch by Stuart Scott
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The composer
of the music entitled “Airs for the Seasons” is Scotland’s most famous
18th Century composer James Oswald, who was born in 1710 and died in
1769. I listened to a recording of his 48 Floral Suites each
representing a particular shrub or flower, played by the Broadside Band.