Historical music of the Scottish Highlands and Islands

Harps of the Scottish Highlands and Islands – An illustrated talk [Guest speaker: Dr Karen Loomis]

This presentation will explore the history of the harp in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, and take an in-depth look at the two surviving historical instruments: the Queen Mary and Lamont harps. We'll consider these two harps in the context of their historical time periods, examine their craftsmanship and decorative work, and discuss how they can inform performance practice for present-day players.

'Port Robart' from the Wemyss MS – Uncovering the secrets of the 17th-/18th-century port [James Ruff]

The mysterious puirt (ports) preserved in 17th- and 18th-century Scottish lute manuscripts may be the earliest notated repertoire in Scotland for the harp, and, unlike many other Gaelic harp repertory sources, include a full musical texture.  Using the example of 'Port Robart' from the Wemyss MS, we will go over the basics of lute tablature in order to transcribe these pieces into modern notation, before playing it on the harp. In particular, we will look at the use of the bass in these pieces, to help inform our reconstruction of later puirt, as well as the ornamentation embedded in the tablature.  A review of sources will be included.

'Is eagal leam am bàs' – The Maclean-Clephane sisters and the harp [James Ruff]

The music manuscripts of the Maclean-Clephane sisters, on the Isle of Mull, are a significant early 19th-century source of indigenous harp music and song from the Gaelic tradition, and are a largely neglected resource that deserve to be more well known. The three sisters were harpists themselves, collecting local harp music, Gaelic song, and traditional Highland lore – in fact, Sir Walter Scott, executor to their father’s will and close family friend, received the Gaelic traditional lore for his novels from them!  Most interestingly for us, these manuscripts include repertoire transcribed from Irish clarsair Echlin Ó Catháin, as well as ten anonymous puirt.  We will look at one of the recognizable puirt, a setting of 'Is eagal leam am bàs' – a melancholy consideration of death – which we will learn together, discussing and trying different possibilities for harp bass as we go.

Mary MacLeod’s song, 'Crònan an Taibh' – A key to rendering Scottish Gaelic song on the harp [James Ruff]

Approaching any of the myriad of beautiful song airs in the Gaelic tradition, much less an actual Gaelic song, can be a daunting prospect for us.  Even without a knowledge of the Gaelic language, some basic rules of its stresses and cadence can transform the way we play these pieces on the harp. In this class – using a portion of Mary MacLeod’s song 'Crònan an Taibh' – we will look at basics of word stress, poetic form with its rhythm and stress, the ‘Scotch snap’, and anacrusis in poetic line, and how we can apply these building blocks to bring about more of a natural lilt in your playing of Gaelic song airs.

'Alleluya, Virga dei mater pia' – Sacred medieval Scottish music from the St Andrews Music Book [Bill Taylor]

This class will explore playing a sacred motet, 'Alleluya, virga dei mater pia', from one of the earliest sources of music from Scotland, the St Andrews Music Book. Also known as Wolfenbüttel 1, after its current library classification, it contains a section with over 40 two-voice motets dedicated to the Virgin, written by Scottish composers when the manuscript was owned by St Andrews Cathedral.

'‘S fhada mar seo tha sinn', an ancient piobaireachd in Daniel Dow’s Collection of Ancient Scots Music (1776) [Bill Taylor]

This class will look at a piece from Daniel Dow’s Collection of Ancient Scots Music (1776). The piece, '’S fhada mar seo tha sinn' [‘too long in this condition’], has several different titles, and it is possible that the editor confused the melody and the title. But what is certain is that it is a surviving, ancient piobaireachd – a sophisticated music of theme and variations for solo bagpipes – with wider implications for performance on clàrsach, fiddle and keyboard.