The Gow Collection of Scottish Dance Music

The Gow Collection of Scottish Dance Music
Author: Neil Gow
Publisher: Oak Publications
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2007-01-26
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1783234911

An essential addition to the dance tune library and an important milestone in traditional music publishing. This volume of almost 600 strathspeys, jigs and reels has been compiled from the original collections published between 1784 and 1822 by Niel and Nathaniel Gow, the father and son violinist/composers. Niel Gow revolutionized Scottish music by inventing a new style of bowing, known as the ‘up-driven’ technique, that accented the unique strathspey rhythm. Besides the invaluable contributions of the Gows, other important Scottish composers such as William Marshall and Donald Dow are featured, as well as some of the more important tunes in the traditional Scottish repertoire. This unique collection also features detailed notes on the life and times of Niel and Nathaniel Gow, an analysis of the ‘up-driven’ bow technique, the origination of the strathspey as well as a complete discography and bibliography. This book will prove an invaluable addition to your repertoire and home library.

Airs and Dances

Airs and Dances
Author: Mara Shea
Publisher: Mel Bay Publications
Total Pages: 119
Release: 2011-04-15
Genre: Music
ISBN: 161065966X

Compiled by Mara Shea, a Scottish dance fiddler with a classical violin background, this book will appeal to the classically-trained violinist or musician, intermediate to advanced, who would like to learn something about the type of music unique to Scotland-the strathspey. It will also appeal to Scottish dance musicians who would like to know a little about the history of some of the tunes and their composers. Each of the strathspeys is recorded by Mara Shea and accessible online for listening. Chords are provided by Julie Gorka. Sketches and illustrations are by Lisa McDonald.

The Glengarry Collection, Volume 1

The Glengarry Collection, Volume 1
Author: Aonghas Grant
Publisher: Mel Bay Publications
Total Pages: 137
Release: 2010-10-20
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1619115018

The Glengarry Collection contains 164 Slow Airs, Marches, Strathspeys, Reels, Jigs and Hornpipes with Stories, History and Photographs. It focuses on the coreof Aonghas' music: Highland fiddling, with its links to pipe tunes andGaelic songs. Some of these tunes have never been published before, while others are available only in out-of-print books or in pipe settings, and the collection also includes a number of tunes composed by Aonghas himself, andtunes composed in honor of Aonghas. The tunes are fully chorded in a style appropriate to Aonghas' band experience. All these are richly illustrated by transcriptions of Aonghas' bowings, grace-notes, stories, and photos of scenes and people from Aonghas' varied life careers, including old family photos. Finally, there is an accompanying online videos of Aonghas' impromptu and passionateperformances of 61 of the tunes in the collection. Inlcudes access to online video

Understanding Scotland Musically

Understanding Scotland Musically
Author: Simon McKerrell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2018-02-15
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1315467550

Scottish traditional music has been through a successful revival in the mid-twentieth century and has now entered a professionalised and public space. Devolution in the UK and the surge of political debate surrounding the independence referendum in Scotland in 2014 led to a greater scrutiny of regional and national identities within the UK, set within the wider context of cultural globalisation. This volume brings together a range of authors that sets out to explore the increasingly plural and complex notions of Scotland, as performed in and through traditional music. Traditional music has played an increasingly prominent role in the public life of Scotland, mirrored in other Anglo-American traditions. This collection principally explores this movement from historically text-bound musical authenticity towards more transient sonic identities that are blurring established musical genres and the meaning of what constitutes ‘traditional’ music today. The volume therefore provides a cohesive set of perspectives on how traditional music performs Scottishness at this crucial moment in the public life of an increasingly (dis)United Kingdom.

A Social History of Amateur Music-Making and Scottish National Identity: Scotland’s Printed Music, 1880–1951

A Social History of Amateur Music-Making and Scottish National Identity: Scotland’s Printed Music, 1880–1951
Author: Karen E. McAulay
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2024-10-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1040216501

Late Victorian Scotland had a flourishing music publishing trade, evidenced by the survival of a plethora of vocal scores and dance tune books; and whether informing us what people actually sang and played at home, danced to, or enjoyed in choirs, or reminding us of the impact of emigration from Britain for both emigrants and their families left behind, examining this neglected repertoire provides an insight into Scottish musical culture and is a valuable addition to the broader social history of Scotland. The decline of the music trade by the mid-twentieth century is attributable to various factors, some external, but others due to the conservative and perhaps somewhat parochial nature of the publishers’ output. What survives bears witness to the importance of domestic and amateur music-making in ordinary lives between 1880 and 1950. Much of the music is now little more than a historical artefact. Nonetheless, Karen E. McAulay shows that the nature of the music, the song and fiddle tune books’ contents, the paratext around the collections, its packaging, marketing and dissemination all document the social history of an era whose everyday music has often been dismissed as not significant or, indeed, properly ‘old’ enough to merit consideration. The book will be valuable for academics as well as folk musicians and those interested in the social and musical history of Scotland and the British Isles.