Fiddler of Strathspey Festival, Grantown

Fiddler of Strathspey Festival

23-25 June 2017

Details of a fiddle festival - lots of fiddling events, recitals, sessions, workshops, masterclasses - and all in Grantown, home of the strathspey.  RCS alumna and tutor Lauren MacColl is amongst the many stars who will be there. Visit:-
http://thegrantownsociety.org/page5.html

Baroque Violin in the Highlands - read Michael Newton's paper on Academia.ed

This will interest Scottish fiddlers and Baroque violinists alike. It came up on the Academia.edu website (sometimes referred to as 'the thinking person's Facebook'):-

On the Introduction of the Baroque Violin into the Gàidhealtachd

by Michael Newton, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Michael has a Ph.D. in Celtic Studies from the University of Edinburgh in 1998, with a dissertation on The Tree in Scottish Gaelic Literature and Tradition.

Robert Burns and his Fiddle - By his Sister

What do we know about Robert Burns's violin-playing?  Mary Anne Alburger, in Scottish Fiddlers and their Music (1996), says he could play to amuse himself, but couldn't play well enough to accompany a dance.

And how does Alburger know this?  She referred to a famous collection of Scottish songs which has plentiful notes.

Songs of Scotland was edited by George Farquhar Graham, and published by Edinburgh firm Wood and Co., from 1848-1853. It remained in print in various editions for half a century, but the most important thing to us is the annotations.

Captain Charles Gray, who knew Robert Burns's sister, wrote to George Farquhar Graham to say he had asked Mrs Begg for her recollections.  (This would be described as oral history nowadays!)

George Farquhar Graham wrote back to Captain Gray, asking for answers to some more precise questions.  In the Appendix to Vol. 2 of Songs of Scotland, Graham quotes from Captain Gray's original letter, and his own reply with the questions he wanted answered, and finally, from Captain Gray's second letter. 

You can read the whole discussion in Songs of Scotland Vol.2, Appendix (pp.161-62).  We have it in stock in the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Click here for catalogue number

And that's what we know about Burns and his fiddle-playing prowess!

Burns could copy music, too - the few scraps that survive have sold at auction for phenomenal prices!  Here's one:- Wha is that at my bower door? (It sold for £12,500 recently!)

Stuart Eydmann blogs about the Fiddle in the Scottish Folk Revival

The Fiddle in the Scottish Folk Revival

Stuart Eydmann was Traditional Artist in Residence at the University of Edinburgh in 2013-2014.  During that time he maintained a blog about the Fiddle in the Scottish Folk Revival.

You can access this useful blog here.

Wee 18th Century Tunebook in Inverclyde Archives

An 18th century tunebook turned up in Inverclyde Archives at the Watt Library in Greenock earlier this year.

This weekend, the public has the opportunity to explore some of the archives' treasures, and there will be two talks by Inverclyde Archivist Neil Dickson and Dunbartonshire Archivist Christopher Cassells.  And of course, the wee Hugh Cameron tunebook will be on display.  It's dated 1709, but the musical contents are from around 1782.

Whittaker Library Music librarian Karen McAulay attended a press launch earlier this week and there's an article in the Greenock Telegraph today, Friday 15th November 2013.  There'll also be a mention on Newsround on Radio Scotland at 16.50 today, or catch it on iPlayer.

More about Hugh Cameron and his book ...

The Fiddletree - story of a fiddle made from a Cape Breton sugar maple tree

Read Susan Zettell's blog.  Then borrow the book from the Whittaker Library!

"In a world where speed means everything -- drive-throughs, twitter and tweets, and highspeed everything, and time is money -- Otis Tomas, a friend and neighbour, violin maker, composer and musician, decided to embark on a project that ended up taking 16 years to complete. In his travels through the woods near his home on the Meadow Road, he found an ancient sugar maple and that's where Otis's story begins. He writes: "I am a violin maker, and so of course it wasn't long before my thoughts turned to possibilities held deep within this tree, and of the voices that might come forth were I to turn my hand to the transformation and domestication of this giant of the forest." And turn his hand he did.

On Saturday, Otis launched his book The Fiddletree ..." Read more ...

Postscript.  Talking to a colleague, I've just heard about a similar initiative in our own Scotland.  A string quartet of instruments has been built with the sycamore from Sherlock Holmes' author Sir Conan Doyle's childhood garden in Edinburgh.  There was a concert last year.  Will I blog about it?  You bet I will!  Watch this space...

Post-postscript.  I have just learned of an interesting BBC news item about choosing the best wood for a Stradivarius. Read on!  (BBC News 14 April 2013).