Every Picture Tells a Story (and History)

We were donated some old music the other day.  At first glance, it was rubbish - old and tatty, probably ten-a-penny.  Both pieces were published by Bayley & Ferguson, a music publisher with bases in Glasgow and London.

Reading a Score (not your usual score-reading!)

But look again.  'A Fairy Croon' was published in 1918.  That's the era of Hugh Roberton and the Orpheus Singers, one of the big names of choral music history in Glasgow.  This particular piece, scored for soprano solo and female voices, isn't a Roberton one - it was arranged by Julian Nesbitt, a name completely unknown to us today.  Nonetheless, it's still distinctly in the 'Celtic Twilight' vein.  Today we know it as 'Dream Angus'.  

The other sheet, 'Scottish Part Songs, no.83' is set for mixed choir.  It contains four song settings, beginning with 'Caller herrin'.  That's a Scottish folk song that is still quite well known.  Although ... we call it a folk song, but it isn't really.  Far from being plucked from the rural hedgerows and oral tradition, we learn from this score that Lady Caroline Nairne wrote the words, and Nathaniel Gow Junior composed the tune.  'Folk?' 'Traditional?'  Hardly!  Strange things happen to 'folk songs' when they're scored for SATB choir, too.  Sometimes they become almost hymn-like, and sometimes the harmonies are as thick and sludgy as golden syrup!

One last comment about 'Scottish Part Songs'.  If there were four songs in no.83, there were plainly hundreds in the series.  This one's in conventional staff music notation, but it says there was also a Tonic Sol-Fa edition.  Those were the days when choral singing was much more popular, and Tonic Sol-Fa brought singing and sight-reading within the capabilities of people who couldn't read music.

So much musical and social history in two scruffy pieces of sheet music.  We might keep them, anyway!

HELP WITH RESOURCES FOR RCS MUSIC HISTORY 2 ESSAY

If you're a 2nd year music student at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, then you just got lucky!  We’ve been looking at the Music History 2 essay questions to see how our online resources could help.  Here are some general hints.  We'll be emailing more hints soon.

A   You can often find a score online.   Use your computer’s snipping tool to copy little excerpts for examples.  We subscribe to Alexander Street Press Classical Scores Library (accessible online wherever you are), and Library Music Source (accessible on site).  You probably already know about IMSLP (the Petrucci library), too.

B    You can look for information in Groves Dictionary – it’s part of Oxford Music Online.  Check our e-resources page.  http://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/libraryandit/databases/ 

C   You can also find useful information on JSTOR.  Be clever with your searching – if the essay is asking you to link concepts (eg Liszt and literature), make sure your search terms reflect that.  Check our e-resources page.  http://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/libraryandit/databases/

D   If a piece of music has an English title as well as its original title, search both!

E   There’s nothing wrong with older literature, if it informs the question you are answering. However, do remember that opinions may have changed, if an article is very old indeed!!

F   Search keywords in our catalogue.  http://capitadiscovery.co.uk/rcs/  Start with a precise search (eg the composer’s name and  perhaps the piece) then broaden it if you don’t get what you need.  If you don’t find the right information under a composer’s name, try MUSIC HISTORY - and maybe the century you’re interested in.  If you’re off-site, limit your results to e-books to see if there’s anything you can read online. 

G  You can stream music by Naxos or Alexander Street Press Music Library.  Check our e-resources page.  http://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/libraryandit/databases/ 

H   There are also plenty of electronic journals on the e-journals page.  Start by looking for suitable journals under the List of Music Titles.  http://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/libraryandit/e-journals/

We're the very helpful Whittaker Library, here to help students and staff of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with their information requirements.

He Promised to Write a Scottish Musical History - but Callander didn't follow through

Music and Academic Services Librarian Karen McAulay has an article published in Scottish Music Review today:-

An Unwritten Enlightenment Scottish Musical History, and Two Reconstructed Edinburgh Bookshelves

Find out what this 18th century member of the Scottish 'literati' hoped to write about - and what went wrong.

Scottish Music Publishers - Who Did What, When?

Anyone studying the history of Scottish music will at some stage need to find out who published what, and when. 

There is a vast amount of information out there!  The National Library of Scotland contains many priceless original music books, but they also actively curate and compile useful indexes to help you find accurate historical information.

The Scottish Book Trade Index is online, and includes music publishers as well as the people who published books:-

http://www.nls.uk/catalogues/scottish-book-trade-index

Watch this space for more helpful suggestions of ways to find out more about Scottish music.