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!)

If You're a Competitive Violinist, enter the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition

2015 Tibor Varga International Violin Competition, in Sion Valais

Details:- www.varga-sion-concours.ch

New Encyclopedia for String Instruments - The Brompton's Book of Violin and Bow Makers

The Whittaker Library was proud to accept the gift of a copy of John Dilworth's new book,The Brompton's Book of Violin and Bow Makers.  

You'll find the book on our reference shelves here at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.  It's an astonishing 683 page alphabetical listing of violin and bow makers - a lifetime's work of recording details from individual instruments, and data from an extensive bibliography.  The author, with the background of 'forty years at the bench and in the auction viewing rooms', explains in his foreword that Henley's  now historic Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers (1973) has long been a source of fascination for him, and the present volume is to be regarded as an extension, an update and in some cases a correction of entries or an alternative viewpoint to commentary in that book.

Additional information can be sourced through an appendix of instrument makers, backing up the information in this new dictionary by taking the reader to books which deal with their subjects in greater depth, and this is followed by a 'Select Bibliography of Sources and Further Reading'.  More about the book can be read at this link, HERE.

And There's More!

http://www.amati.com/maker-archive.html

There is also a website with a huge biographical resource of violin and bow makers (14,000 and counting) - most of the information is based on The Brompton's Book of Violin and Bow Makers.  Visit the Amati.com Maker Archive HERE.

North London Piano School - International Summer Course 2014

North London Piano School Summer Course

Piano and Violin

16 -23 August 2014

Gala Concerts 23 August 2014

Website: www.learn-music.com/nlps2

ESTA, and now JESTA - No Kidding!

ESTA stands for the European String Teachers Association - you knew that.

However, today the Whittaker Library received a pile of magazines entitled JESTA, which came as part of our subscription to ESTA.

A Survival Guide for Young String Players

http://www.jesta.org.uk/

JESTA - the magazine and the website - is 'a survival guide for young string players'.  If you encounter a young string player looking as though they might need survival skills, please do direct them to the website - or tell Junior Conservatoire members that there are currently 7 copies of the Summer 2014 issue of the magazine, at the Whittaker Library Issue Desk.

* The European String Teachers Association website is:- 

http://www.estastrings.org.uk/

 (Don't be fooled into thinking the website is the junior website without the "J" - that would take you somewhere very different!) 

Early Scottish, Irish and Welsh tunes for flute (or fiddle)

Karen's rather excited about this new acquisition for the library.  Published around 1730, the original book has been brought out in a new modern edition with great contextual notes by the editor, Andreas Habert.

Unaccompanied tunes - raw material for you to play however you think most fitting!

Aria di Camera

Find it in the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland - here.

Summer Courses: Dance in Italy or Duos in Switzerland

Whittaker has been sent leaflets for two more summer courses:-

FLORENCE SUMMER DANCE 2014 - Alambrado Danza - Florence (Italy)

Monday 16 June - Sunday 6 July 2014

• www.florencesummerdance.com 
• info@florencesummerdance.com

LE SION FESTIVAL (voice, violin) - Valais, Switzerland

August 25-30, 2014 A Feast of Duos, new competition for Violin and Piano Duos

• www.sion-festival.ch

Violin Competition - Concours Long Thibaud Crespin 2014

'Whittaker' has received another poster about a forthcoming violin competition, this time in France:-

15-20 November 2014
Finale at the Champs-Elysees Theatre

Deadline: 15 March 2014

• Details: www.long-thibaud-crespin.org 
• Contact: contact@long-thibaud-crespin.org

Is Fiddle Music Traditional? Views from Above and Below ...

• How 'traditional' is fiddle music really?
• What does the word 'fiddle' mean to you?

Two blogs recently addressed this question:- the Bass Culture blog associated with David McGuinness and the University of Glasgow AHRC-funded research into fiddle music accompaniments; and Ronnie Gibson's Scottish Fiddle Music blog from the University of Aberdeen, where he's a doctoral student.

If you study or work with traditional music, you may find both blogs of some interest.

International Violin, Cello and Jazz Competitions

 3 Competitions: Poland, Germany, Romania

'Whittaker' opened the Library post today to discover details of not one, not two, but THREE international competitions for performers.  Let's see some of our fabulous performers on the world stage!

www.Pendereckicello.com - the name says it all.  The 2nd International Krztsztof Penderecki Cello Competition. 15-22 December 2013.  Deadline 15 August 2013.

www.hfm-weimar.de/spohr - 7th International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists, 28 October - 8 November 2013.  Deadline 15 July 2013, and your date of birth must be no earlier than 1993.

www.jmevents.ro - 8th Bucharest International Jazz Competition, 17-24 May 2014.  "100% Jazz and more".

Musical Limericks no.7 (Strings)

The old violinist

The old chap who played violin

Was dreadfully, painfully thin;

And his delicate hands

Couldn't fold music stands,

Lest he damaged his papery skin.

Viola with Attitude

A posh gent who led the violas

Had solid gold put in his molars;

His flashy gold teeth

Lit the music beneath,

And set off his cape, gloves and bowlers.

Musical Limericks no.1 (flute, oboe, clarinet)

Musical Limericks no.2 (bassoon)

Musical Limericks no.3 (trumpet, horn)

Musical Limericks no.4 (Piper, by James Beaton)

Musical Limericks no.5 (tuba, trombone)

Musical Limericks no.6 (saxophone)

Musical Limericks no.7 (violin, viola)

Musical Limericks no.8 (cello, double bass, timpani)