What audiences now think of as the folk music of Scotland (and Ireland) has diverse sources indeed, with some tunes and songs entering the repertory as a result of what's known as the "folk process," while others were collected, published, and embellished or altered by classically trained musicians at various times. This remarkable disc from the Scots historical-instrument ensemble Concerto Caledonia covers a major chapter in the history of Scottish song -- its commercial flowering in the eighteenth century. You have to ...
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What audiences now think of as the folk music of Scotland (and Ireland) has diverse sources indeed, with some tunes and songs entering the repertory as a result of what's known as the "folk process," while others were collected, published, and embellished or altered by classically trained musicians at various times. This remarkable disc from the Scots historical-instrument ensemble Concerto Caledonia covers a major chapter in the history of Scottish song -- its commercial flowering in the eighteenth century. You have to sink your teeth into this disc to get a handle on what's going on -- the tracklist gives only the composers of the music, while the song texts list just the text authors, Robert Burns being the most prominent among them. Songs alternate with instrumental pieces, and neither group quite matches up with the listener's expectations. The program gets off to a shocking start with The Slaves Lament, to a text by Burns; it is a plaint in the voice of a Senegalese slave transported to Virginia....
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