After a first instrumental programme based on the most famous dances (reels & jigs), The Curious Bards are now interested in rarer types of dances which have nevertheless persisted through the ages.
The Scottish strathspey, with its strong character reminiscent of the characteristic style of Scottish dances, the Irish slip-jigs with their wild rhythm or the hornpipes, which were particularly appreciated and used by Handel himself! Moving ballads as well as traditional pieces revisited by composers of the time (variations, harmonizations...) will punctuate these suites of exalted dances to complete this enchanting journey in the Gaelic lands of the 18th century.
Through these numerous tunes, most of them by unknown or anonymous composers, The Curious Bards will make you discover their "musical bedside book"; these collections of tunes being specific to the itinerant musicians of the 17th and 18th centuries in Ireland and Scotland. A new programme that will take you closer to the Celtic and Gaelic soul.
Cast
Sarah Van Oudenhove, viola da gamba
Jean-Christophe Morel, Irish cistrum
Louis Capeille, triple harp
Bruno Harlé, flutes
Alix Boivert, baroque violin & direction
Programme
Robbin Powers Fancy (O'Farrell's Pocket Companion for the Union Pipes, 1804)
Miss Douglas Brigton's Jigg (A Collection of Strathspey Reels & Country Dances, John Bowie, 1789)
Cosey's Jigg (A collection of favourite Irish Tunes, William Jackson, 1790)
Scots lament (The Caledonian Pocket Companion, James Oswald, 1747)
Miss Preston Ferntons Reel (A Collection of Strathspey Reels & Country Dances, John Bowie, 1789)
Miss Johnstons Reel (A Collection of Strathspey Reels, Malcolm Macdonald, 1788)
The Countis of London's Reel (A Collection of Strathspey Reels & Country Dances, John Bowie, 1789)
A bottle of Clarrett (A collection of the most favorite Irish tunes, giggs & planxtys, Denis Courtenay, 1782)
Fy Gar (A Collection of the Best Scots Tunes, Alexander Munro, 1732)
Jackie Latin (A Collection of Favourite Scots Tunes with Variations, Charles Maclean, 1773)
John Hays Bonny Lassie (A Collection of the Choicest Scots Tunes Adapted for the Harpsicord or Spinnet and within the Compass of the Voice Violin or German Flute, Adam Craig, 1730)
The Honorable Miss Rollo's Reel (A Collection of Strathspey Reels & Country Dances, John Bowie, 1789)
Drunken Friday (A Second Collection of Strathspey Reels, Robert Petrie, 1796)
Kelo House (Thirty New Strathspey Reels, Abraham Macintosh, 1792)
Miss Noble - Turlough O'Carolan (A Favourite Collection of the so much admired old Irish Tunes, John Lee 1780)
Mr Hogert's Hornpipe (A Collection of Marches & Quicksteps, Strathspeys & Reels, Thomas Calvert, 1799)
The Captain sha'nna' get thee (Collection of Scottish airs, with the latest variations, David Young, 1743)
Glenurchy Reel (Collection of Scottish airs, with the latest variations, David Young, 1743)
Miss Clementina Sarah Drummond of Perth (A Collection of Strathspey Reels & Country Dances, John Bowie, 1789)
The Marquis of Huntley's Farewell (Napier's selection of dances & strathspeys, 1795)
Mr Moore's Strathspey (A collection of slow airs, reels, & strathspeys, Duncan Macintyre, 1794)
The Pertshire Hunt (A Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Jigs, Abraham Mackintosh, 1797)
Mrs James Erskine of Kirkwall's Reel (A collection of slow airs, reels, & strathspeys, Duncan Macintyre, 1794)
Mrs Gillespies Reel (New music for the piano forte or harpsichord, James Johnson, 1785)
The Highlander's farewell (A Collection of Reels, Alexander McGlashan, 1786)
The Isla Reel (A Collection of Reels, Alexander McGlashan, 1786)
Huntingtone Castle (A Collection of Strathspey Reels & Country Dances, John Bowie, 1789)
I have a Wife o' my ain (The Caledonian Muse, Samuel Thompson, 1790)
Hey me Nancy (Forty Eight Original Irish Dances Never Before Printed,1795)
The Humour of Ballinamult (O'Farrell's Pocket Companion for the Union Pipes, 1804)
Hopetoun House (The Caledonian Muse, Samuel Thompson, 1790)
Suite of 3 Irish tunes
Morepeth Rant (A Second Collection of Strathspey Reels, Robert Petrie, 1796)
The Cruskeen Lawn (Collection of Old Established Irish Slow & Quick Tunes, Smollett Holden, 1805)
N°2 (A collection of strathspey reels, gigg's, Charles Stewart, 1799)
Miss Rose of Tarlogie's Reel (Collection of strathspeys, reels, jigs &c for the pianoforte violin & violoncello, Donald Grant, 1790)
Colonel Mc Beans Reel (Choice collection of Scots reels or country dances & strathspeys, Robert Ross, 1780)
Mr Reid's Reel (Collection of strathspeys, reels, jigs &c for the pianoforte violin & violoncello, Donald Grant, 1790)
Anonyme (Scottish airs Manuscript, William Young, 1741)
The musicians’ description of this music as ‘new treasures waiting to be unearthed’ is indeed warranted. After a while a diet of jigs and reels can get a bit samey, but there is also much variety to be savoured, and it’s all excellently played, generating the convivial intimacy of performance in a lost age. The liner notes indicate the political background of many of the Scottish numbers, some of them Jacobite songs which could get those who sang them exiled or even executed. And if you want to know the rhythm of a slip jig or a strathspey dance, you’ll find out here.
THE CURIOUS BARDS
Alix Boivert, baroque violin
Jean-Christophe Morel, Irish cittern
Sarah Van Oudenhove, viola da gamba
Louis Capeille, triple harp
Bruno Harlé, flutes
GUESTS
Ilektra Platiopoulou, mezzo-soprano
Quentin Viannais, bagpipes
Pierre Gallon, harpsichord
Samuel Sérandour, bodhrán
This new program takes you to the wilds of Ireland and Scotland to discover the Gaelic repertoire of the 18th century.
After months of research in English, Scottish and Irish libraries, Alix Boivert and her companions offer us an anthology of ballads, dances (such as hornpipes, slip jigs, strathspeys), songs in the Gaelic language and other leggy tunes.
A new opportunity to plunge into this unprecedented musical universe and discover even more of the traditional Irish and Scottish repertoire of the Baroque period.
For the occasion, the curious bards are joined by bagpipes, harpsichord, Irish bodhrán (percussion) and, above all, mezzo-soprano Ilektra Platiopoulou, who lends her warm timbre to some melancholy ballads.
A sneak preview of the Curious Bards' new year: the release of their next CD with Harmonia Mundi and a…
Read moreA sneak preview of the Curious Bards' new year: the release of their next CD with Harmonia Mundi and a double Parisian concert in January to celebrate! Tuesday January 21st for 2 different 50-minute concerts at 7pm and 9pm at the Lavoir Moderne Parisien in Paris.
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