Scotland Forever Scotland the Brave
Scottish Fiddlers of Los Angeles 28th Annual Spring Concert
Scotland Forever Scotland the Brave
**We Have a Scots Spring Concert Saturday, 09 April 2005 at 7:30 p.m., Hermosa Beach Playhouse, 710 Pier Avenue; corner of Pier Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway. Tickets will be available at the box office concert night and also may be placed on 'will call' order status by e-mail request to [email protected], or telephone 310-372-5856 to hold tickets for concert at theater window. **Program Link is an Adobe .pdf
Long-lost Beethoven 'Duets' with Robert Burns are Music to the Ears
Tim Cornwell
THE SCOTSMAN Arts Correspondent
Thursday 07 April 2005
Five arrangements of Scottish and Irish folk songs by Ludwig van Beethoven, including Highland Harry by Robert Burns, have emerged in a private collection.
The rare musical manuscript, in Beethoven's own hand, dates from 1815, the year of the Battle of Waterloo. Part of a series of tunes commissioned by an Edinburgh publisher, George Thomson, they are now up for auction and expected to sell for about 400,000 pounds.
Beethoven’s score for Highland Harry - whose chorus Burns picked up "from an old woman in Dunblane" - was described by one expert yesterday as a jaunty piece that used a bass "drone" to give a folksy feel.
The first verse of the short song reads:
"My Harry was a gallant gay, Fu’ stately strade he on the plain; But now he’s banish’d far away, I’ll never see him back again."
Beethoven’s settings of British folk tunes have often been overlooked, but they are increasingly seen as part of the master’s oeuvre.
Thomson, who lived from 1757 to 1851, enlisted leading European composers, including Haydn, Weber and Hummel, to write classical accompaniments for the original melodies of Scottish and Irish folk songs, suitable for violin, cello and piano in family homes.
He boldly haggled with Beethoven over prices - eventually agreeing to pay four gold ducats rather than three - and insisted that the composer keep his music simple enough for amateur players. The manuscript, which goes on sale at a Christie’s auction in November, is said to be the first to appear on the open market in 15 years, with an estimated price of 350,000-450,000 pounds. It has been in a private collection since 1959 and includes five songs, among them the popular setting of Tis The Last Rose of Summer, by Sir Thomas Moore.
The 12 leaves of paper are stitched together with the original twine, said Thomas Venning, a manuscript specialist at Christie’s. "It is as it left Beethoven’s desk."
Beethoven’s fame was such that manuscripts in his own hand have usually been broken up and sold one leaf at a time, added Mr Venning.
As secretary to the board of trustees for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufacturers in Scotland, Thomson was a champion of Scottish culture.
He set out to remould Scottish and other British folk tunes with classical arrangements and genteel words that would make them fit for British drawing rooms.
He commissioned more than 200 settings from Franz Joseph Haydn while also commissioning words from Burns, Sir Walter Scott and others.
Thomson approached Beethoven in the early 19th century after Haydn became too ill, and after Burns’s death in 1796. Beethoven eventually wrote settings for 126 songs, about a third of them Scottish.
"Thomson’s goal was to preserve the best Scottish songs in the manner that he thought was best for his time," said Marjorie Rycroft, of the music department at Glasgow University. "He was a collector, he was an editor, and a very good amateur musician."
Thomson sent Beethoven the original tunes for the songs, but not the words. In 1812, after the composer complained bitterly that he could not write them without the words, Thomson began to send brief descriptions.
He twice asked Beethoven to adapt Highland Harry, later describing the song in 1820 to the composer, as "a girl sighs for the return of her beloved".
Mr Venning said: "This was quite an unusual thing for Beethoven to be involved with. He really poured himself into these settings and took them very seriously. This is Beethoven at his closest involvement with British and Irish culture."
Beethoven, who lived from 1770-1827, grappled with settings of God Save the King and Auld Lang Syne.
In his diaries, he wrote: "The Scotch songs show how unconstrainedly irregular melodies can be treated with the help of harmony."
Barry Cooper, a professor of music at Manchester University and the author of a book, Beethoven’s Folk Settings, said the composer’s work on the folk tunes was long dismissed by both classical purists and folk enthusiasts.
"What tended to happen was the German scholars thought these were rubbishy British songs, and the British thought it was a German composer messing about with our folk tunes.
"People who want Scottish things tend to be a bit suspicious of Beethoven, and people who want Beethoven’s music tend to be suspicious of Scottish things."
Mr Cooper said the tune was "jaunty with a semblance of folk elements". There is a single bass note running all through the piece that gives an imitation of a folksy bass "drone", he said.
This article:
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=366132005
Robert Burns:
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=162
*Fiddlefest Presents Daniel Pearl Music Day
Daniel Pearl Pictured During Orchestra Performance of 1986 (Pearl Foundation Photo)
Free Concert Held Saturday, 16 October, 2004, 2:30 p.m. at Palmdale's McAdam Park
Madeline Felkins' *Fiddlefest with Deanna France will perform at McAdam Park, located at 30th Street East between Palmdale Blvd. and Avenue R, beginning 2:30 p.m. until dusk, Saturday, the 16th of October.
This Concert is an affirmation of global harmony which is dedicated to valley violinist, mandolinist, and journalist Daniel Pearl, who was tragically kidnapped, murdered, and beheaded by terrorists while he was researching and investigating shoe bomber connections in Pakistan during 2002.
Danny Pearl was well known and much liked amongst musicians and music teachers within the San Fernando Valley and Southern California areas: He carried an instrument with him where ever he went and enjoyed meeting others due to his ability to create good friendships with many other musicians whom he met and played music with during his travels and work as a journalist. Daniel's legacy includes unique means of communication, journalism, music, and cross-cultural understanding. More information is available by visiting the Pearl Foundation's website at http://www.Danielpearl.org and by attending one of the Third Annual Harmony for Humanity Concerts performed in his honor this year.
*Fiddlefest's Performance is Dedicated to Daniel Pearl and Includes the Following Pieces to Celebrate His Life, October 10th Birthday, and to Honor His Memory and Love of Music:
Ignace Pleyel's "Opus 8" (Six Duets for Violins)
Anton Rubinstein's "Melody in F"
Tin Pan Alley Tunes
Chauncey Olcott's "My Wild Irish Rose"
Thomas Moore's " 'Tis the Last Rose of Summer"
Scots and Celtic Jigs, Hornpipes, Reels, and More will be performed at this concert.
Traditional Celtic, Welsh and Native American Music will also be Performed as a Tribute to My Late Father and his October 6th Birthday. Noah Vernon Felkins was a Son of the American Revolution, California Musician and Artist, and a World War II Veteran: The Legacy of Music Lasts Forever (Print Copy).
Her Royal Majesty's Scots Dragoon Guards and Highlanders
We Have Another Concert: Scots Fiddlers of Los Angeles Present the 23rd Annual Spring Concert with Special Guest 'Celtic Spring', and piper Scott Ruscoe. Our concert is Saturday, 03 April 2004 at 7:30 p.m., and held at the Hermosa Beach Playhouse, located at 710 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, California. Advance tickets are $12 for Adults and $6 for Children to age 12. Send a check made payable to SFLA with a self-addressed stamped envelope enclosed to Scottish Fiddlers of Los Angeles, C/O Chris Hendershot, 1925 Voorhees Ave. #A, Redondo Beach, CA, 90278. Tickets may also be purchased at the theater the day of our concert prior to the event. For more information please e-mail Chris.
Daniel Pearl Birthday Memorial Worldwide Concerts Including Madeline Felkins' Celtic Festival is an Affirmation of Global Harmony (10 October 2003) which is Dedicated to Daniel Pearl and Includes a Special Guest Performance by Mezzo-Soprano Margret Seal of Benjamin Britten's 'Highland Balou' Among Other Compositions.
California Traditional Music Society and Scots Fiddlers of Los Angeles' Daniel Pearl Memorial 'Harmony for Humanity' Concert: 10:00 a.m. 12th October 2003. The Festival is located in Encino/Genesta Park surrounding the California Traditional Music Society Center for Folk Music, 16953 Ventura Blvd., Encino, CA 91316.
Daniel Pearl's Widow to Appeal 9-11 (Claim) Denial
By David W. Chen
The New York Times
Monday, March 29, 2004 - NEW YORK
It is a 22-page application, typed in boldface and completed in a just-the-facts fashion like thousands of others processed by the federal fund compensating relatives of those killed on Sept. 11, 2001. The victim was 38, in the prime of his life, and employed by a Wall Street corporation. His wife was pregnant. His death was horrific.
What makes claim No. 212-005347 different, however, is that it was filed on behalf of Daniel Pearl, the reporter for The Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped in Pakistan, then beheaded, investigators believe, by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, once al-Qaida's top operational commander and the alleged mastermind of the 9-11 hijackings.
Three weeks ago, the administrator for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, Kenneth R. Feinberg, while expressing deep sympathy, rejected the claim filed by Pearl's widow, Mariane, because it lay outside the bounds of the congressional statute governing the fund. So now, Pearl and her legal advisers have filed a formal appeal and are asking Congress to consider drafting a new law that would grant eligibility to her and her son, Adam, who is almost 2 years old. An award from the fund would likely be a tax-free payment of close to $2 million.
In making the claim, Pearl and her Manhattan lawyer, Robert S. Kelner, are essentially trying to test publicly the true intent of the fund. As they frame it, was the fund created as an act of unparalleled compassion that was meant to apply to all American families who were devastated by the war of terror waged by al-Qaida? Or was it a politically expedient program, for instance, intended to bail out the airline industry by shielding it from potentially ruinous litigation?
Pearl and Kelner, who in December just beat the fund's deadline for filing, acknowledge the daunting odds they face in pressing their case; after all, previous efforts to widen the circle of eligibility to cover victims of other terror attacks have gone nowhere in Congress. These include, on domestic soil, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and on international ground, the 1998 bombing of American embassies in East Africa and the 2000 bombing of the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen.
Still, Pearl and Kelner argue that Pearl was singled out as a symbol of American capitalism, and that his death has since been fodder for propaganda. At the same time, they believe the case raises important questions as to how, to what extent -- or even whether -- governments should compensate the victims of terror attacks, past, present and future.
"What's horribly, painfully obvious is that, if Danny Pearl had come from any other country in the world, he'd be alive today," said Kelner, who is offering Pearl his assistance without charge. "And because there is a 9-11 fund which is compensating people for the exact same kind of death, we feel that Danny should be included as a victim in the same class as other victims."
Pearl, the South Asia bureau chief for The Journal, based in India, vanished in Karachi, Pakistan, on Jan. 23, 2002, while researching an article about Islamic extremism. Several weeks later, investigators obtained a videotape that graphically showed Pearl's death at the hands of Mohammed, according to the authorities.
Since then, Mariane Pearl, a 36-year-old journalist, has worked to track down her husband's killers. Part of that search was detailed in her memoir, "A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband, Danny Pearl," which was published by Scribner in September.
The book has provided enough income to enable Pearl and her son to live in New York, for the short term. They are entitled to some insurance money, too, as well as a few hundred thousand dollars from a memorial trust in her husband's honor that was set up, in part, by The Journal.
Pearl said she had few long-term options that would come close to replacing her husband's salary of about $100,000 a year. As a result, some of her legal advisers urged her to apply to the victim compensation fund. She has the support, as well, she said, of her in-laws, Ruth and Judea Pearl, who live in the San Fernando Valley.
"This whole bizarre thing of associating somebody's death and money is very difficult," Pearl said in an interview in Kelner's 37th-floor offices in Lower Manhattan, overlooking ground zero. "It's unnatural. It's very uncomfortable. But I have good people around me, who are like, Whatever my emotions, I have to think of my son."
The fund has proved to be a popular option for families wary of the uncertainty of litigation against the airlines. About 98 percent of those eligible filed by the December deadline. So far, the government has paid about 1,800 families totaling $2.45 billion, or an average of close to $1.4 million a family.
Some families have attached personal essays, photos or even videos to humanize an application that is typically packed with statistics and dollar figures. But not Pearl, whose husband's harrowing tale is already so well known. Her application, instead, spells out the barest details of his financial profile: his salary in each of his last three years; his modest 401(k) of $12,510; his son's Social Security benefit payments of $1,409 a month.
But barring any acts of Congress, the fund is specific about its criteria: the victims had to have died in New York, Pennsylvania or Washington as a result of the 9-11 attacks.
"I'm very sympathetic to the inquiry, but the statute is the statute, and I do not have any discretion," Feinberg said in an interview. "But the application does raise the fundamental question as to why 9-11 -- and not other terrorist attacks or other acts of terror both at home or abroad -- is covered. I think Congress will address at some point whether the 9-11 compensation fund should be a precedent for future compensation or whether it is a unique response to a unique historical event."
Some relatives of 9-11 victims have said they would not begrudge Pearl anything if she were successful because her husband was also a victim and because any money that would go to his family would come from a fund that is open-ended.
The same tacit support was voiced, as well, by Edith Bartley, whose father and brother died in the Nairobi embassy attack in 1998. To date, her efforts to widen the pool of terror victims eligible for the fund have led to nothing but frustration.
"Whatever way Pearl is able to secure some kind of compensation for her tremendous loss -- more power to her," Bartley said. "Just the fact that Pearl was killed by al-Qaida is a direct link to all of our families, and I think it absolutely does warrant our government looking into all victims of international terror finding some compensation and reprieve from their loss."
Scottish Fiddlers of
Los Angeles 23rd Annual Spring Concert 03 April 2004
Please Return for Details
Hermosa Beach Playhouse
710 Pier Avenue (Pier Avenue at PCH) Hermosa Beach, California
22nd Annual Concert Special Guest
John Taylor
and
SFLA Founders Colin Gordon and Shauna Pickett-Gordon
Glascow Songs
William Campbell: Glascow Songs
I Love A Lassie
I love a lassie, a bonnie bonnie lassie,
She's as pure as a lily in the dell,
She's sweet as the heather,
the bonnie bloomin' heather,
Mary, my Scots bluebell.
Roamin' in the Gloamin'
Roamin' in the gloamin',
on the boonie banks o' Clyde,
Roamin' in the gloamin'
wi' ma lassie by ma side,
When the sun has gone to rest,
that's the time that I like best,
O, it's lovely roamin' in the gloamin'!
WEE DEOCH an DORIS
Just a wee deoch an doris,
just a wee drop, that's all.
Just a wee deoch an doris
afore ye gang awa.
There's a wee wifie waitin'
in a wee but an ben.
If you can say,
"It's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht",
Then yer a' richt, ye ken.
Directed by Jan Tappan
Fiddles
Jim Anderson
Darrell Boucher
Cassie Brogdon
Jan Cannonito
Karen Davison
Gavriella Harmon
Beverly Heising
Chris Hendershot
Jane Hilary
Rickey Ludlow
Margaret Manatt
Nina Mueller
Margaret Otell
Maury Richmone
Janis Shah
Diane Spain
Marina Williams
Cello/Bass
Pam Perkins
Maureen Shay
Mary Ann Sereth
Harp
Laura Sinclair
Acoustic Guitar/Banjo/Mandolin
Mary Ellen Clark
Walter Sereth
Charlie Brogdon
Clarinet/Pipes/Whistles
Ginny Porter
Brandon Edgar
Cameron Switzer
Accordion
Kriss Larson
Cameron Switzer
Percussion
Darrel Boucher
Janis Shah
John Tellez
William Campbell: Rose of Allendale and Glascow Songs
Colin Gordon: Glascow Songs
Special Guests
John Taylor
Courtney Sutcliffe: Highland Dancer
Katrina Cameron: Cape Breton Dancer
Katherine Chen: Irish Dancer
Martha Robinson: Fiddlers Piper March and Piper for The Black Run
SFLA Founders Colin Gordon and Shauna Pickett-Gordon; Pianist
Concert Program
The Hen's March/Lady Dorothea Stewart Murray's Wedding March
Greenlandman's Tune/Da Mirrie Boys O' Greenland/My Wife's A Drunkard/Da Laird O' Gulberwick
Brandon Edgar, Fiddle with Pam Perkins, Cello
Da Bride's a Bonnie Ting/Maggie O'Ham/Da Foula Shalds/Winyadelpa
The Thistle and The Rose/Lissa's Strathspey/Sir David Davidson of Cantray/The Apple Tree/Sean Maguire
Banish Misfortune
Gavriella Harmon: Fiddle
Katherine Chen: Irish Dancer
Scott Harmon: Guitar
Willie Campbell: The Rose of Allendale
Fisher's Hornpipe/Astley's/The Gypsies/The Quarrelsome Piper
John Taylor
Courtney Sutcliffe: Highland Dancer
Martha Robinson: The Black Run
The Lover's Waltz/A Waltz for Stacey and Brian
Tam Bain's Lum/Crossing The Minch
Courtney Sutcliffe: Highland Dancer
Laura Sinclair: Harp Solo
Arniston House/Miss Dundas of Arniston's Reel/The Burning of The Piper's Hut/The Doon
Piper Cameron Switzer with Fiddlers
The Cuddy With The Wooden Leg/The Childrens' Reel
Ricky Ludlow: Fiddle Solo
Fingal's Cave/Johnny Cope/Catharsis
Wales Set
Erddigan y Pybydd Coch/Morfa'r Frenhines
John Taylor
Katrina Cameron: Cape Breton Dancer
Willie Campbell and Colin Gordon: Glascow Songs
Casa Dunsmuir/Maggie Brown's Jig/Coleraine/The Eavesdropper/Moving Cloud/Jean's Reel
Auld Lang Syne
Finis
Auld Lang Syne
At Length There Dawns The Glorious Day
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne.
Chorus
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne
And her's a hand, my trusty friend,
And gie's a hand o' thine,
We'll meet again some other nicht,
For auld lang syne.
Tapes and Videos by the Scots Fiddlers of Los Angeles are available
For more information please telephone (626) 793-3716
Thank You
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