Thu 1/20-Sat 2/19
The UK celebrates Burns Day, honoring the work and life of Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796) on January 25, his birthday.
And just in time for that celebration Cleveland chamber music ensemble Les Délices has put together a program called The Highland Lassie, available on Marquee TV, starting Thursday January 20. “Evoking the wild and rugged beauty of Scotland’s heathered hills, this program of Scots songs and reels from 17th & 18th century sources crosses boundaries from folk to art music and from the alehouse to the salon,” they tease. It’s an appropriate way to celebrate Burns, who was also a collector of traditional Scots music.
A group of six musicians playing period instruments will join soprano Elena Mullins singling tunes such as “Barbara Allen” and Burns’ “A Red, Red Rose.” They include violinists Julie Andrijeski and Allison Monroe, oboeist Debra Nagy, harpsichordist Mark Edwards, gamba and cello player Rebecca Reed, and Daniel Swenberg on lute, 18th-century English guittar [sic] and cittern.
“One of the amazing things about this music is not just how old it is — but how contemporary it feels,” says Les Délices artistic director Debra Nagy. “This is in part because the repertoire of traditional tunes stays relatively constant over time. Tunes were initially passed on orally. By the mid-eighteenth century, they were starting to get copied down as well as printed. In this way, folk music IS early music.”
The virtual concert film, recorded on local at the Dunham Tavern Museum in Cleveland, will be available on demand through Saturday February 19.
To buy tickets, go here.
lesdelices.org/event/highland-lassie/