MY CURRENT PROJECTFor some time now I have been salvaging “Gems” from the early books of pipe music. I find they include a few seldom-played, and even never-played tunes that are worthy of being aired again. Consequently, I have been scouring my collection of old books and rewriting in the modern idiom all the unknown tunes that I find appealing. Occasionally I am faced with the dilemma of whether or not to rearrange a phrase which I feel detracts from its “Gem” rating. In most cases, however, all I tinker with is the grace-noting -- something that did not seem to be standardized a century ago -- and correct music-writing errors which were surprisingly common.The latest gem rescued is from Alexander Glen’s The Caledonian Repository, Book 1 (published in 1860), and bears the title “Donald Dow’s Strathspey”. Glen produces it in the key of G, but on playing the tune I realized that a much jauntier rendition would be in the key of A. I have included both here.
Donald Dow's Strathspey in A (click name for PDF)
|