Album
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The Balcarres Lute BookSylvain Bergeron Lute
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The Balcarres Lute Book is a rather mysterious document owned by the Lindsay family, a Scots noble line of a fiefdom called Balcarres. It includes pieces for an 11-course lute, played here by French Canadian lutenist Sylvain Bergeron on a 13-course instrument. Although the cover of the album, in a major failure of editorial procedure, dates it to the seventeenth century, the booklet places it in the early eighteenth. It is a collection of dances and tunes, often with a few variations. The origins of the music are not clearly attributed, and precisely in that lack of clarity lies one of the album's points of interest. Many of the titles consist of three parts. Consider track 2, listed in the book as When she came in she boobed, mr McLaughlans way, by mister Beck. The first mystery, what she did when she boobed, is unfortunately not addressed in the booklet. And nobody is quite sure about "mr McLaughlans way" or "by mister Beck," either. The theory developed by historian Matthew Spring (and summarized by Luisa Trisi) holds that Scottish music of this period occupied a unique intermediate space between oral and written traditions. It's not clear who Mister Beck was, but he could have been a lute teacher in Edinburgh, and he likely arranged much of the music for lute. The "mr McLaughlan" would then, in Spring's reasoning, have been a player or singer from whom Beck heard the music, performing an existing tune in a characteristic way. Other tunes are attributed to Beck himself, to other apparently Scottish composers, or to the French lutenists Mouton and Gallot; the booklet also questions these attributions. For the general listener it is the multicultural quality of the music that will probably be most interesting. Many pieces have the distinctive Scots pentatonic scale and a few have the syncopated "Scottish snap" rhythm, but others show French and Italian influences. The Scottish pieces have a delightful and moving simplicity; as Trisi puts it, the Balcarres versions in many cases "are more attractive and distinctive than the later, often highly artificial and self-consciously Scottish versions." Incidentally, the final tune entitled For old long syne bears little resemblance to the familiar Robert Burns New Year's Eve number. Bergeron has a lightly lyrical style that works especially well with the Scottish pieces, and the music is logically organized into short suites of from three to five pieces linked by musical considerations or simply the conceits of their titles. The recording is ideal, bringing the listener up close to Bergeron but not seeming to be in his face. Especially recommended for listeners interested in the relationship between oral and written traditions and between Scottish "folk" and "art" music, this recording will also appeal to the general run of lute lovers and of Scots music fans. © James Manheim, Rovi
Portions of Content Provided by All Music Guide.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.
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| 1 | Sugarcandie (John Red, Balcarres Lute Book) | 0:52 |
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| 2 | When she came in, she bobbed (Mr. McLachlands way) (The Balcarres Lute Book) | 3:36 |
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| 3 | Simon brodie (Mr. McLachlands way) (The Balcarres Lute Book) | 2:09 |
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| 4 | Katherine Ogie (Mr. Beck's way) (Balcarres Lute Book) | 1:21 |
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| 5 | Buckingham's Sarraband (Mr. Becks way) (Balcarres Lute Book) | 2:52 |
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| 6 | Two Minuets (Jean Mores way) (Mr. Beck, Balcarres Lute Book) | 2:14 |
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| 7 | The Kings Gigue (Mr. McLaughlans way) (Mr. Beck, Balcarres Lute Book) | 1:34 |
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| 8 | Tweedsyde (Mr. Beck, Balcarres Lute Book) | 3:31 |
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| 9 | Belle hereuse (Mr. Lesslie, Balcarres Lute Book) | 1:22 |
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| 10 | Gigue (Monsieur Gallot, Balcarres Lute Book) | 1:34 |
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| 11 | Sarraband (Monsieur Gallot, Balcarres Lute Book) | 1:37 |
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| 12 | My Mistress is Prettie (Monsieur Mouton, Balcarres Lute Book) | 1:07 |
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| 13 | The Lass of Patie's Mill (Mr. Beck, Balcarres Lute Book) | 2:46 |
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| 14 | Imperial sweetnesse (Mr. Leslie, Balcarres Lute Book) | 2:31 |
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| 15 | My own dear Honey, be kind to me (Mr. Lesly, Balcarres Lute Book) | 0:58 |
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Scottish Traditional ComposerWork(s) Work
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| 16 | Two Gigues my Monsier / A Gigge by mister Beck (from the Balcarres Lute Book) | 2:48 |
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| 17 | Galloway thom (Mr. McLaughlans way) (Mr. Beck, Balcarres Lute Book) | 3:15 |
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| 18 | Jock the lairds brother (Jean Mores way) (Mr. Beck, Balcarres Lute Book) | 1:07 |
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| 19 | Bubbing Jo (Mr. McLaughlans way) (Mr. Beck, Balcarres Lute Book) | 2:05 |
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| 20 | Jock the lairds brother (Jean Morisons way) (Mr. Beck, Balcarres Lute Book) | 1:51 |
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David Grieve ComposerThe lady Binnes lilt (The Balcarras Lute Book) Work
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| 21 | The lady Binnes lilt (The Balcarras Lute Book) | 2:19 |
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| 22 | Adieu to the Pleasures (Mr. McLaughlans way) (Mr. Beck, Balcarres Lute Book) | 2:06 |
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| 23 | Saraband (David Grieve, Balcarres Lute Book) | 2:10 |
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| 24 | For old long syne (Mr. Beck, Balcarres Lute Book) | 1:55 |
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