Customer Reviews

Seventy Scottish Songs (Dover Song Collections)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Originally compiled by Helen Hopekirk in 1905, and reprinted in 1922, this collection of Scottish folk songs is a must have for anyone interested in the folk history of the Scottish people. Hopekirk provides information about how and where she came across these songs, giving a wonderful ethnographic picture of a world 100 years gone-by. I came across this collection while searching for the music for Mairi Bhan Og (Fair Young Mary), a beautiful Scottish love song, to use at my wedding. A must-visit website for anyone interested in Scottish, Irish, Welsh or English folk music is Lesley Nelson's Website .... Complete with lyrics and high quality MIDIs of hundreds of songs, there is also an excellent Bibliography to such collections as this Helen Hopekirk's Seventy Scottish Songs.

The arrangements in this compilation are for piano, but other instruments are easily improvised in or can take a certain section in the piano part. That's the music portion (and I love how well it underscores the voice parts), and has some great ones like Loch Lomand (the one that goes 'you take the high road, and I'll take the low road'; I remember it from all the Looney Toons cartoons :-)), Blue Bells of Scotland, Flow Gently Sweet Afton, and Auld Lang Sine.

The better part about Hopekirk's book is that she tried to preserve the language in the lyrics. One may not understand what the song is about for that, so that's what the guide in the front does for you...a dictionary of sorts. There is also a good introduction to the music she chose to include, a bit of history on a few of the songs. I wish there were a few more historical notes, but I suppose there are other books for that.

Helen Hoepkirk's collection first appeared in 1905 published by the Boston firm of Oliver Ditson. Hopekirk composed music, but she was better known as one fo the foremost Scottish pianists of her time. She was born in Edinburgh in 1856, and brought her love with her to the US. So it is a delight for people interested in Scottish music, and many of the lesser known songs are gems.

Thankfully Dover has rescued it and made it available, as they do with so many treasures.

Seventy Scottish Songs represents a labor of intense devotion and scholarship. This is a real find for lovers of Scottish song, favoring little known pieces, including exquisite lullabies, translated from Gaelic. Helen Hopekirk was a world class concert musician and that is reflected in her choice of melodies. "Turn Ye To Me" and "Put Off and Row Wi' Speed" are both formally perfect, deeply stirring tunes. If you're looking for a trove of authentic material with the bonus of a marvelously incisive and forthright essay, you can't go wrong with this one. I'll be adding several of these songs to my repertoire.

The service of delivery and quality of product are fine. I was disappointed that I could not see a Table of Contents with the list of songs and there was no sample page of the music. If I had been able to, I would not have selected the book since it does not meet my needs and the reason for me wanting Scottish songs.

I was disappointed in this book as it did not have any of the well-known Scottish songs that I'm familiar with.

I ordered this book of Scottish tunes to get the words and the music for a tune that had been requested of me to play at a friend's funeral. The tune was "Will Ye Nae Come Back Again" and was "advertised" with a sound clip as one of the tunes found in the book. It wasn't there. I ended up making a tape from the soundclip and I'm now learning the tune by ear from the tape. The friend is just PLANNING her funeral for the future, so there's no hurry, and I don't need the words as I will play the tune on my violin/fiddle, but I wouldn't have bought the book if I'd known the music for that tune was not in it. Carleen Frazier