Exposition

"Encumbered with useless graces": Ornamentation and Aesthetics in Eighteenth-century Scottish Music (2024)

Jonty Coy
open exposition

About this exposition

Throughout the eighteenth century, a steady stream of Italian musicians travelled to Scotland, in search of artistic and commercial success. Inspired by the enterprise of their Scottish counterparts, many published collections of “Scots Tunes,” such that by the end of the century a rich body of repertoire had emerged. Italians and Scots alike valued this repertoire for various reasons: for some, these tunes represented an idealised vision of pastoral simplicity; for others, a fossilised record of the music of past generations; for others still, these tunes were a vehicle for the expression of nationalistic sentiment. This repertoire presents a challenge to Early Music practitioners today, who must contend with the fact that this music has been transmitted through textual sources and oral tradition. To this end, many musicians engage with elements of Scottish Traditional performance practice – a practice that often diverges from, and is at times incompatible with, dominant understandings of eighteenth-century performance practice. In this thesis, I summarise some of the ornamentation techniques employed by Scottish Traditional musicians, investigating their possible influence on Italian Scots Tunes sources. I contend that comparative analysis of these sources can inform performances of this repertoire, by revealing implicit relationships between notation, performance practice and aesthetic judgements. Further, I survey current trends in the historical performance practice of Scots Tunes, interrogating the ways in which this repertoire is framed by modern conceptions of “folk” music. I observe that this repertoire continues to be valued within a variety of aesthetic frameworks, which are themselves revealed, upheld, and reproduced through performance practice.
typeresearch exposition
keywordsScotland, Scottish, 18th century, early music
date21/11/2021
published15/01/2024
last modified15/01/2024
statuspublished
share statusprivate
copyrightJonty Coy
licenseCC BY-NC-ND
languageAustralian English
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1431260/1431261
published inKC Research Portal
portal issue1. Master Research Projects


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id name copyright license
1431743 KC logo Royal Conservatoire, The Hague All rights reserved
1432705 The Birks of Invermay Linn Records All rights reserved
1432712 A Collection of Old Scots Tunes III. The Birks of Envermay Kristine West All rights reserved
1432714 Collection Of Old Scots Tunes The Birks Of Envermay Michael Henry All rights reserved
1434515 Screen Shot 2021-11-13 at 6.49.26 pm Public Domain Public domain
1434629 Screen Shot 2021-11-08 at 9.32.29 pm Public Domain Public domain
1434631 Screen Shot 2021-11-08 at 9.32.42 pm Public Domain Public domain
1434633 Screen Shot 2021-11-08 at 9.33.48 pm Public Domain Public domain
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1434641 Screen Shot 2021-11-14 at 10.55.59 pm Public Domain Public domain
1434644 Screen Shot 2021-11-14 at 10.56.47 pm Public Domain Public domain
1434673 Screen Shot 2021-11-15 at 9.30.27 pm Public Domain Public domain
1434676 Urbani Preface Public Domain Public domain
1434685 Screen Shot 2021-11-23 at 2.58.04 am Public Domain Public domain
1551530 Cut Demo Jonty Coy CC BY-NC-ND
1551540 Long Crann Jonty Coy CC BY-NC-ND
1551541 Long roll Jonty coy CC BY-NC-ND
1551542 Short Crann Jonty Coy CC BY-NC-ND
1551543 Short Roll Jonty Coy CC BY-NC-ND
1551544 tap demo Jonty Coy CC BY-NC-ND
1551550 Crann slomo Jonty Coy CC BY-NC-ND
1551552 Long Crann Jonty Coy CC BY-NC-ND
1551554 Long roll Jonty Coy CC BY-NC-ND
1551556 Short Crann Jonty Coy CC BY-NC-ND
1551558 Short roll Jonty Coy CC BY-NC-ND
1551560 Cut Demo Jonty Coy CC BY-NC-ND
1551564 Tap Demo Jonty Coy CC BY-NC-ND
1551578 Rhythmic Transformations Laurel B. Swinden All rights reserved
1551582 Butiad Public Domain Public domain
1552895 Cover Art 1 Jonty Coy All rights reserved
1552897 Cover Art 2 Jonty Coy All rights reserved
1552900 Cover Art 3 Jonty Coy All rights reserved
1553059 Geminiani Ornaments Public Domain All rights reserved
1553070 Geminiani Bush ABoon Trainquair Public Domain All rights reserved
1553073 Urbani Bush Aboon Tranquair Public Domain All rights reserved
1553075 Urbani Maid of Selma Public Domain All rights reserved
1553082 Screen Shot 2022-02-23 at 10.46.15 am Public Domain All rights reserved
1553085 Screen Shot 2022-02-23 at 10.49.07 am Public Domain All rights reserved
1553089 McDonald Public Domain All rights reserved
1553093 Corri1 Public Domain All rights reserved
1553098 Baines Emily Baines All rights reserved

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