Introduction

“And shew that music may have as good fate

In Albion’s glens, as Umbria’s green retreat;

And with Correlli’s soft Italian song

Mix “Cowdenknow,” and “Winter nights are long””¹

The eighteenth century has been described as a period of “musical renaissance” in lowland Scotland – a period of “flourishing,” in which music came to be regarded as a central part of the country’s national identity.² During this period, public concerts became a staple in the social life of Edinburgh’s elite, establishing a musical ecosystem that supported scores of local composers, musicians and publishers. For the first time, musicians began to notate songs and tunes that previously circulated in oral tradition, arranging and composing basses for them, so that they could then be published both domestically and abroad. These collections, variously entitled “Scots Tunes,” “National Airs,” “Scotch Songs” and the like, represent a rich and diverse tradition of music that continues to be passed on today, both orally and through notated sources.

Allan Ramsay’s poem To the Music Club, quoted above, reveals not only the sense of national pride felt by native Scots toward this musical tradition, but also the ubiquity of Italian music in Scotland at this time. Indeed, the Edinburgh Music Society had a voracious appetite for almost anything composed south of the alps, such that the names of Correlli and Vivaldi litter the pages of the society’s minute books.³ This italophilia was reciprocated, as throughout the century, successive generations of Italian musicians travelled to Edinburgh to seek fame and fortune, collecting “Scots Tunes” as they went, and publishing their own collections for various combinations of voice, treble instruments and keyboard. These collections were central to the popularisation of Scots Tunes. In fact, some of the very earliest publications of Scots Tunes were penned by Italian musicians – Lorenzo Bocchi’s contribution to Neale’s A Collection of the most Celebrated Scotch Tunes for the Violin, being a notable example.⁴

Over the course of the ensuing decades, scores of musicians published collections of Scots Tunes in a diverse array of styles, often featuring lengthy prefaces explaining and defending their respective approaches to the genre. Harmonisation and ornamentation, in particular, proved to be points of contention for Scots Tunes collectors, with many writers expressing strong opinions on the matter. This debate was not confined to the frontmatter and margins of musical publications, with even writers as esteemed as Benjamin Franklin weighing in on the issue.⁵ The title of this thesis – “(un)encumbered with useless graces” – borrows from the preface to James Johnson’s publication The Scots Musical Muesum, in which he excoriates Scots Tunes collectors for their use of unnecessary harmonisations and ornaments.⁶ Johnson’s approach was only one among many, however. Other collectors often had different aesthetic goals, and this difference may account for the diversity of ways in which their collections of Scots Tunes are notated. While some, like Johnson’s, appear “unencumbered with useless graces,” others seem to be almost didactic in their explicit notation of ornaments.

This diversity of notational approach is mirrored today by equally diverse approaches to the performance practice of this music. Consider the following examples, all of which are inspired by the same textual source: “The Birks of Envermay” [sic] from Francesco Barsanti’s A Collection of Old Scots Tunes.⁷

Scobie, Colin (violin), Philippe Grisvard (harpsichord) and Gulrim Choi (cello). “The Birks of Invermay.” On Barsanti & Handel: Edinburgh 1742. Linn Records CKD 567, 2016, compact disc.

West, Kristine (recorder). “The Birks of Envermay.” On Kristine West: Recorder. Daphne Records 1055, 2016, compact disc.

Henry, Michael (baroque oboe), Roberto Gini (cello) and Diana Petech (harpsichord). “The Birks of Invermay.” On Italian Musicians in London. Arts 47141-2, 1995, compact disc.

Audiences today listening to these three recordings would likely categorise what they are hearing as either “folk” or “classical” (or perhaps more specifically “baroque”) music. Scobie’s performance, (or at least the first section thereof) would likely be classified as the former, while Henry Michael’s might be categorised as the latter, despite the fact that they are both nominally the same piece of music. While the labels “folk” and “classical” are usually assumed to refer to some essential quality of a musical work, here they appear to be predicated entirely on issues of performance practice.

Performances of this repertoire are primarily understood today through the lens of this folk/classical dichotomy, which crystalises a set of assumptions about this music’s origins and value. This dichotomy is a relatively recent construction, that would have been largely foreign to eighteenth-century musicians.⁸ Eighteenth-century listeners and performers valued this repertoire for a variety of reasons – whether for its perceived antiquity, for its inherent "gallantry,"⁹ or for its relationship to a burgeoning sense of Scottish national identity. However, these ideas (along with a host of others which developed over the ensuing centuries) had not yet crystalised into the modern conception of folk music that has become ubiquitous since the mid-twentieth century.

The variety of ways in which successive composers (Scottish and non-Scottish) have notated Scots Tunes reveal approaches to performance practice which may seem counter-intuitive to listeners today, who view these works primarily through the lens of a folk/classical binary distinction. Analysing these sources from the point of view of performance practice challenges the historicity this distinction, and presents new ways of performing and engaging with this repertoire.

Research Question

How can analysis of Italian collections of Scots Tunes inform the ways in which we perform and ascribe value to eighteenth-century Scottish music?

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.