Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 8 hours ago
The Balcarres Lute Book is a late 17th-century compilation of mostly Scottish music arranged for lute. Thanks to the Universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen and the editorial work of Matthew Spring, we have a facsimile edition of the lute tablature and a grand-staff transcription, from which I shall be playing.
I have chosen to focus on native Scottish pieces and to omit the foreign, predominantly French, ones. Also, I shall omit, at least for the time being, some pieces that are excessively long, though I may come back to them at a later date. In some cases, though, I shall have to omit a not-too-long native Scottish piece as well because it is not technically possible on the harp, requiring the left hand to play a note and flip a lever at the same time. Also, on very rare occasions, I might have to move a note to a different octave to make it playable on the harp.
Many of the pieces in this manuscript consist of paired strains and thus have an AB structure. Where the AB structure occurs only once, I treat the double bars as repeat signs. In cases where the AB structure appears two or more times, I treat the double bars simply as section divisions.
The most common ornament in the lute tablature is a comma sign after a note. On shorter notes, I treat it as an appoggiatura and on longer notes generally as a short trill, though on the lute I would probably do something a little more elaborate.
It is my present plan to post these pieces in groups of ten at two-week intervals. The following pieces are given in this video:
00:00: Sugar Candie
00:54: The Black Ewe
02:18: The Lass Which Made the Bed to Me
03:46: I Never Knew I Loved Thee
06:22: Over the Moore to Maggie
08:41: Port Gordon
11:04: John, Cock Thy Beaver
14:35: The Lady Errol's Delight, the Second Way
15:50: Cockston
17:33: God Be With My Bonnie Love
The first seven videos in this series are now available in this playlist, to which further videos will be added as they become available: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg2GtsZ0EeLsL-7FkrIr0xIKjevdUT5ux.
You may find a playlist of my other harp work here: studio.youtube.com/playlist/PLg2GtsZ0EeLsbzHY3kVCcnGSdUn6VmfM7/edit.
The Balcarres Lute Book is a late 17th-century compilation of mostly Scottish music arranged for lute. Thanks to the Universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen and the editorial work of Matthew Spring, we have a facsimile edition of the lute tablature and a grand-staff transcription, from which I shall be playing.
I have chosen to focus on native Scottish pieces and to omit the foreign, predominantly French, ones. Also, I shall omit, at least for the time being, some pieces that are excessively long, though I may come back to them at a later date. In some cases, though, I shall have to omit a not-too-long native Scottish piece as well because it is not technically possible on the harp, requiring the left hand to play a note and flip a lever at the same time. Also, on very rare occasions, I might have to move a note to a different octave to make it playable on the harp.
Many of the pieces in this manuscript consist of paired strains and thus have an AB structure. Where the AB structure occurs only once, I treat the double bars as repeat signs. In cases where the AB structure appears two or more times, I treat the double bars simply as section divisions.
The most common ornament in the lute tablature is a comma sign after a note. On shorter notes, I treat it as an appoggiatura and on longer notes generally as a short trill, though on the lute I would probably do something a little more elaborate.
It is my present plan to post these pieces in groups of ten at two-week intervals. The following pieces are given in this video:
00:00: Sugar Candie
00:54: The Black Ewe
02:18: The Lass Which Made the Bed to Me
03:46: I Never Knew I Loved Thee
06:22: Over the Moore to Maggie
08:41: Port Gordon
11:04: John, Cock Thy Beaver
14:35: The Lady Errol's Delight, the Second Way
15:50: Cockston
17:33: God Be With My Bonnie Love
The first seven videos in this series are now available in this playlist, to which further videos will be added as they become available: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg2GtsZ0EeLsL-7FkrIr0xIKjevdUT5ux.
You may find a playlist of my other harp work here: studio.youtube.com/playlist/PLg2GtsZ0EeLsbzHY3kVCcnGSdUn6VmfM7/edit.
