''A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice'' is a multi-volume collection of Scottish song edited and published by the entrepreneurial musician,
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
and Clerk to the Board of Trustees for Encouragement of Art and Manufacture in Scotland,
George Thomson. For the first volume, which appeared in 1793, Thomson commissioned the composer
Ignaz Pleyel
Ignace Joseph Pleyel (; ; 18 June 1757 – 14 November 1831) was an Austrian-born French composer, music publisher and piano builder of the Classical period.
Life Early years
He was born in in Lower Austria, the son of a schoolmaster named Ma ...
to provide musical settings. He subsequently expanded his scheme throughout his life in further volumes and editions.
Contents
Between 1792 and his death in 1796, the poet
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
contributed (for little or no remuneration) over 100 songs to the work, including hallmark productions such as '
My Luve is like a Red Red Rose' and '
Is There for Honest Poverty'. Other '
librettist
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...
s' in the original first volume include
Allan Ramsay,
Peter Pindar,
Andrew Erskine,
Earl Kellie,
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as '' The Rivals'', ''The ...
, as well as traditional song.
The first 'set' of the first volume of ''Original Scottish Airs'' begins with the song 'The Smiling Morn' (more commonly known as 'The Birks of Invermay'), a known favourite of the poet
Robert Fergusson
Robert Fergusson (5 September 1750 – 16 October 1774) was a Scottish poet. After formal education at the University of St Andrews, Fergusson led a bohemian life in Edinburgh, the city of his birth, then at the height of intellectual and c ...
.
The title page of the first 1793 edition runs: ''A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice. To each of which are added Introductory & Concluding Symphonies & Accompanyments for the Violin & Piano Forte, by Pleyel. With Select & Characteristic Verses by the most admired Scottish Poets adapted to each Air, many of them entirely new. Also Suitable English Verses in addition to such of the Songs as are written in the Scottish dialect.''
Expansion
George Thomson continued to develop further editions of ''Scottish Airs'' throughout his life and, following its success, extend the principles he established to make similar gatherings of other
national airs, commissioning European composers as disparate as
Kozeluch,
Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...
,
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
,
Weber
Weber (, or ; German: ) is a surname of German origin, derived from the noun meaning " weaver". In some cases, following migration to English-speaking countries, it has been anglicised to the English surname 'Webber' or even 'Weaver'.
Notable pe ...
,
Hummel and
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
in the process. Thomson ultimately issued three separate
folio
The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...
collections: Scottish (6 volumes, 1793-1841),
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
(3 volumes, 1809-1814), and
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
(2 volumes, 1814-1816).
External links
National Trust for Scotland London, 1793, published by George Thomson
Burns Scotland 1817/20 edition held at the Robert Burns Centre, Dumfries and Galloway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice, A
1793 books