Haydn composed about 400 arrangements of Scottish folksongs between 1791 and 1805. Despite the fact that at the end of this period he was assisted by one or more of his students, he accomplished this task with typical pride and scrupulous care, furnishing introductions and interludes as well as counterpoints to the settings of the actual melodies. Indeed, it’s rather amazing how much many of these tunes sound like Haydnesque thematic material anyway. By the mid-1780s or so, he had arrived at a style in which his own mature idiom and folk music were virtually indistinguishable at those moments when he set out to strike a deliberately popular tone. It was just one facet of his international success.
All of the works included here were commissioned by George Thomson, who issued them in sets for many years following Haydn’s death. In addition to song arrangements, there are also six sets of variations (four included here: Bannocks o’barleymeal, Maggie Lauder, Saw ye my father, and Killiecrankie), and although you might think the material slender, the actual numbers run from a bit under two minutes to more than five, and there is no reason why these should not be considered major additions to the song repertoire. Certainly the tunes are wonderful in and of themselves, the settings are charming, and these performances, beautifully sung by soprano Lorna Anderson and tenor Jamie MacDougall, sensitively accompanied by the Haydn Trio Eistenstadt, are utterly beguiling.
They are also recorded with great naturalness and warmth. Just as importantly, you get an extremely well-written booklet containing all of the song texts (annotated, with prose translations also in German) as well as intelligent notes. The track listings are on each of the four disc sleeves. Volume 2 seems to be coming out before Volume 1, but whatever the order, this lovely music, in these intimate, communicative performances, successfully recreates the charming image of domestic music-making some two centuries ago. There’s nothing at all cheap about this package except the price, and accordingly it deserves the highest recommendation to fans of Haydn, Scottish folk music, and good singing. [7/28/2005]
