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From:  John Alexander Blyth <BLYTHE@B...>
John Alexander Blyth <BLYTHE@B...>
Date:  Thu May 24, 2001  4:58 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Welsh is Celtic, but not Gaelic (was: Scottish sacred solo)


Quite correct in estimating how nationalist and (importantly) un-pan-Celtic
the Scots are likely to be. You are an amazingly well-informed person.
Brief beef: The Church of Scotland (called "The Kirk") *is* definitely
Presbyterian and is indeed the ancestor of all other churches calling
themselves "Presbyterian" (means ruled by Elders). It's *not* Anglican,
which is derived from the Church of England (i.e. Anglican churches in
Scotland are, as they put it, 'in full communion with the Church of England').
When I was a member of the Dunfermline Abbey Choir (Very Presbyterian,
despite its pride in its very long history)the minister was considered very
open-minded in allowing us to sing music of Roman Catholic origin, but
since he loved music we even gave (non-liturgical) performances of much
Latin church music including an Haydn Mass.
Modern Scotland has seen a great reduction in the proportion of religious
belief in its people, and a consequent reduction of the once mighty power
of the Kirk. The extreme Calvinism that formerly characterised Scottish
Presbyterianism has seemed, quite frankly, ridiculous and amazingly
comfort-free to an increasingly secularly-oriented population, and it is
now possible to lead the life of a bon vivant in good and multitudinous
company.
john
an expat Scot

At 05:45 PM 5/23/01 -0400, you wrote:
...the Scots
>have been a fervently *Protestant* people. In this, they actually have
>much more in common with the Welsh than with the profoundly (one might
>even say primitively) Catholic Irish, though the Scots have tended to be
>Calvinists, Presbyterians, and Church of Scotland (i.e., Anglican), while
>the Welsh have tended toward Chapel (Methodist) and Church of England
>(also Anglican, but with a different accent). I mention this because it's
>likely that the sentiments of any Irish sacred text set to music are
>likely to be entirely too "papist" for Scottish consumption.
>
>Then also think about the nature of the event. It's *VERY* Scottish. I'd
>be extremely hesitant to sing anything that isn't also *very* Scottish at
>an event that is so strongly and clearly celebrating SCOTTISH culture.
>You'd be far better off just singing a hymn by the great Scottish
>hymnodist Horatius Bonar - in the absence of a more sophisticated choice -
>than to go looking around for an Irish, Welsh, or English song. By the
>way, there's a page devoted to Bonar and his hymns in the Cyberhymnal at:
>
>http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/b/o/bonar_h.htm
>
>Or you might consider singing "O God, Thou art the Father" - which was
>originally written by Saint Columba, the Christianiser of Scotland, and
>later translated by the very Scottish poet Duncan Macgregor, albeit sung
>to the tune "Aurelia" by the very English Samuel Sebastian Wesley, a
>member of the notorious Wesley clan of chronic hymnodists.
>
>Another Scottish hymnodist of note was John Ross Macduff.
>
>Karen Mercedes
>............................
>NEIL SHICOFF, TENORE SUPREMO
>http://www.radix.net/~dalila/shicoff/shicoff.html
>
>My Own Website
>http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
>
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> + I sing hymns with my spirit, +
> + but I also sing hymns with my mind. +
> + - 1 Corinthians 14:15 +
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
John Blyth
Baritono robusto e lirico
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada


  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date Size
12150 Re: Welsh is Celtic, but not Gaelic (was: Scottis Karen Mercedes   Thu  5/24/2001   3 KB

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