Prince Charles's Last View Of Scotland

  1. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    This is a Scottish slow air about Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite rebellion. Collected and first published in 1816 by Simon Fraser. This is another arrangement by Evelyn Tiffany-Castiglioni from the third (2018) volume of her "Big Book For Mandolins", available from Amazon (NFI).

    1921 Gibson Ajr mandolin
    Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin
    Vintage Viaten tenor guitar
    Suzuki MC-815 mandocello



    Martin
  2. Brian560
    Brian560
    You do nice job playing these arrangements Martin. They are very well played and produced.
  3. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    A haunting tune, Martin.
  4. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Another good rendition. Thanks, Martin.
  5. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    I have re-recorded this Scottish slow air. Same setting by Evelyn, but much looser timing -- like all slow airs, it benefits from a fair bit of rubato.

    X:1
    T:Prince Charles's last view of Scotland
    T:An Sealladh ma dheireadh thug Tearlach
    M:6/8
    L:1/8
    R:Slow Air
    B:Fraser Collection (1816)
    Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
    K:Gmin
    G/A/|:~B>cB A2 G/^F/|G<DB =FDB,|B>cB A2 G/^F/|GAc d2D|
    ~B>cB A2 G/^F/|G<DB =FD B,/C/|D>^CD B,2A,|G,G^F G2:|
    D|B>AG A^FD|B>cd G^FD|B>AG c>BA|d2^F G2 z/D/|[D3B3] [E3A3c3]|
    d>^cd [G2B2e2g2] a/b/|dcB cBA|G/^F/G/A/B/c/ d2D||

    1898 Giuseppe Vinaccia mandolin (x2)
    Vintage Viaten tenor guitar
    Suzuki MC-815 mandocello



    Martin
  6. John W.
    John W.
    A nice tune played on instruments in a manner suited to my ear…and nicely played, Martin. The Big Book for Mandolins looks like it may be worth a purchase…??? Both versions are good, but for interest I prefer the version published on 17/03/19…it may be some of the instruments used sound a little warmer...?
  7. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks a lot! That comes down to a matter of taste -- I didn't want to replicate the earlier version but go for a contrasting one. The Gibson and the Vinaccia have very different tones, and sometimes I prefer one and sometimes the other. Similarly with tremolo: the earlier version had lots and the new one doesn't. At the moment, I prefer this tune with the bowlback and without tremolo, for a more ancient feeling to the performance. Tomorrow might be different!

    Evelyn's books are definitely worth the money: go for the three "Big Book" volumes (published in 2015, 2017 and 2018): Link. Each of them is truly big, with a great selection of tunes. Sadly, Evelyn died in 2019, but the books are still being sold by her daughter. If you want to try a few arrangements first, Evelyn kindly posted a lot of free music collections here on the Cafe.

    Martin
  8. John W.
    John W.
    Thanks for the link, Martin… I’ve just corrected the date I put re upload of the earlier version. Yes, taste and mood…both of which are not static!
  9. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Here is my arrrangement of this haunting air. I wrote a simple harmony line, almost a bass part, for guitar, and just alternated the melody between mandolin and octave. The tune goes right down to the low G on the octave!

    Photos are from my recent wanderings locally around Loch Eck - an area never fequented by Bonnie Prince Charlie as far as I know (?)

  10. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    Two fine renditions of this beautiful tune. Evelyn's arrangement sounds a little lusher and John's a little more economic, but both sound great!
  11. John W.
    John W.
    Nothing wrong with the “economic version” at all… Space is provided for the Mando and OM to shine through as individual instruments, whilst also harmoniously blending when played simultaneously. Very nicely played, John.
  12. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Both are different and that's what this forum is all about. I love the diversity of the same tune played differently. Nice playing both of you.
  13. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Sweet playing of this tragic tune, both of you, and wonderful to hear the subtle differences of each member’s interpretation.
  14. Frankdolin
    Frankdolin
    You really brought out the tone in that Giuseppe Martin, well played ! I reallly like your arrangement and instrument choices John ! Lots of clever detail.
  15. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    That's a really tasteful and touching recording of that air, John -- love the tone, the timing and the interplay between the octave and mandolin!

    Thanks also for your kind comments, Christian, Ginny, Simon and Frank. It's not a very well-known tune, but I really like it.

    Martin
  16. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Thanks, all,for your kind comments. As Martin says, it is not a particularly well-known tune and not played that often, which adds to its attraction. Slow airs are among my favourite tunes to play as they give the player so much scope to interpret the tune without having to adhere to the rigours of strict time. One downside, which I have chats to my fiddler buddies about fairly regularly, is that although you get more time to play the notes than on a fast jig or reel, it also menas that if you have played a wrong note then you are on it for longer, so it becomes more noticeable to the listener!
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