Strathspey

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Strathspey refers to a Scottish dance and the piece of music that goes with it. It is characterized by the strict rhythm with many dotted notes and " scotch snaps " (sixteenth notes followed by dotted eighths, Lombard rhythm ). It basically consists of four-digit measures and is notated in 4/4 time . In Scottish Country Dance and Highland Dancing , Strathspey are still danced today.

history

The Strathspey originated in the region of the same name ( Gaelic Srath Spè , "valley of the Spey "). Zachary Boyd's "The History of John the Baptist" from 1653 is often mentioned as the first written evidence. According to Emmerson and Flett, however, the indistinct manuscript was misread here. In fact, the word Strathspey first appeared in a musical context in the 18th century. Initially, the name was used adjectivally: around 1749, “Strathspey Reels” was spoken of. This was used to describe a style of reel that was dominated by fiddle players and that was clearly more sharply dotted than the pipe reel.

The first notation of a Strathspey appeared in James Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion in 1751 under the title A New Strathspey Reel . The first collection to have the name Strathspey in the title is Daniel Dow's Thirty-seven new reels and strathspeys (around 1775). In the following decades, the Strathspey experienced its heyday together with the Reel. Scottish fiddlers such as William Marshall (1748–1833), Niel Gow (1727–1807) and his son Nathaniel Gow (1766–1831) developed the Strathspey into a complex, independent form and published numerous collections of Strathspeys between 1780 and 1820. From today's perspective, it is difficult to decide which of the countless pieces were new compositions and which arrangements of older melodies.

Many of these pieces are still played today. One example is Monymusk . This Strathspey can be found first in Daniel Dow's collection under the title Sir Archibald Grant of Monemusk , then among other things as Sir Archd in 1786. Grant's Reel , 1799 by Niel Gow as Monny Musk and since 1778 in many collections as Monymusk .

Sir Archibald Grant of Monemusk , Strathspey by Daniel Dow, about 1775

In the 19th century the popularity of the Strathspey and with it the number of publications decreased. During this time there is only James Scott Skinner , the "Strathspey King" (1843-1927) to be mentioned, who continued to compose and publish Strathspeys and Reels.

Rothiemurchus Rant , example of a fiddle Strathspey in the 19th century, "as played by P. Milne"

dance

Traveling figure in the Reel and Strathspey of Highland Dancing

The Strathspeys were danced from the beginning, initially probably the usual figures of the reel , but from at least 1749 also counter dances . In the “Menzies Manuscript” there are two counter dances which are referred to as “a Strathspey Reele”: The Montgomerie's Rant and Couteraller's Rant .

“The Montgomerie's Rant a Strathspey Reele
1st pair goes back to back & casts off then back to back again & 2d woman casts up, & the man down, then reels above & below then the 1st pair sets hand in hand to the 2d woman then to the 3d man then to the 3d woman & then to the 2d man; then leads out att the sides ”

- Menzies Manuscript , 1749

What the steps to do this looked like is not known. A remark by the Englishman Edward Topham on the occasion of a visit to Edinburgh in 1775 gives an impression:

“Another of the national dances is a kind of quick minute, or what the Scotch call a 'Straspae'. We in England are said to walk a minuet: this is gallopping a minuet. Nothing of the minuet is preserved except the figure; the step and time most resemble an hornpipe - and I leave you to dwell upon the picture of a gentleman full-dressed and a lady in a hoop dancing an hornpipe before a large assembly. "

Topham calls the Strathspey a kind of "quick minuet " and compares the pace and pace of a horn pipe . The English go a dance, the Scots gallop it. So during this time Strathspeys, like the Reels, were danced pretty fast. Strathspeys composed during this time often carried the instruction “slow when not danced” (slow when not danced). Strathspeys were also played by the Fiddlers as a lyrical “show piece” - too slow for the dance steps of the time.

Just a few decades later, the pace of the dance and probably the steps had changed. Thomas Wilson, a London dance teacher, in his Complete System of English Country Dancing (London 1811) sets the pace of the Strathspeys with Andante - because of the nature of their steps ( Strathspeys, from the nature of their Steps, will be uniformly Andante ). Reels were faster, Allegro .

To what extent the steps of the 19th century were comparable to the Strathspey steps of modern Scottish country dance cannot be said. Today the preferred tempo is around 120  bpm (quarter notes per minute). On Cape Breton , where 18th century Gaelic music is better preserved, Strathspeys are played much faster. The tempo of step dance strathspeys is 176–184 bpm there.

Highland dancing

Highland Fling

Strathspeys are also danced in modern highland dancing . The structure of the dance is similar to the Highland Reel, but the steps are different, the pace is significantly slower. The dance is basically danced by four dancers. It consists of a traveling figure (bars 1–8), which corresponds to the reel of four , and the setting (bars 9–16). As a setting, each dancer danced steps of the Highland Fling for himself . The Strathspey is never danced on its own, but always followed by a reel. The transition takes place after a fixed number of bars without interruption, with a clear change in tempo.

The Highland Fling , a solo dance, is danced to Strathspey melodies. The speed of the Strathspey and the Highland Fling is 124 bpm.

Pipe music

Joseph MacDonald describes in his Complete Theory of the Scots Highland Bagpipe in 1760 the dotted Strathspey rhythm (without using the name) as a typical fiddle reel - in contrast to the less dotted, "rounder" pipe reel. Only gradually did the Strathspey find its way into pipe music. At first the most famous fiddle pieces were simply taken over here. The first examples are "Monymusk" , Tullochgorum and The Bridge of Perth in Donald MacDonald's collections of 1822 and 1828.

During this time, Strathspey and Reel as folk and social dances were already being replaced by more modern dances such as the waltz . In pipe music, they continued to be played, usually without dancing. After initially only ceòl mór was played at competitions , from around 1830 there were also prizes for marches and dance music. Soon, Strathspey reel sets were regularly played at competitions (a combination that is also used in some Highland Dances), and finally the March Strathspey reel sets became common, which are still mandatory on pipe band and solo today - Contests include.

The competition type strathspey developed in the second half of the 19th century : old Strathspeys, which originally comprised two parts (2 × 8 bars), were expanded to four or more parts. One example is Blair Drummond : this piece appeared as a 2-part reel around 1760, today it is a popular 6-part Strathspey that is regularly played at competitions. In addition, new Strathspeys were and are still being composed to this day.

Blair Drummond's Reel , first published in Robert Bremner's Collection of Scots Reels or Country Dances , circa 1760
Blair Drummond as a modern pipe Strathspey, Part 1 of 6

The competition marches, strathspeys and reels have moved far away from their original purpose as marching or dance music and have evolved into their own form of music. In particular, they have slowed down with increasing complexity: the current tempo is around 72–80 bpm for marches, 112–120 bpm for Strathspeys and 76–84 bpm for reels. The Strathspeys - as pieces that are mostly played slowly today - are least affected: They hardly differ from the pieces played for Highland Dancing and are easily danced at this speed.

Strathspeys in Irish folk

While the Strathspey used to be almost confined to the fiddle and pipe music of the Scottish Highlands , today it is enjoying growing popularity in the entire Celtic music scene and is also used on other instruments (e.g. accordion , flute or guitar ). transfer. The Strathspey is still often played as a “show piece” today, as it is considered to be one of the more complicated melodies of Celtic music. Here you will occasionally find Strathspeys, which are notated in bars like 3/8 or 12/16.

Ireland has a confusing number of names for Strathspeys and related Tune types: Highland , Fling , Scottish .

Highland is a name that is particularly common in Donegal . The name is a short form of Highland Scottish , a couple dance that came up in Scotland around 1855 and in turn goes back to the German Scottish . J. Scott Skinner has published a number of tracks expressly entitled Scottish or Strathspey ; the same notation could thus be played as Strathspey or as Scottish.

Fling is the short form of Highland Fling , so originally not a piece of music, but a dance that is danced to Strathspey melodies. This term is common in the south and west of Ireland.

By and large, the terms Scottish , Fling , Highland Scottish , Highland Fling or simply Highland in Ireland are used almost synonymously - and denote a slightly faster variant of the Strathspey. The pace of the Irish Highlands and Strathspeys is 176 bpm. Overall, these tune types are rather rare in Irish folk.

Monymusk , Irish version as Reel or Highland
The Laird of Drumblair , example of a Strathspey widespread in Ireland, referred to by J. Scott Skinner as "Strathspey or Scottish"

literature

Web links

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Notes and Queries in the English language Wikipedia. 2nd series. Vol XI. P. 152 (April 18, 1861)
  2. ↑ George S. Emmerson: A Social History of Scottish Dance. McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal 1972, ISBN 0-7735-0087-1 , pp. 173 f.
  3. ↑ royal-deeside.org.uk ( memento of the original from August 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.royal-deeside.org.uk
  4. ^ J. Scott Skinner: Harp & Claymore collection. approx. 1905, p. 21
  5. ↑ strathspey.org ( Memento from April 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ quoted from: Hugh A. Thurston: Scotland's Dances. 1984 (reprint), ISBN 1-55932-077-X
  7. ↑ Andrew Kuntz: The Fiddler's Companion , ibiblio.org
  8. ^ Highland Dancing. The textbook of the Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing . 6th ed. 1993, ISBN 1-898169-01-2
  9. ^ Roderik D. Cannon: The Highland Bagpipe and its Music. New Edition. John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh 2002, ISBN 0-85976-549-0 .
  10. ↑ z. B. Tommy Peoples' album The Iron Man. 1985/1995, Shanachie 79044
  11. ↑ irishtune.info