Wendy Galovich wrote:
However it seems to me that at the dances and concerts I've been
to on the island, and on the recordings I have, there is a sampling of
Skinner tunes, but the Gows', the Lowes', Marshall's and MacIntosh's
to name a few of the older composers. Among the more recent composers
whose tunes I've frequently heard played in those venues are Dan R.,
John
Campbell, Donald Angus, Kinnon and Joey Beaton, Jerry Holland, Brenda
Stubbert.. the list goes on.
However if I'm understanding you correctly, it sounds like
you're
saying that there are more Skinner tunes in the Cape Breton repertoire
than of any of the composers I just named off. That puzzles because it
doesn't seem to line up with what little experience I've had of the
tradition. Could you please explain further?
The Gows published about 300 tunes [infamous for plagiarizing some of
them] , Marshall about 250, Skinner about 600, Lowes collection is
mostly traditional compositions. Skinner was not only the most prolific
composer but he and Marshall are in a class by themselves. Winston
Fitzgerald was, in the view of many, Cape Breton's most influential
fiddler. If you check "Winston Fitzgerald, A Collection of Fiddle
Tunes", edited by Paul Cranford, you will find that Winston's most
popular composers were; Skinner, Henderson [ J. Murdock] Dan R. Mac
Donald and Marshall in that order with Skinner having more tunes than
all the others combined. Many of the local composes you list have added
significantly to the repertoire. As you point out most of these are of
relatively recent vintage.
Alexander
Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To
subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
