Toronto's opera house
Ceilidh
A two-movement symphonic tone-poem inspired by the coast and music of Western Scotland
II - Uncle’s Jig: My father’s was a rural family and when the relations would gather together the fiddles, guitars and assorted instruments would come out. I have a vague recollection from my childhood of my uncle playing a tune he wrote on his fiddle, a tune inspired by the countryside of his home in Quebec. In the second movement of Ceilidh I imagine the townsfolk gathered and a fiddler strikes up a nostalgic waltz. He is gradually joined by the other players of the band and the beat quickly picks up. The waltz transforms into a jig which gathers momentum right to the end as the musicians dare each other to play faster and faster.
| Duration: | 6:30 min. |
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| Instrumentation: | picc.2.2.2.2 / 4.3.3.1 / 3+T hp strings |
| Composition Date: | December 2008 |
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