About
Time
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ABOUT
TIME is the first reaction of many people to the news that
Wendy Stewart has at last made her first solo recording -
and with good reason. Wendy was one of a crop of promising
young harpers in the early 1970's, including Alison Kinnaird
and (Slightly later) Patsy Seddon, who regularly won the
Mods and other competitions and assured the Scottish clarsach
its place among an up-and-coming generation.
About Time
1. Hip Hip Bouree, Pheasant Feathers,
2. Bonawe Highlanders, Stirling Castle, Rachel Rae
3. Harp Song of the Dane Women
4. Love Lie Near Me
5. The Burning Bing
6. Petronella
7. Polska from Ornunga
8. Silent Rains
9. Roslin Castle, Miss Gordon of Gight
10. St.Bride's Coracle
11. The Streams of Abernethy, Puinneagan Cail
12. William Joseph Guppy, The King's House
13. Wild West Waltz
CD Sleeve Notes
ABOUT TIME is the first reaction of many people to the news that Wendy
Stewart has at last made her first solo recording - and with good reason.
Wendy was one of a crop of promising young harpers in the early 1970's,
including Alison Kinnaird and (Slightly later) Patsy Seddon, who regularly
won the Mods and other competitions and assured the Scottish clarsach
its place among an up-and-coming generation. In 1977 Wendy and Patsy
contributed to Alison Kinnaird's pioneering record 'The Harp Key' and
Wendy's own solo album appeared to beckon, but instead she chose to exile
in Lancaster and we all had to wait 15 years for the beckoning to bring
results!
'About Time'also says a lot about Wendy's music. Although Lancaster took her away from the Edinburgh mainstream of the Scottish clarsach, it brought her into contact with a lot of different music-firstly Irish, then in rapid succession French, Swedish, Paraguayan and Cajun music-and the varieties of sources and rhythms made their marks. Wendy always had a good ear for a tune which would sound well on the harp regardless of whether it came from a harp tradition, and this is increasingly to be heard in her own compositions which blend apparently effortlessly the intricacies of polska, bourree or strathspey.
'About Time' was what a lot of people said when Wendy moved back to her native Edinburgh in 1990 to be snapped up not long afterwards by the band Ceolbeg. Some wondered where the band had managed to unearth such fully fledged but unknown talent, others knew she had been around all along but hiding her light.
Anyway now everyone can learn and appreciate the qualities of one of Scotland's finest harping talents and hopefully we won't have to wait another 15 years for 'About Time 2'.
Programme Notes
1. Hip, Hip Bourree by Pete Yates / Pheasant
Feathers by Alan Hornby
Two tunes composed by friends. The French bourree by Pete Yates of Birmingham
and 'Pheasant Feathers', in 5/4 and 6/4 time, by Andy Hornby of Lancaster.
The latter was inspired by the antics of Andy's cat playing with a pheasant
feather but the tune also owes something to the Scandinavian influence
which earned Lancaster the title 'Little Sweden' in the late 1980s.
Wendy : harp
Alan James : bass clarinet
2. Bonawe Highlanders / Stirling Castle /
Rachel Rae - all trad/arr Wendy Stewart
A Scottish march, strathspey and reel set, harp style!
Wendy : harp
3. Harp Song of the Dane Women - words
by Rudyard Kipling, set to music by Paul Guppy
This poem, from 'Puck of Pook's Hill' expresses the feelings of those
left behind when a loved one heads off to unknown parts-something my
husband Alan knows all too well! Paul Guppy, another citizen of Lancaster,
is a harpmaker, player and lorist extraordinaire, and fellow Scandiphile,
so had obvious affinities with this poem.
Wendy : electro harp and vocals
4. Love Lie Near Me - trad/arr Wendy Stewart
After many years of not being absolutely sure where this wonderful tune
came from, I tracked it down to Bunting's Ancient Music of Ireland
Wendy : harp
5. The Burning Bing - by Wendy Stewart
Playing different rhythms together has always appealed to me. This tune
actually keeps strict time, but the brain doesn't! 'Bing' is a Scottish
word for a mining waste heap, often from coal-mining. These can sometimes
heat up and catch fire by spontaneous combustion - which is possibly
a metaphore for Scottish traditional music and maybe even Scotland
itself. The title here was inspired by the burning bing at Butlerfield
just outside Edinburgh.
Wendy : electro harp
6. Petronella - trad/arr Wendy Stewart
A traditional Scottish reel slowed down to a stately minuet.
Wendy : harp
Alan James : clarinet
7. Polska from Ornunga - trad/arr
Wendy Stewart
'Polska' is a traditional Scandinavian dance, which syncopates the basic
3/4 time. Polska can be danced to anything from a solo voice to a wild
band, as it was when I learnt this tune from the 'Skafferi Ensemble'
at the Ransater Dance Festival in 1986
Wendy : electro harp
8. Silent Rains - by Wendy Stewart
Part Paraguayan, part Swedish and with more than a touch of jimnastics!
Wendy : electro harp
Jim Walker : percussion
9. Roslin Castle / Miss Gordon of Gight
- trad/arr Wendy Stewart
Two traditional tunes from 'The Fiddle Music of Scotland' by James Hunter.
Wendy : harp
10. St.Bride's Coracle - words collected
by Kenneth Macleod from MacKinnon of Eigg arr
by Patuffa Kennedy Fraser (In 'Song of The Hebrides')
This lullaby tells of three motherless children lost at sea in a coracle.
St.Bride of the Isles, in the form of an oystercatcher, guides them safe
to land. I learnt the song, with it's simple but effective arrangement,
when competing in the Gaelic Mod over 20 years ago.
Wendy : harp & vocals
11. The Streams of Abernethy - by Wendy Stewart /
Puinneagan Cail - trad/arr Wendy Stewart/Colin Matheson/Gary West
I wrote 'Abernethy' as a simple, wee teaching tune but it just grew and
grew! 'Puinneagan Cail', I learnt from my wonderful teacher, Jean Campbell.
Wendy : electro & acoustic harps
Colin Matheson : keyboards
Gary West : whistle
12. William Joseph Guppy - by Paul
Guppy / The King's House - trad/arr Wendy Stewart
Paul wrote the first tune, in strathspey style, for his nephew on the
occasion of his first steps! We used to play it as one of a set of three
tunes written by Paul for various babies, known collectively as the 'Delivery
Suite', 'The King's House' I learnt from Alastair Fraser, schoolmaster
of Achiltibuie and piper extraordinaire.
Wendy : acoustic & electro harps and English Concertina
Jim Walker : side drum
13. Wild West Waltz - by Wendy Stewart
Written on the occasion of the marriage of Gary West and Wendy Murray,
two fine musicians and friends
Wendy : harp
CD Credits
Recorded at Hart Street Studios, Edinburgh
Engineered by Roy Ashby
Mixed by Roy Ashby & Wendy Stewart
The harps used on this album are:-
The traditional,
gut-strung acoustic harp, made by Paul Guppy of Lancaster England.
The
nylon strung, electro-harp, made by Camac, Brittany, France.
The frontcover is a photograph of a terra-cotta
tile made by Andy Hornby.
Tile was photographed by David Harrold
Photo
of Wendy by Nick Groves
Booklet designed at the Art Surgery
Special thanks to :- Alan James, Mrs Jean Stewart, Roy Ashby, Ian Green, Jim Walker, Colin Matheson, Gary West, and all the musicians who have shared their tunes with me, and to Penny, who started it all.
GREENTRAX RECORDINGS LIMITED
Cockenzie Business Centre
Edinburgh Road
Cockenzie
East Lothian
EH32 0XL email: greentrax@aol.com
website: www.greentrax.com
© 1992 Greentrax Recordings Ltd
| Instruments: | Nylon
Strung & Gut Strung Harps / vocals, see note for various other instruments by track |
| Genre: | Traditional / Scottish |
| Format: | CD |
| Our Ref: | A0344 |
| MCPS: | CDTRAX059 |
| Label: | Greentrax Recording Ltd |
| Year: | 1992 |
| Origin: | Scotland (EU) |