Sit back and marvel at this bidding royalgazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from royalgazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Figuring out how to play certain suits royalgazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from royalgazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Beethoven created new versions of 47 Scottish melodies LUDWIG van Beethoven made classical arrangements of dozens of traditional Gaelic songs, it has been revealed – although their often-tragic lyrics were never revealed to him due to their political background in the wake of the Jacobite risings in Scotland. The celebrated German composer created new versions of at least 47 Scottish melodies from 1809 to 1820 for the Edinburgh-based folklore collector and publisher George Thomson. German musicologist and Gaelic scholar Dr Michael Klevenhaus has spent five years researching the Gaelic origins of Beethoven’s compositions. His discoveries are revealed in the BBC Alba documentary Òrain Ghàidhlig Beethoven (Beethoven’s Gaelic Songs), to be screened on the channel next week to mark the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
Thank you for signing up to The Press and Journal newsletter.
Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up
Sanitised versions of Gaelic songs were reinterpreted by Beethoven without the great composer realising their true meaning, a new documentary has uncovered.
The programme reveals Beethoven made classical arrangements of 47 Gaelic melodies from 1809 to 1820 for the Edinburgh-based folklore collector and publisher George Thomson.
German musicologist and Gaelic scholar Dr Michael Klevenhaus spent five years researching the origins of the compositions.
He became aware of the connection in 2015 while reading a scholarly work by piper Allan MacDonald who stated the song Enchantress Farewell, arranged by Beethoven with words by Sir Walter Scott, was based on Mhnathan a’ Ghlinne Seo (Women of the Glen).