British Isles & Celtic Traditions

From English art-song and the English pastoral tradition to the jigs, reels, and Gaelic airs of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales — plus Breton harp, Quebec fiddle, and Cajun voice from the wider Celtic and Francophone diaspora.

    Schnittke, Takemitsu, Weill / Hope, Boughton, English So
    Nimbus

    Schnittke, Takemitsu, Weill / Hope, Boughton, English So

    CD · 1 disc

    $20.99
    Composer
    SCHNITTKE WEILL TAKEMITSU
    Artist
    Hope, Boughton
    Released
    Jun 01, 2002
    Many young violinists' debut CDs come and go without making much of a mark, oftentimes less because the performers are untalented as because their repertoire failed to stand out in a crowded field. Another disc of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, or Kreisler has to be truly outstanding to stand out.
    Daniel Hope scores on both of these points: he and his collaborators give excellent performances, and he (and, presumably, his teachers, managers, and label executives) chose a program which cannot help but stand out from the pack. The danger in such a program--lesser-known contemporary works--is failing to live up to the technical and interpretive challenges. Hope needn't worry.
    A child prodigy, Hope was just 21 when this program was recorded, and he had already had the opportunity to discuss the Schnittke and Takemitsu works with their composers. The performances here are indeed excellent, and Hope has no difficulty distinguishing himself from his peers.
    REVIEWS:
    International Record Review (3/00, p.77) - "...cannily programmed and thoughtfully executed..."
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  • Schnittke, Takemitsu, Weill / Hope, Boughton, English So

    Schnittke, Takemitsu, Weill / Hope, Boughton, English So

    Nimbus Jun 2002
    1 disc
    CD
    $20.99
  • Telemann, G.P.: Trumpet Music

    Telemann, G.P.: Trumpet Music

    Nimbus Sep 2003
    1 disc
    CD
    $20.99
  • Vaughan Williams, R.: Choral Music (Sacred and Secular Songs

    Vaughan Williams, R.: Choral Music (Sacred and Secular Songs

    Nimbus Sep 2003
    1 disc
    CD
    $20.99
  • Tchaikovsky, P.I.: Romeo and Juliet  / Prokofiev, S.: Romeo

    Tchaikovsky, P.I.: Romeo and Juliet / Prokofiev, S.: Romeo

    Nimbus Sep 2003
    1 disc
    CD
    $20.99
    Bendigedig

    Receiver

    CD · 1 disc

    $20.99
    Composer
    VARIOUS
    Artist
    The Rheingans Sisters
    Released
    Oct 23, 2020
    Nominated for 'Best Band' at the 2019 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, The Rheingans Sisters are one of the most visionary acts on the British folk scene today. Their new album Receiver follows 2018's Bright Field – a record that dazzled audiences and critics with its Leonard Cohen-esque lyrical imagery and strikingly inventive arrangements of violins, banjo, Bearnaise three-holed flute and Pyrenean stringed drum. Produced by Andy Bell (Karine Polwart, The Furrow Collective, Sam Sweeney) Receiver is their first collaboration with record label bendigedig (the team behind Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita's SOAR).
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  • Receiver

    Receiver

    Bendigedig Oct 2020
    1 disc
    CD
    $20.99
  • Bloch: Schelomo; Voice In The Wilderness; Caplet: Epiphanie; Ravel: Kaddish
    Nimbus

    Bloch: Schelomo; Voice In The Wilderness; Caplet: Epiphanie; Ravel: Kaddish

    CD · 1 disc

    $20.99
    Composer
    BLOCH CAPLET RAVEL
    Artist
    R. Wallfisch, B. Wallfisch
    Released
    Jan 01, 2014


    BLOCH Voice in the Wilderness. Schelomo. CAPLET Épiphanie. RAVEL 2 Mélodies hébraïques: Kaddisch (arr. Ravel) • Raphael Wallfisch (vc); Benjamin Wallfisch, cond; BBC Natl O of Wales • NIMBUS 5913 (75:13)


    This album holds deep personal significance for the performers. In a video interview released in promotion of it, Raphael Wallfisch discusses his conception of the program as a memorial to his family, particularly his four grandparents, who perished in the Holocaust. Having engaged his son, Benjamin, to conduct the recording, Wallfisch views it as both a musical and a familial statement. Additionally, Wallfisch emphasizes the vivid “cinematic” drama of the Bloch pieces, for which he considered his son’s close involvement with film music to be a natural fit.


    Given these factors, it is not surprising that the Wallfisches’ performances on this disc are rhapsodic and dramatic. And that is what this music demands. The two Bloch pieces, when played well, can be shattering experiences for the listener: unremittingly grim, with the cello as tormented protagonist. The Ravel Kaddisch , based on a traditional cantorial melody, captures the outermost depths of reverence and mourning. And Caplet’s rarely-performed Épiphanie is an ecstatic portrayal of an Ethiopian telling of the Adoration of the Magi. There is no moderation of emotion in these works; this is music to captivate, move, and overwhelm the listener.


    Bloch’s Voices in the Wilderness was written in 1936, a period during which he produced some of his most substantial works. (The Sacred Service was composed in 1933 and the piano sonata in 1935.) It was originally conceived for cello and piano, and was reworked for piano solo as Visions and Prophecies , which presents the orchestral expositions to the first five pieces. Familiarity with both versions provides an intriguing contrast; the role of the cello in Voices in the Wilderness is one of commentator on the orchestral material presented in the first half of each movement. As evidenced by Visions and Prophecies , this material can succeed on its own; it is not simply introductory but traces a complete musical arc. Is the cello response therefore redundant? Some movements work better than others. The second, for example, is atmospheric and pensive in the orchestral section. It ends with an upward, questioning melodic gesture. Left here in the Visions and Prophecies , the question lingers enigmatically. In Voices in the Wilderness , the cello begins its response with outraged scales. The orchestral accompaniment thickens and becomes more dissonant. In this movement, the second half constitutes a reassessment of the ideas presented in the first half rather than simply an elaboration of them. The third movement’s exposition, majestic with vivid coloration unavailable to a solo piano, feels like a public statement of triumph and benefits from the individual perspective offered by the cello response; moreover, it is brief enough that its restatement is not unwelcome. But the foreboding first movement achieves its full emotional impact and reaches a convincing full stop before the cello entrance, as does the idyllic fourth movement. Finally, the coda to the fifth movement ends in such eloquent silence as to render the boisterous sixth movement almost disruptive. Qualms about the composition’s structure aside, Wallfisch’s playing exhibits an impressive range of emotion, texture, and color. His cadenza in the fifth movement is especially effective in its bold, emphatic statements and its relentless build.


    Ravel’s Kaddisch was composed in 1914 for piano and voice as one of the 2 Mélodies hébraïques . Ravel orchestrated both songs in 1919–20. Wallfisch’s approach to the melody is appropriately improvisatory in its fluctuations of tempo and sudden shifts of dynamics. He even produces some strikingly vocal portamentos. But without the words, much of the emotional impact of the piece is lost. This is not simply because of the profundity of the text; rather, the articulation of specific consonants and vowels has a timbral effect that cannot be replicated instrumentally. Additionally, the orchestration obscures the insistent treble octaves that provide the focal point of the original piano accompaniment. Ravel was a masterful orchestrator, and this version of the Kaddisch is musically pleasing, but it does not have the impact of the original.


    André Caplet’s Épiphanie has been recorded only a handful of times—inexplicably for such an accessible and attractive work, and one that offers the soloist a true virtuoso spectacle. The piece is in two large movements connected by an extended solo cadenza. Though subtitled “Musical Fresco after an Ethiopian Legend,” the first movement is solidly in the sound world of Impressionism—perhaps closer to Roussel than to Debussy in its harmonic palette. The feeling is sunny and ingratiating throughout. The cello part features extended pizzicato passages and frequent harmonics. The cadenza is accompanied by a pedal tone in the double basses and by a quiet, steady drumbeat, which the program notes identify as “a characteristically Ethiopian element.” The cadenza itself sounds fairly European, despite some pentatonic material and occasional uses of the Semitic scale. This is not a complaint; the music is impassioned and colorful, and Wallfisch’s playing is commanding. The second movement, the “Danse des Petits Negrès,” takes a more exotic tone with a rapid, heavily-accented 5/4 meter and a repeated whirling motif in the cello. Brief musical phrases, repeated in groups of two, create a “primitive” effect. The constant repetition becomes predictable, and the Orientalist subtext is highly dated. But the movement is generally exciting, especially in its final pages.


    Bloch’s Schelomo is the most widely-performed work on the disc. It is here that the Wallfisches are most open to comparison. Were I not familiar with the Rostropovich/Bernstein recording of the piece, I would be unreserved in my praise of the current performance. And indeed, it is a very fine performance: imposing, brooding, and highly effective. But where Wallfisch rages, Rostropovich thunders. Where Wallfisch sobs, Rostropovich wails. The same can be said of the conducting: Wallfisch’s Schelomo is dramatic but does not quite achieve the gripping immediacy of Bernstein’s. It is nonetheless a vivid and moving rendition of the piece, and the disc as a whole makes for very rewarding listening. Excellent, vivid sound engineering is a welcome bonus.


    FANFARE: Myron Silberstein
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  • IRISH TRADITIONAL MUSIC FROM DONEGAL

    IRISH TRADITIONAL MUSIC FROM DONEGAL

    Nimbus Oct 1996
    1 disc
    CD
    $20.99
  • Finzi - A Centenary Collection
    Sold Out

    Finzi - A Centenary Collection

    Nimbus Oct 2005
    1 disc
    CD
    $20.99
  • Bridge, F.: Oration, Concerto Elegiaco / Elgar, E.: Cello Co

    Bridge, F.: Oration, Concerto Elegiaco / Elgar, E.: Cello Co

    Nimbus Mar 2006
    1 disc
    CD
    $20.99
  • Pipes and Drums: From Helmand to Horse Guards

    Pipes and Drums: From Helmand to Horse Guards

    ARC Music Jun 2011
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99
    ARC Music

    Best of Irish Fiddle / Brown

    CD · 1 disc

    $16.99
    Composer
    VARIOUS
    Artist
    Florie Brown
    Released
    Mar 08, 2019

    This release presents Irish fiddle music performed by musical virtuoso Florie Brown, a fiddle player who has toured the world and cultivated her own flair and unique playing style. She performs Celtic, Bluegrass, Cajun, Country, Blues and Swing. Here she presents traditional Irish classics that will be loved by all fiddle music fans. After successfully begging her parents to allow her to play the violin, Florie Brown began her studies. Years were spent in private study working on technical skill and gaining performance experience. First travels as a musician began at 15 years of age with her local Youth Symphony, an award-winning group who traveled to Mexico, Germany, and Japan under the direction of Eugene Stoia. Celtic fiddling was the first departure from her classical path. Many albums and years later, Florie now has a family of her own and teaches fiddle.

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  • Best of Irish Fiddle / Brown

    Best of Irish Fiddle / Brown

    ARC Music Mar 2019
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99
  • Celtic & Original Music

    Celtic & Original Music

    ARC Music Jul 2010
    1 disc
    CD
    $13.99
    ARC Music

    The Very Best of Irish Ballads

    CD · 1 disc

    $16.99
    Composer
    TRADITIONAL
    Artist
    Brown, The House Devils, Frankfurter, Bough, Flaherty, Mcloughlin, Le Pape, Talamh, Beag, Pied Piper
    Released
    Feb 24, 2015
    A beautiful and varied selection of Irish ballads sung by a veritable "Who's Who"of Irish singers and bands: John Faulkner, Bríd Ní Chatháin, John Beag, Ann Mulqueen, Tim Dennehy, Iorras Aithneach, Mairéad Taggart, Joe McDonagh, Sinéad Murray and Fred Johnston.
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  • The Very Best of Irish Ballads

    The Very Best of Irish Ballads

    ARC Music Feb 2015
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99
    ARC Music

    Police Pipe Bands of Scotland

    CD · 1 disc

    $13.99
    Composer
    POLICE PIPE BANDS OF SCOTLAND
    Artist
    Dumfies & Galloway Constabulary Pipe Band, Tayside Police Pipe Band, Grampion Police Pipe Band, Stra
    Released
    May 28, 2013
    A unique and lively album, this recording includes all of the Scottish Police Pip Band-Dumfries & Galloway Constabulary Pipe Band, Grampian Police Pipe Band, Lothian & Borders Police Pipe Band, Tayside Police Pipe Band and the world champion Strathclyde Police Pipe Band. Insert includes history of each of the bands.
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  • Police Pipe Bands of Scotland

    Police Pipe Bands of Scotland

    ARC Music May 2013
    1 disc
    CD
    $13.99
    ARC Music

    Celtic Journey / Cormack, Mackenzie, Douglas, Clair

    CD · 1 disc

    $16.99
    Composer
    VARIOUS
    Artist
    Various
    Released
    Sep 27, 2019

    A Celtic Journey is an album of music and song from Scotland and further afield, with pipes, fiddle, choir, courting songs, lullabies, humorous stories of whiskey smuggling and sad laments for love lost. The music comes from the Isle of Skye, Nova Scotia, Glasgow, Stornoway, Inverness, and the Scottish Highlands. With award-winning musicians and singers including Cliar, Author Cormack, Blair Douglas, Ceolraidh Gaidhlig Ghlaschu, and many others, whose tracks were selected for this album by Mary Ann Kennedy, this is an album that simply cannot be missed by lovers of Celtic music.

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  • Celtic Journey / Cormack, Mackenzie, Douglas, Clair

    Celtic Journey / Cormack, Mackenzie, Douglas, Clair

    ARC Music Sep 2019
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99
    ARC Music

    Scottish Pipes & Drums / Kinross & District Pipe Band

    CD · 1 disc

    $16.99
    Composer
    VARIOUS
    Artist
    Kinross, District Pipe Band
    Released
    Oct 25, 2019
    The Kinross & District Pipe Band was formed in the summer of 1946 to play at local galas, festival events and pipe band competitions. During its long history the band has been awarded at World Championships and ceremony galas. A truly Scottish, beautiful album of pipes and drums.
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  • CELTIC MYSTERY
    ARC Music

    CELTIC MYSTERY

    CD · 1 disc

    $8.49 $16.99 Save 50%
    Composer
    GASMI BENOIT FOGHLU
    Artist
    Gasmi, Butler, Benoit, Fahy
    Released
    Jan 06, 2017
    The music of the British Isles has been charming audiences for centuries. This beautiful collection of Celtic music from Ireland, Scotland and Brittany features famous Celtic artists such as Cunla, Colm O Foghlu, Noel McLoughlin, Clannad, and many more. The songs presented are a shimmering array of the most wistful and beautiful songs and instrumental pieces, which are in a similar vein as the “Titanic” soundtrack, or the ever-popular “Riverdance.” Folk songs are presented here in their most authentic forms, as well as several more recent compositions inspired by these roots. This is true cornucopia of Celtic jewels!
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  • CELTIC MYSTERY
    Sale

    CELTIC MYSTERY

    ARC Music Jan 2017
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99 $8.49Save 50%
  • Scotland Pipes & Drums

    Scotland Pipes & Drums

    ARC Music Oct 2014
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99
    ARC Music

    Celtic Brittany

    CD · 1 disc

    $13.99
    Composer
    CHENEVEZ ETIENNE LEMOU LE G
    Artist
    Dan Ar Braz, Bleizi Ruz, Gwendal, Bagad Du Moulin Vert, Etienne, Lemou, Zo, Hervieux, Beauchamp, Gas
    Released
    May 28, 2013
    This collection of Celtic music from Brittany features the most famous artist from the region: Dan Ar Braz, Tonnerre de Brest, Yvon Etienne, Pierrick Lemou, Bleizi Ruz, Le Bagad Du Moulin Vert, Gwendal and many more. The lively and varied album includes traditional instruments such as biniou, bombarde and harp alongside modern guitars, keyboards and drums.
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  • Celtic Brittany

    Celtic Brittany

    ARC Music May 2013
    1 disc
    CD
    $13.99
  • Celtic Christmas Songs

    Celtic Christmas Songs

    ARC Music Oct 2010
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99
  • Bach, J.S.: Violin Concertos - Bwv 1041, 1042, 1043, 1060

    Bach, J.S.: Violin Concertos - Bwv 1041, 1042, 1043, 1060

    Nimbus Apr 2005
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99
  • Mendelssohn, Felix: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4

    Mendelssohn, Felix: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4

    Nimbus Oct 1996
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99
    ARC Music

    Celtic Voyage

    CD · 1 disc

    $16.99
    Composer
    GOODALL ALLAN DUC WALSH
    Artist
    Midori, Goodall, Brown, Saor Patrol, Duc, Saoirse, Pape
    Released
    Mar 25, 2016
    This inspiring album of Celtic music features traditional Celtic instruments such as uilleann pipes, harps, fiddles, accordians, and guitars. The songs featured here create an atmosphere of magic and mystery. This album features almost 80 minutes of beautiful music. Artists featured include Catherine Duc, Medwyn Goodall, Florie Brown, Lynn Saoirse, and more.
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  • Celtic Voyage

    Celtic Voyage

    ARC Music Mar 2016
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99
    ARC Music

    The Best of Scottish Pipes & Drums

    CD · 1 disc

    $16.99
    Composer
    FETTES ROEVER KORB STODDART
    Artist
    Scots Guards, 1St Batalion Scots Guards, Pride Of Murray Pipe Band, Strathclyde Police Pipe Band, Cl
    Released
    Jul 29, 2016
    Following the strong discography that already exists, Best of Scottish Pipes & Drums brings all of the best together in one release. This music takes you on a musical journey through time in Scotland, from the Pride of Murray Pipe Band who was formed in 1952 to the 1st Battalion Scots Guards who were deployed in Afghanistan recently. Individual members of these ensembles have peformed throughout the world such as Hong Kong, the Middle East, all over Europe and even South America.
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  • The Best of Scottish Pipes & Drums
    Sold Out

    The Best of Scottish Pipes & Drums

    ARC Music Jul 2016
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99
    ARC Music

    Best Of Welsh Choirs / Various

    CD · 1 disc

    $16.99
    Composer
    VARIOUS
    Artist
    Various
    Released
    Aug 23, 2019
    This new release features a varied collection of beautiful music from Welsh choirs, both a cappella and with instrumental accompaniments. This album presents a wide repertoire, covering three decades of choirs formed in Wales from 1986 to the present day. With well-known traditional classics, sacred music and fresh approaches to choir singing with modernized arrangements of traditional songs, this album is a shining example of choral talent in Wales. Featured ensembles include Cor Eifionydd, Bois y Castell, Cor y Wiber, Cow Meibion Machynlleth, and more.
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  • Best Of Welsh Choirs / Various
    Sold Out

    Best Of Welsh Choirs / Various

    ARC Music Aug 2019
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99
    ARC Music

    The Voice of Scotland - Isla St Clair

    CD · 1 disc

    $16.99
    Composer
    KING TROWER LYNN HENDERSON
    Artist
    Isla St Clair
    Released
    Sep 25, 2012
    Isla st Clair is one of Scotland's most popular traditional singers and has gained international acclaim for her pure and distinctive voice. Arc Music releases a fine selection of popular and treasured songs performed by an accomplished singer and quite possibly the voice of Scotland.
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  • The Voice of Scotland - Isla St Clair
    Sold Out

    The Voice of Scotland - Isla St Clair

    ARC Music Sep 2012
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99
  • PRINCESS GRACE OF MONACO: Birds, Beasts and Flowers (A Progr

    PRINCESS GRACE OF MONACO: Birds, Beasts and Flowers (A Progr

    Nimbus Oct 1996
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99
    ARC Music

    The Sound of Nova Scotia: Music of Scottish Canada / Campbell

    CD · 1 disc

    $16.99
    Composer
    VARIOUS
    Artist
    Forrester'S Cape Breton Scottish Dance Company
    Released
    Jan 24, 2020
    Forrester’s Cape Breton Scottish Dance Company is the performing group of the Forrester School of Celtic Dance established in 1965 under the direction of artistic director Eileen (Pottie) Forrester of Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The dance company has been invited to represent Canada and their province at many international festivals. They have performed all over the world including Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. One of the highlights was their participation in the World Folklore & Folk Game Festival in Taiwan in 1997 with 300,000 spectators and twenty other countries represented. Another festival that ranks among their favorites was Rhythms of the World at Epcot Centre, Walt Disney World, Florida, in which they represented Canada and performed in twenty-one shows at the America Gardens Theatre by the Shore. Forrester’s musical ensemble consists of award-winning highland bagpipers, drummers, bodhrán players and fiddlers. They all work together to provide their audiences with a varied repertoire of Celtic music with a mix of both traditional and contemporary works of music and dance. Their mandate is to continue to share the Celtic culture of their ancestors with many diverse audiences locally, nationally and internationally. This is evident in the fact that the director has three daughters who perform Scottish dance, and Eileen herself was first introduced to this culture by her two older sisters.
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  • The Sound of Nova Scotia: Music of Scottish Canada / Campbell

    The Sound of Nova Scotia: Music of Scottish Canada / Campbell

    ARC Music Jan 2020
    1 disc
    CD
    $16.99